Eulalia

Chapter 13: Dandelion Seeds

Chapter 13: Dandelion Seeds

Indeed, a few minutes later, I was outside the building and I could see why
Sandara dragged me out here. I had no idea how Eulalia got up there, but she was
sitting on the roof with her legs dangling off the edge. Somehow, I knew one day
this would happen- Eulalia would be found on top of a roof where all the attention
would be on her. However, I wasn't sure why I thought of that before exactly.
Anyways, Casey and a handful of other people from our building were
already there. Casey, in particular, had a megaphone in order to talk to Eulalia
high above. Of course, the Mexican girl didn't seem to care too much that there
was a crowd of people watching her from below. Now, I could see why Sandara
was worried. This looked like trouble.
“Get the fuck down from there, Lala, or else I'm going to fuck you up,”
screamed Casey into her megaphone. She really didn't need that thing, I thought.
All of us could hear her from miles away. “I'm serious about this!”
“I prefer not to,” said Eulalia, yawning.
“LALA!”
“Casey,” I said calmly. She turned around and was relieved to see me. “Why
is she up there?”
“She carried this enormous basket of dandelion seeds,” said Casey, talking
normally to me. “And so I thought she was doing her usual thing of trying to plant
stuff and overlooked the fact that she was high up there by herself.” If I wasn't
afraid of Casey, I would facepalm. These idiots... “After she was done scattering
those seeds, she... stayed up there.”
“I see...”
“Casey,” said Sandara with a pained expression on her face. “Let me try
talking to her.”
“Fuck, go ahead,” said Casey, handing over her megaphone. “Good luck.”
Sighing, I sat down in a bench a distance from them and watched this
unfold. This was not going to end well. At least, it would get rid of my boredom for
now. A part of me believed that Eulalia knew exactly why she was up there. She
wasn't stuck up there or anything. She could get down if she wanted to. But she
chose not to for some reason. I highly doubted that she would be on the ground
any time soon unless she chose to do so.
“Lally,” said Sandara carefully into the megaphone. “Please get down from
there. It's dangerous.”
“I prefer not to,” she repeated.
Sandara sighed at Eulalia's stubbornness, only to be patted by Jordan.
Jordan was probably on his way to leave campus to see his girlfriend for the
weekend when he had to stop by since he was too interested in knowing why a
crowd of people was standing outside his building. Sandara rapidly told Jordan
what was going on and he frowned in response. Thinking of something to say,
Jordan tried to talk to Eulalia next with the megaphone.
“Lally, we have pie,” said Jordan, smiling sweetly.
Eulalia gave him a curious look. “What kind of pie?”
 “Apple pie.”
“I prefer not to go down, then.”
“Blueberry pie?”
“I prefer not to.”
At being rejected, Jordan dropped his head, gave the megaphone back to
Sandara, and said, “If this is anything like what happens in Bartleby, we should
probably do something about it.”
Now, it was Vivien's turn to appear out of nowhere with her boyfriend
standing next to her. According to Vivien two days ago, his name was Jeff, but that
wasn't important right now. I could tell from Vivien's expression that she was even
more worried about Eulalia than Sandara and Jordan combined. Judging by her
wide eyes and pale face, she did not expect to come back to see this. She went
straight to Sandara and Jordan.
“What happens in Bartleby?” Vivien demanded.
Jordan blinked at her appearance. “Eventually, Bartleby refuses to eat and
dies.”
“No!” cried Vivien, snatching the megaphone from Sandara and calling up to
Eulalia. I imagined her hands must be shaking while she did this. “Lally! Come
down here before you try anything funny!”
Eulalia blinked at the sight of Vivien and asked, “Are you dating Jordan yet?”
“What?” cried Vivien, blushing bright red.
Jordan blinked. “Er....”
“She's joking,” said Vivien defensively to Jordan before she returned her
attention to Eulalia. Sandara eyed Vivien cautiously now. “No, of course not. He
has a girlfriend already, remember?”
“I prefer not to come down,” said Eulalia after a quick sneeze.
“She's getting cold up there!” cried Vivien tearfully, turning to Jordan.
“It'll be okay...” said Jordan, unsure.
“Don't cry,” said Casey, handing Vivien one of her gloves. Vivien accepted it
without saying anything. “I'll get that puny young lady down, even if it's the last
thing I freaking do. Screw television. I have some important business to attend
to.”
Vivien smiled weakly at Casey's exclaimation. “Thank you, Casey.”
“Fuck. Don't thank me. It's my responsibility.”
“And what a poor excuse of one you have.”
