Before she could nod, the young lady fainted. Her subconscious traveled back to the first day she met Eliseo Manaloto. The memory she buried 1,000 feet underground and how she swore to keep it a secret till death!
Back at that time, she was eleven and he was twelve. She vividly remembers upon sighting him sitting on the branch of a 100-year-old oak tree. Tanned skin. Neat shirt. Disheveled hair. Pitch black eyes. Right there, she was swept by a foreign feeling she never had before towards the opposite sex.
Admiration
She waited for him to notice her gawking, counting each second that passed. It took him a minute to acknowledge her presence. He merely glanced. It irked her so much that it did not even last a second!
"Is this foolish pauper blind or somethin'? Or maybe, it's his way to impress me?" she smugly mumbles under her breath.
As everyone's apple of the eye, her pride cannot swallow his indifference. Hence, she approached him with her head high and arms crossed. She did that to establish superiority. However, the moment he looked down, she was aware she was losing the higher ground.
"Hey! Help me climb!" She demanded.
"You'd get hurt." he languidly replied.
Her eyebrows furrowed. She thought, "The heck! How dare him underestimate me!"
Determined, she grabbed the nearest branch, struggling to lift her body akin to a monkey clinging to a pole at once. Hearing him tsked only incite her defiant self. Then, without much surprise, her leg slipped. Before her hand lost grip, Eli pulled her up using his calloused hands. Briefly after, they reach the more elevated branch.
"Thank you." She said keeping her tone monotonous.
They sat beside each other, enjoying the rush of wind and the company of silence. Care feels light as a feather for the first time in those past months. Everything around her is brighter, livelier, truer... She sighed in relief.
No walls nor chains could ever imprison me again, she promised herself.
"It's beautiful up here! Isn't that why you're so selfish with this spot? I'm Caress Aragon, by the way."
She instinctively raised her hand for a formal handshake that hung mid-air unaccepted.
"Isn't it pointless for introductions, Miss Perfect? You are known throughout Aurum. Have you become bored in your castle so you decide to play humble here?"
It crushed her: his voice filled with pure disgust. Her hand voluntarily lowered as her strength got sucked with his subtle insulting vibe. She fisted her knuckles, unable to figure out what to do. It was the first time she got outright confronted.
"I... I don't understand-" she stammered.
"Children around our age talked. Isn't it your hobby to assure yourself you outclassed them by going around? You really love when you look like roses around us, prickly thorns."
Her mouth opened briefly but because her mind offered no reasons to speak, she stayed tight-lipped right after. They averted their gaze away from one another. One is regretful while the other feels vulnerable. Then, suddenly, the branch they sat on moved downward. Their eyes met once again, reflecting the speculation of each other. The branch will collapse and so are they!
"Cover your head!" Eli ordered that she obeyed in the heat of panic.
Just as she thought they were on their own, Eli enclosed her in a protective embrace. When they landed on the grass, he got bruises on both elbows. On the other hand, Care was not a bit scratched. She gaped at him, bewildered.
"Why?" she mumbled.
"Eli, Care!" the adults shouted, fast approaching from a distance.
Both flustered, they abruptly stood up. The young boy turned his back without a word nor did he spare a single glance at her. She fisted her knuckles much firmer; they almost turned white. If she was combustible, the girl would have burned into flames.
"He fascinates me! He annoys me! He says hurtful words then redeems himself through his actions! UGH!" she revolted inside while eyeing him leave as though nothing happened.
Worried inquiries of her father were drowned by the rebel beat of her shattered heart. She swears to make that impudent brat crazy for her so bad that he will eat up all his insults. After that beautiful day comes, she shall crush his heart just like he did today with hers.