Casey grumbled and tossed her admirer a look. “Rosenthal, fuck you. Go
back to your dorm.”
I heard everything and perked up at the name. Rosenthal. Wasn't it Xara
Rosenthal, too? Whatever it was, it was definitely his last name. Casey wouldn't
even call him by his first name because of how much she saw him as a nuisance.
Somehow, I wondered whether Eulalia would even agree to call me “Worth”. I
wondered if it would hurt more than not knowing my first name at all. Then again,
my last name and its meaning was pretty ironic to the entire situation at hand.
“You are the one who can't even do your damn job correctly,” he said,
keeping his eyes on Eulalia on the rooftop. He was wearing one of those high-class
suits. “I'll get her down for you, then. I'll show you how it should be done”
“Go ahead!” cried Casey, taking the megaphone out of Vivien's hands and
throwing it to him. “Try your best and fail, you piece of shit.”
 Rosenthal shook his head at her. “You love me way too much for your own
good, Casey.”
“No one loves someone like you!”
Meanwhile, as Rosenthal threatened to use the police and the school staff to
force Eulalia down if she refused to listen to him, I sighed and elevated my eyes
up at the sky. Why was I here? Why did I care so much? I already knew what was
going to happen. Eulalia didn't care if she got kicked out of the school. She didn't
care if she ruined the school's reputation. She didn't care for a lot of stuff in
general. None of these guys' threats would work on her. She was immune from
them because she was just that passive.
“Hi.”
I blinked and smiled at the darkhaired beauty. “Hi Master Xara.”
“Do you mind?” the young lady indicated at the seat next to me.
“Not at all,” I said automatically.
“I like the view from here.”
“Yes, it is nice.”
Moving along, Xara wiped her seat with a handkerchief before she sat down
and crossed her legs. Like the last time I met her, she was wearing one of those
long black dresses with black leggings and gloves. To finish off the look, she wore
a nice velvet hat on top of her head and a pair of tiny black boots. She was pale
and exquisite no matter which angle you looked at her. Like always, she gave off a
scent of herbs for some reason. Whatever it may be, I could see why Etchi
considered her his favorite customer.
Seeing her up close, Xara was indeed related to that Rosenthal guy. They
had the same sharp features in the cheekbone. Then again, Etchi planted the idea
of them being related in my head so there was no way I could see them
otherwise. Oh, psychology, how Etchi mastered you.
Xara didn't say anything for a few silent seconds until she asked, “Is that girl
up there as some sort of protest demonstration? Perhaps on how the budget of
this school is spent?”
“Who knows.”
“Etchi really likes you, you know that?”
That came out of nowhere. She probably only said that other line about
Eulalia to start a conversation with me, but then, she moved straight into who she
wanted to talk about- Etchi. I wasn't surprised since this was the girl who spent
way too much time with that guy in the first place.
I turned my head to her and stared at her. “He told you that?”
Xara took out a cigarette and lit it. “You're the only person he considers a
friend at this school. I thought that was obvious by now.”
“I know,” I said, standing up. I wasn't too fond of the smell of cigarettes.
“Did he ever tell you why he wants to be friends with me of all people? I can never
figure out his real reasoning.”
“He told me,” she said in dismissal.
“What is it?”
Smiling under those long eyelashes, Xara said in a softer voice, “He thinks
you're cute when you're trying so hard for a simple friendship.”
When I heard that reasoning, I thanked her quickly and ran toward where
the rest of the crowd were at. Like I thought, Rosenthal's threats didn't work on
Eulalia. No one else was able to say anything to make her budge from her spot so
far. She was still up there. Actually, she looked bored and sleepy now.
The rest of my group was more than happy to see me again. They said a
bunch of things to me, but I ignored them. I kept my eyes on Eulalia instead. Yes, I
wanted to be friends with her. I had never wanted to be friends with someone as
much as she. She was interesting. She was abnormal. Most of all, she was
someone who caught my attention from the minute she opened her mouth. There
was only one Eulalia and there was no fucking way I was giving up.
Problem, though. What should I do now? I came here to change the situation
without thinking about it first. I already predicted that everyone would fail when
dealing with her. They did not understand her at all. How could they possibly say
something to persuade her when they couldn't comprehend how she thinks? I
wasn't there yet either, but I was getting there.
“Eulalia,” I shouted, catching her attention. “It's me. Brice Worth.” She
didn't say anything, but her eyes were on me at least. I didn't mind she didn't
remember my name for once. “Why are you up there?”
Eulalia blinked at my question. “I wonder...”
“Please,” I raised my voice. “I want to know why.” Everyone gawked at me
like I was asking something strange, but I didn't mind it for once. I kept going. “Are
you stuck up there? Do you need help getting down from there?”
“Probably...”
“Probably?”
“Probably not.”
I sighed. “Is there anything you want? Something you desperately need?”
Eulalia shrugged. “I don't know...”
“Do you want a bag of ripe ovaries?”
“No, not in particular...”
This was more difficult than how I imagined it to be in my head, but I wasn't
going to give up just yet. I had to keep trying until I have no other choice left. I
must search in my head for something that would interest her enough to convince
her to move. Suddenly, I remembered something. It was a vivid image in my
head. It might not work, but it should buy me some time.
“Eulalia,” I said in a calmer voice. She could hear me because she was
staring right at me. “I may not praise you often, but you have a really nice smile.”
Sandara gaped. “Brice, what are you-”
“Like you have the damn prettiest smile I have ever seen in my fucking life.”
Eulalia widened her eyes. “But you had never seen me...”
“I have. Believe me.”
It took her a while to respond, but at last, she said, “Thank you...”
“Brice,” said Jordan, staring at me. “Did you really see-”
I nodded. “I did.”
“I want to see it!” cried Vivien, jumping up and down. “I want to see Lally
smile!”
“Later,” I sighed. “There's more important matters at hand.”
“Keep going, Brice,” said Sandara proudly. “You're doing great.”
With more confidence than before, I nodded at them before I returned to
her, “One more thing, Eulalia, I have the answer to something you desparately
want to know.” She stared blankly at me. “I know who sent you that love letter
you found in my room a few weeks ago.”
Eulalia blinked. “You do?”
“Yup.”
“Tell me.”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
“I'll only tell you if you come down,” I said with a smirk.
Unfortunately, while Eulalia was thinking about it, I noticed at the corner of
my eye that Etchi was watching me with interest from afar. Even if he didn't stick
out like sore thumb, he was wearing a hot pink t-shirt under that black jacket.
Somehow, the sight of him unnerved me. I wasn't the only one who noticed Etchi
standing there though. The rest of my group went over to him. Since they already
spotted him, there was no point in me pretending he wasn't there. I also followed
them over.
“Etchi,” said Jordan in greeting.
“Master Xara texted me,” Etchi stated. He wasn't wearing his glasses for
some reason. Vivien was blushing from how pretty he was, which irritated me. “I'll
take care of this.”
“What are you going to do?” I asked carefully, annoyed at him.
“I already told Rosenthal to make sure no one in this crowd leave this area.
We can't have them blabbering shit to the authorities about this,” said Etchi. “We
don't want any more fucking drama with the media than necessary. I would hate it
if this stupidity get on the news somehow.”
“Agreed,” said Sandara, relunctant.
“I asked Casey to help Rosenthal.”
“Good call,” said Jordan.
“I need you girls to distract Eulalia for me,” said Etchi to Vivien and Sandara.
They agreed to it. “Keep talking to her so she doesn't notice that Jordan and Brice
had gone missing. Well,” Etchi grinned. “She won't notice Brice's disappearance at
all, but she might eventually notice the lack of Jordan.”
“Thanks,” I told him.
After the two girls left, Etchi turned to Jordan, “I need you to escort Master
Xara back to her room this instant.”
“Why-”
“I don't want her to see what I'm about to do,” said Etchi, widening his
smile.
“If you say so,” said Jordan, leaving as well.
“Let's go, Brice,” said Etchi, walking around the building.
“Where are we going?” I asked, unable to hold back the irritation in my
voice.
Etchi threw me a look. “There's a large tree on the other side of the building.
I'm going to climb it and retrieve her. I need you to give me a lift up the tree.”
“So,” I said, following him. “Not only are you a genius, you can run fast,
speak a million languages, draw and play music well, know everyone at this
school, and climb trees?”
“Does it really surprise you?” he asked playfully.
“No, but just making sure.”
“Yes, then,” said Etchi, taking off his jacket now. “I can fly, too, you know?”
 “I wouldn't be surprised,” I said. He laughed at me. We stopped at the said
tree. “And yet, your mother isn't proud of you?”
“That's right.”
“Amazing.”
Etchi smirked at me, dropping his jacket on the ground. “Dad died of some
cancer. She wants me to become a researcher and find the cure for cancer.”
“You can probably do it,” I said, sighing.
“But that's not what I want.”
I blinked. “Do you even know what you want?”
“There was only one thing I wanted more than anything else,” he said
quickly. “Please heave me up here, Brice. You're strong right?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Since Etchi barely weigh anything at all, it was easy for me to heave him up
onto that branch with just my hands. I could see why he wasn't wearing his
glasses. He was climbing a tree after all. However, before he climbed any further,
I wanted to know what was what he wanted more than anything else. Somehow, I
thought it might be enlightening in some twisted way. Either that or I was just too
damn curious for my own good.
I coughed out loud and asked, “What is it?”
“What is what?”
“The one thing you wanted more than anything else.”
“Oh,” he chuckled. “I wanted to be beautiful.”
I was speechless at how quickly he answered and the response itself.
“That's it?”
“You might have noticed this already, Brice, but people will always admire
your looks first,” Etchi stated, sitting on the second branch now. “It's also been
shown in studies that people who are good-looking are happier and have higher
self esteem. People are instantly attracted to prettier people. Even murderers who
are handsome are treated better.”
“Even so,” I said. “You have a lot of talent. Why do you care?”
“But people don't know that until they're attracted to your looks first”
“Etchi, you-”
Etchi was on his third branch as he looked down on me with a smile. “I'm
only this obnoxious now because I'm pretty. I'm no fucking Eulalia, Brice. I care a
lot about what other people think of me. I care a lot for their judgement. I cared so
much that I completely changed myself to please them, even my own mother
hates me for it.”
I frowned. “Etchi...”
“But hey!” Etchi flashed a bright grin. Somehow, he was standing on the
roof now. How did he get there so quickly? “The pay off is so worth it now!”
“I hate you.”
“Love you too!”
Despite Casey cursing about how Etchi shouldn't be up there with Eulalia in
the first place, Etchi went over to Eulalia. He said something to her that none of us
could hear. I wanted to know desperately what he said to her, but I figured that if I
ask him later, he would tell me if it was nothing special. Then, she climbed on his
back quite willingly. He managed to safely jump back on the tree and carry her all
the way down to the ground. Once they were down, everyone went up to them. Of
course, Sandara and Vivien suffocated Eulalia with hugs. I could hear Casey and
Rosenthal arguing with one another about this. As for Etchi? He managed to sneak
away, but I followed him anyways.
“Your jacket,” I said, following him.
“Oh, thanks,” said Etchi, accepting the jacket from me.
“Your hands...”
Etchi glanced down at his bloody hands. “Bloody hell.”
“You're coming with me,” I growled, pulling him away.
Etchi allowed me to drag him with this huge grin on his face. I wanted to hit
him for being such a show off earlier and stealing my spotlight, but instead, I used
that cream Jordan once used on Vivien on Etchi's hands. Mind you, I didn't put it
on him. That would have been way too gay. I gave him the stuff and he put it on
himself. However, he kept grinning at me like one big idiot. He was sitting on
Jordan's bed. I was sitting on my own. At last, I couldn't stand that look anymore.
“What?”
“You're so fucking cute, Brice.”
“What?”
Etchi chuckled. “You should have seen the look on your face when you saw
the blood.”
“Oh, shut up,” I said.
“I bet you're dying to ask me what I said to Eulalia. Am I right?”
I glanced away. “Maybe.”
“I apologized to her,” Etchi stated.
“For what?”
Before Etchi could answer me, someone knocked on my door. I groaned and
got up. Who could it be this time? Was it Sandara here to take me away again?
Was it Casey telling me to run some errand for her? Could it be that Vivien came
to confess her undying love for me? Yeah, right. It was probably some girl here to
see Jordan.
“Good evening.”
I stuttered, “H-Hello.”
What was going on? Why was Eulalia here? I had been the one who would
knock on her door and bother her, not the other way around. Wait. She
remembered where I stay at? What was going on here? I glanced over my
shoulder and noticed that Etchi disappeared. Did he hide again? What was he so
afraid of? Whatever. Who cares about him. Eulalia was here. I gulped. What could
be her reason for being here? Should I ask her or should I wait for her to say it?
“So,” I said, feeling awkward. “What's up? You want to come in?”
“Okay...”
She went in and sat down on my bed immediately. Of course, she would
recognize it by now. I noticed that she sat with her tiny legs close together. She
had her hands clasped together on top of her knees. She was wearing bunny
slippers that I could tell immediately belonged to Vivien. What a sight! Eulalia was
here to have a conversation with me!
Biting her lip, she was thinking of what to say next. I waited patiently. I
glanced over at the shiny cell phone on Jordan's bed. The one with Eulalia's
picture in it... I wanted more than anything to pick it up and hide it. However, I
decided that she wasn't the type of person who would be aware of her
surrondings enough to notice it in the first place.
“The person who wrote that love letter to me...” she said under her breath.
“Oh, that.”
“Is it Etchi?”
I nearly lost all the strength in my legs when she asked me that. What
should I do? Every time something like this came up, I managed to avoid it easily.
There was no way I could come up with an excuse this time when I said it so
assertively before. Since Etchi was also in the room somewhere, I couldn't lie to
her either. It wasn't right anyways. This day must come sometime. I might as well
come clean to Eulalia. Either that or...
“I prefer not to,” I said suddenly.
Eulalia blinked at me. “Prefer not to...”
“I prefer not to answer,” I said clearly once more.
With that, Eulalia stood up and said, “This is too much work... good night...”
I collapsed on the ground the minute she closed the door behind her. She
left. That was too easy. That was all it took? Was she never going to bother me
about that again? I started laughing out of relief. I made it. I managed to survive a
direct confrontation from Eulalia. I answered in a way that she couldn't get
anything out of me. I was so good. I won against her for once thanks to her
putting up that white flag.
“Hey.”
I nearly jumped. I forgot Etchi was still in the room.
“Yes?”
“Why did you answer her like that?”
“Er...”
“Well?”
His voice sounded scarier than usual so I decided to not turn around, “Every
time you did something for her, you would hide right after. I just thought I'd help
you, Etchi.”
“Oh, really,” he said coldly.
“Yes, really.”
“What a nice friend you are.”
I could hear the sarcasm in his voice so I whirled on him and said, “What the
hell is your damn problem? That's what you wanted, right? You don't want her to
know that it's you?”
If he was going to treat me like this, why should I take it? I did nothing
wrong.
“She already knows it's me,” said Etchi angrily. “She fucking said my name.”
“Well, about that-”
“I didn't think you were that type of person,” said Etchi, walking toward the
door. I managed to run over and stand in his way in time. “What? What do you
fucking want?”
“Where are you going?”
Etchi rolled his eyes. “To see my darling Eulalia.”
“What is your relationship with Eulalia anyways?” I asked. I must know. This
was starting to take years off my life. “You always get pissed off when it comes to
her.”
“Are you really that blind?”
 “Excuse me?”
“Are you stupid?”
“What?”
“You must be blind and stupid,” said Etchi, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Because everybody knows that no guy in his right mind would keep a picture of a
girl on his cell phone if he isn't interested in her.”
“You said you weren't interested in her,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I said I didn't want to fuck her, not that I wasn't interested in her.”
“What's the difference?”
Etchi snickered. “Do I really have to spell it out for you?”
“Yes,” I said. “Please do. I don't understand you.”
` “You are so much in denial; it's pathetic.”
“Answer my question.”
Smirking, Etchi went around me and left the room quickly. Honestly, I didn't
even see him move. All I caught sight of was the door slamming behind him. I ran
out after him. I knew exactly where he was running off to now. I must stop him at
all cost.
“Eulalia!” cried Etchi from afar. She was standing right outside her room.
“Eulalia!”
Either she didn't hear him or chose not to because she didn't respond. She
just unlocked her room and walked inside. Even though Etchi was fast, he didn't
catch her in time. She already closed the door behind her. So in the time, it took
him to knock on her door, I already caught up with him. We both stood there,
glaring at each other. If she must know the truth, I should tell it to her first. Then, I
would tell her all about Etchi's job. That way, she wouldn't be interested in him
anymore. Yes, that was a dirty move on my part, but it was the truth, wasn't it?
When Eulalia opened the door, we both spoke to her at the same time. In
other words, she couldn't understand either of us. Unable to stand it any longer,
she closed the door. We waited. A few minutes later, she re-opened and stared at
us with a blank look on her face. Vivien was also behind her with a curious look on
her face. I gulped. Somehow, the sight of Vivien was not in my favor.
“One person talk first...” said Eulalia, obviously tired by her weak tone.
“I'll go first because he already had a chance to talk to you and failed,” Etchi
said with a smirk.
I glared at him. “You...”
Etchi placed his hand on the door and leaned toward her. “That serenade?
Me. That love letter? Me. Those roses? Me again.” Roses?! He sent her roses? “The
endless supply of ripe ovaries? Me.” Etchi bought those oranges I ate in her room
before? “You hoped it wasn't me, right Eulalia? But no one knows you as well as I
do. It was pretty obvious and yet, it took you this long to figure it out. I'm
disappointed. I know you're slow, but not that slow.”
“Etchi,” I said with wide eyes. I could not believe what I just heard.
“What, Brice?”
“Stop it. That was way too arrogant.”
“Why? You don't like it?”
I shook my head in disbelief. “I don't think she likes it.”
However, when we turned around, Eulalia wasn't there anymore and the
door was half-closed. A few seconds later, she emerged from her room with a box
in her arms. I didn't eventhink she had the strength to carry a box of that size in
the first place. Yes, she was indeed struggling but she pesevered and stopped in
front of us. Next, she dumped the contents of the box on the ground. Vivien came
up closer to watch what was going on with wide eyes.
“Very nice,” said Etchi, staring at the piles of letters on the ground.
Eulalia disappeared again and left Vivien to hold the door for her. This time,
she came out with a box full of oranges. She allowed them to roll them on the
ground outside her room. Casey wasn't going to like this one bit. That wasn't all
though. As if it was a routine, Eulalia kept going inside and dumping various stuff
on the ground in between her and Etchi. Now, there were music sheets. Then, she
threw away various flowers and seeds. Lastly, she was carrying a fish bowl when
Etchi stopped her.
“Oh, no,” he said quickly. “Brice gave you that.”
Eulalia blinked at me. I didn't say anything. It was embarrasing to admit out
loud. Please just accept my silence as a yes. Without another word, she went back
inside and put the fish bowl where it used to be. Okay. At least, my gift to her was
safe. Wait. What the fuck was going on here? Why was this happening now? Out of
nowhere? And why was Etchi enjoying it so much?
This routine continued for the next ten minutes or so. Sometimes, Etchi
would stop her and tell her that probably some other admirer gave her that gift
instead. She would then return it to its place. But whenever he didn't stop her, she
just threw it in that hallway. I could only assume that the majority of the gifts on
the ground belonged to him. Watching this, though, I couldn't help but wonder two
things: how much did Etchi spend on Eulalia? And how many admireres did this
girl have? I felt like my single gift meant nothing now.
“Are you done now?” asked Etchi, amused.
“No...” said Eulalia, panting. This was way too much work for her. “The
beanies...”
“Aw, but you love them so much.”
Eulalia glared at him. Yes, she glared at him. I had never seen Eulalia glare
at someone before, but she was glaring at Etchi right now. Today was my lucky
day. I saw her smile and glare. It made me happy and yet, at the same time, I was
slightly jealous that it was at him of all people. I wouldn't mind if she did that to
me. Because damn, she had a cute glare. Why did I think Eulalia was cute? Fuck.
“I'll get the beanies...” she muttered in defeat.
“Wait,” he said, grabbing her arm. “Let's stop here for now.” She didn't say
anything to him. “You proved your point. I can see you're serious. I shouldn't have
said those things just now, but you know I can't help it.” He smiled gently now.
This was the Etchi I was more used to. “You're just so cute when you're mad and
you're rarely mad.” She still refused to talk to him. “Let me inside? Vivien can stay
with Brice instead. What do you say?”
“You can't decide that out of nowhere,” I said to Etchi.
“Lala?” asked Etchi in a baby voice.
“No, Eulalia,” I decided to speak to her. Etchi threw me a dirty look. “He
won't hesitate to do things to you once you let him inside. He's that kind of
person.”
“Brice, what a nice friend you are.”
“You turned on me first.”
 “Vivi,” said Eulalia softly to her roommate with her eyes on the ground.
Understanding what Eulalia wanted without her saying it, Vivien smiled
sweetly at me, “Let's talk somewhere else, Brice. We haven't talked in a while.”
“But-”
“Bye Brice,” said Etchi happily, forcing himself in the room with Eulalia.
Before I could say or do anything, Etchi closed the door on me without a
satisfied look on his face. It was at this moment that I remembered when he
threatened to steal my girl away some time ago. Even if I did deserve this form of
revenge from him, he really went all out to make me feel horrible. What a asshole.
I knew he was an asshole, but I allowed him to play me anyways. This was why I
should never trust anyone with his type of personality.
“Brice,” said Vivien, placing a hand on my back.
“Oh, sorry,” I said, recovering. “I'm just not in the mood to talk right now.”
Vivien glanced away sadly and muttered, “There's something I should have
told you a while ago, but I didn't think it mattered too much until now...”
“I'm in a shitty mood already,” I said. “It wouldn't matter if you made it
worse.”
“I should just go see Jeff.”
“No,” I stopped her. “Tell me. It's better now than later.”
“Ah...”
“Tell me. Please.”
With a soft nod, Vivien and I went over to the stairs and sat there. I kept my
eyes on the door just in case Etchi decided to leave five minutes after he entered.
No movement. Of course not. I sighed and turned to Vivien. The Caucasian girl
looked incredibly tense for some reason. If this was some more Jordan drama, I
wanted to go kill myself. I had enough of her and Jordan. But if it had to do with
Eulalia, she had better tell me now. There was nothing else more important than
Eulalia to me right now.
“Is it about Eulalia?” I asked at last.
“In a way.”
“Stop delaying.”
Vivien released a heavy sigh. “Etchi... he...”
“Did he do something to Eulalia before?”
“No... yes... maybe...”
I gawked at her and grabbed her shoulders. “Vivien, make up your mind!”
Shaking, Vivien said under her breath, “I found Etchi in our room before...”
“What...”
“You know how I asked him to make Andy jealous a while ago?”
“Yes...”
“I first met him in my own room,” Vivien said with a sigh. “I'm sorry, Brice...”
I kept my eyes on the ground. “Please explain further, Vivien. I can take it.”
Nervous, Vivien continued, “That day, when I found him in my room, I asked
him whether he was Eulalia's friend or something. He said something like that
before he gave me his card. I called him for help two weeks later.” Vivien paused
and hid her head behind her arm. “He asked me never to tell anyone about him
being in her room that day and I agreed because he's so handsome, but...”
“It's all right,” I said, holding Vivien against my shoulder. “Thanks for telling
me, Vivien.”
 “I'm such a horrible person, Brice.”
“No, you're not.”
She pushed herself away from me with fierce eyes. “I am! I asked Lally to
support me and Jordan!”
I sighed. “Vivien, it's not your fault that you've fallen for Jordan.”
“But I shouldn't have used Lally like that... I'm such a bad friend...”
“It's okay, really,” I said, not at all interested in Jordan and Vivien right now.
“I'm just not in the mood to talk right now...”
“If it makes you feel any better,” said Vivien softly, rubbing the tips of her
curly hair against one another.. “I don't think Eulalia had sex yet.”
I nearly chocked on my own spit when Vivien said that. Sure, I knew that
Vivien had probably slept with more than one guy since she arrived as a freshman
at this school, but I never thought she could say that word so easily. Etchi? Yes.
Jordan? Yes. Sandara? Yes. Vivien? No. Even though I reacted like that, Vivien
didn't notice and simply continued with what she had in mind.
“I asked Lally once if she ever kissed a boy yet and she said no...”
I blinked. “Really...”
“She doesn't really care for most people, I think.”
“Yeah, she's like that.”
“So...” said Vivien with the best smile she could put on. “Whatever is
happening with Lally and Etchi, it's not sex. I know my Lally and she's not like
that! She isn't fully aware of boys yet! You still have a fighting chance with Lally,
Brice! Don't give up!”
If only Vivien knew that I wanted to screw her, not Eulalia. Why did I think
that? I was becoming more depressed by the second and having these unwanted
thoughts. Vivien was trying her best to comfort me out of the kindness of her
heart, but I didn't need that crap right now. She only saw me as a friend and yet,
acted otherwise with me sometimes. She was too confusing to deal with.
In any case, her words didn't put me at ease at all. Even though Eulalia
might have never kissed or done anything with someone with the opposite gender
before, it didn't mean she wouldn't start... today. Etchi was handsome, skilled, and
knew her extremely well. Maybe he even knew what to say or do to arouse her?
No, shit. I shouldn't think that way.
Believe it or not, I kept fighting with myself for another half an hour while
Vivien fell asleep against my shoudler. Casey passed by us without saying
anything. She was wearing her yoga outfit as she left the building. I wondered
why she thought it would be okay to not supervise us on a Friday night when there
were predators like Etchi around to harm clueless girls like Eulalia. In any case, I
sat there and kept my eyes on the door. How long did it take for Etchi to say a few
words to her?
By the time Casey got back from wherever, she noticed that Vivien and I
were still in the same spot. She blinked at us, but didn't say anything. I couldn't
take it anymore. This wasn't like Casey at all. I raised my hand like a student in
class. She pointed at me, allowing me to say something.
“Casey,” I said. “Is there any reason why you're not acting like yourself?”
Neither insulted nor angered, Casey shrugged and said. “I prefer not to.”
“Wait!”
Waving it off, Casey went up the stairs and passed by a couple kissing in the
corner of the second floor. Unlike the usual Casey I was used to, she just went
inside her room and slammed her door shut at the sight of them. No, this couldn't
be happening. I was hoping I could at least get Casey to force Etchi out of Eulalia's
room. That wasn't going to happen with this sudden change in attitude.
“Vivien,” I whispered, shaking her gently.
“Hm?” she asked sleepily, keeping her head on my shoulder.
“Shouldn't you ask Etchi to leave your room by now? It's been over an
hour...”
Yawning, she said softly, “I prefer not to.”
I groaned. What was going on? Was everyone acting like Eulalia on purpose?
Too annoyed, I carried Vivien back to my room. I left her on Jordan's bed, grabbed
my history book, came back to that exact same spot, and distracted myself with
history. Etchi had to come out eventually. Even if it took until morning, he had to
leave that room. And I was going to stay awake and stay here until then.
Thankfully, it didn't take him until morning. He came out an hour later and
wasn't surprised at all to see me glaring at him from the steps. With a pleasant
smirk on his face, he turned away from me and headed down the hall. For me, it
was between Eulalia and Etchi. There was a high chance that Eulalia was asleep
by now so I chased after Etchi.
“You're quite patient,” he said at the sight of me next to him.
“What did you do to her?”
“Nothing you haven't imagined already.”
I glared at him. “Listen, Etchi, I know we haven't been on the best of terms
and that I treated you poorly as a friend-”
“No, you think?”
“But,” I said through gritted teeth. “I really do consider you the closest to a
best friend right now.”
Stopping in his tracks, Etchi said, “Brice, shut the fuck up. I don't need your
bull shit right now.” I did because he sounded tired. He rubbed the sides of his
temple. “Can we please talk about this crap another time? I am thirty minutes late
to seeing Master Xara.”
“You're going to see Xara?” I exploded.
“You know I always see her every Friday.”
“What about Eulalia?”
“What about her?”
“You said you were interested in her!”
Etchi stared blankly at me. “What the fuck does that have to do with Master
Xara?”
I couldn't believe my ears. This guy was supposed to be a genius. Judging by
the stunned expression on Etchi's face, he couldn't believe what he was hearing
from me either. Somehow, we were not on the same page somehow. What I
thought was obvious to me wasn't obvious to him...
“You can't just play around with Eulalia and then, move on so easily...”
Taking in a deep breath, Etchi tried to keep his voice steady and said, “Brice,
I'm a professional. I've been working since the beginning of high school. I don't
mix my personal and work life together.”
“I don't get it. Explain.”
“It means that I don't fall in love with my clients and I don't have sex with
the girl I like.”
That made no sense. “What?”
“But it shouldn't matter,” said Etchi, continuing his walk to Sandara's room.
“Because you only want to be friends with Eulalia, right?”
I nodded weakly at him. “That's right...”
“So it doesn't matter whether we're having sex or not.”
“Er...”
Etchi lifted a fine brow at me. “I calmed down from earlier.” I didn't say
anything in respond to that. I remembered how idiotic both of us behaved when it
came to Eulalia. “I misunderstood you. I thought for a second you thought you
were,” Etchi forced himself to not laugh. “My rival or something.”
I tried to comprehend that. “Rival?”
“You know, like you were not telling her about me earlier because you
wanted her for yourself.”
Hearing this, I forced a laugh. “What the hell? No.”
“Then,” said Etchi, stopping at the door and facing me. He held up his
hands. “Friends again.”
“Yeah,” I said relunctantly. It was better to be his friend than not anyways.
But before I could shake it, he retreated it. “What now?”
“You sure you're not interested in Eulalia?”
“No,” I said immediately. “I never was and I never will be.”
Shaking my hand, he gave me a bright smile. “Good. Because if you happen
to start liking her like you seem to be implying this entire day, I don't think we can
be friends.”
“What happened to friends involving in each other's personal lives being
stupid?”
“If you start to like Eulalia,” said Etchi, taking out his key. “I can't stop you. I
won't get involved either. They're your feelings. You can feel however you feel.
But,” Etchi frowned at me. “That doesn't mean you can act on however you feel.”
I was stunned at what he was hinting at. “If you can make a choice, I can make a
choice not to be friends with you either.”
Like always, he didn't give me any chance to respond as he went inside to
his favorite client. At first, I didn't know how to feel. Then, I suddenly felt
threatened. Did Etchi just threaten me? If I start liking Eulalia, he would cut off his
friendship with me? Was his friendship really that valuable in the first place? Did I
really care? Why did he care so much? There were so many questions in my head
right now in regards to Eulalia... Etchi... Casey...
In the middle of all this, I forgot to get mad at him for spending over two
hours in Eulalia's room. He managed to get away with everything just by acting all
casual and nice to me despite our argument earlier. That boy really knew how to
change face so quickly, like a professional actor. Somehow, that was enough to
help us make up within seconds. I hated myself for being dragged along by his
words and facial expressions and body language and... confidence. Hell, give me
some of that confidence.
When I returned to my room, I threw myself on my bed, ignored the sleeping
Vivien on Jordan's bed, and cursed out loud, “What the fuck just happened
today?”