"For you." Ulysses said as he extended a box of chocolate and a rose to the person he likes for four whole years.
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Even though he gathered all the courage he can for this "big day" of his, he still can't rise his head to look at the other. He likes this certain girl in his class. However, he doesn't have the courage to confess to her.
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The truth is, this girl is the so-called campus crush in their school. She got a lot of confessions and there are a lot more who's like him that don't have the courage to do so.
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Now, in their last Valentines day in high school, he decided to tell her. It doesn't matter if she won't see him the way he does towards her. What matters the most is that he's able to tell her what he truly feels. Because if he won't he's afraid that he might regret this for the rest of his life.
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"Psst... psst!" Mico, the student council secretary, who is hiding on the nearby tree tried to get his attention. "Mr President!"
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Ulysses slowly turns his head to his secretary's direction. "What?"
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Mico pouted his lips, pointing at what's ahead of him.
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Ulysses doesn't know what he means by that but it urges his to look at what's ahead of him.
At first, he saw a long red necktie.
"A necktie?" He mumbled on himself.
The uniform for girls have a red ribbon, the female counterpart for their boys' neckties. His gaze goes upwards and pauses at the other's chest. "Flat."
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"What's flat?" A deep voice of a man sounded.
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Ulysses looks up, only to see a gorgeous young man. His eyes are as alluring as the girl he likes. His perfectly chiseled face could hook anyone's attention. This guy in front of him and the girl he has a crush on share the same face.
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Ulysses' face becomes complicated. He could only murmur to himself, looking at the other with disgust. "What the fuck?"
It's not his crush, it's her twin brother, Dylan Cruz, also a senior student.
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"Ulysses!" Dylan laughs and looks like he can't believe what he's seeing. "I didn't know you had a crush on me. Sorry but I'm straight. I'm not into guys."
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Ulysses froze. It seems his mind is not working properly. How come Dylan is here in front of him instead of Denise?! He clearly saw that it was Denise who's approaching!
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Dylan, on the other hand, clutches the box of chocolate and rose on Ulysses' hand saying, "I'll take these. Really, I'm sorry, dude."
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Actually, just like his sister, Dylan received a lot of chocolates and love letters. In fact, he got a lot more than what his sister received, mostly from his fan's club, and random girls in school.
Yes, he has his own fan's club. It's called "Dylan's Fangirls". To this fan's club, today, the fourteenth day of February, is the most important date of the year. They really look forward for Valentines day and prepared a lot of presents to their prince, Dylan Cruz.
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Ulysses, Dylan, and Dylan's twin sister and at the same time Ulysses' long-time crush, Denise, are classmates ever since they're first years. Although they know each other for four years now, they aren't that close.
Dylan is busy with his love life. Denise is busy with her Volleyball Club. And Ulysses is busy with his studies, as well as student council duties. With the setup they have, the twins barely interact with the SC President.
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Dylan pulls the box of chocolate on Ulysses' tight hold. "Hey, are you giving this or not?"
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"These are for Denise." Ulysses refused to give the chocolates.
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Dylan's eyebrows raised, "Denise? You like that ugly girl?"
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His statement made the other get annoyed. Ulysses firmly defended her. "Who are you calling ugly?! She's perfect! Beautiful, kind, and athletic! She's like a goddess in my eyes!"
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"Goddess? Pfft..." Dylan laughs at what he heard. "Then, am I a God in your eyes?" He mocked, still pulling the chocolate from the other.
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Ulysses just gives him a disgusted look. "What?! Of course not!"
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Dylan, "But we share the same face. You, praising her is the same as praising my looks."
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"You just called her ugly just now! Are you telling me that you find yourself ugly?" Ulysses exclaimed.
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Now that he mentioned it, Dylan realized that the other actually have a point. "Not your business! Now, give me the chocolate! You already gave this to me!"
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"Dream on!" Ulysses is still refusing to give him the chocolates.
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Then he noticed that the box starts to crumple. He gritted his teeth, it's not presentable anymore. He can't give it to Denise like this.
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Maybe he should just give up. Maybe they're just destined to meet each other, and go in different ways. Maybe he should just stop hoping that he'll be able to say everything to Denise and Dylan is to blame.
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"Mr President..." Mico wants to go too but he hesitated. It seems a fight is about to start and feels like he should just remain where he is.
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So... how exactly did the SC President put himself in this awkward situation?
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The student council president anticipated this day very much. In fact, it took him almost a month to plan for his first ever confession. Even his secretary, Mico, also helped on coming up with possible plans.
He thought, this would be the last chance he'll ever have before they go in separate ways towards their journey to college. If he won't say it now, when will he ever say it?
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Actually, he's not hoping for much.
Denise is an outgoing person. And him, on the other hand, is silent, and boring.
There's no way she'd like him. However, Ulysses is just doing it for the sake of fulfillment.
He doesn't want to go to a university like this. At least he needs to free himself from these unbearable feelings he had for almost four years.
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This morning, Mico came early to the Student Council Office. He prepared a letter, with the student council seal on top of that, intended for Miss Denise Cruz. He even made it look like it's an official matter with the Student Council and her Volleyball Club.
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"Mr President, here you go." Mico handed it the moment Ulysses enters the office.
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Ulysses smiled, saying, "Thank you, Mico. You really bothered yourself with my personal request."
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"It's no big deal. And besides, I believe this matter is important as well." Mico beams a wide smile to Ulysses. "Good luck, Mr. President! I'll always be supporting you from behind."
And... just like what he said, later that day, he literally supported him from behind, hiding on a tree.
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Just as planned, Ulysses handed the letter to the captain of Women's Volleyball Club, Denise. He also informed her that he, the president, will wait for her in the school yard after club activities to "discuss important matters", just as the letter states.
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Even though she's a little confused as to why they should meet in the school yard instead in the SC Office, she still agreed. She thought, maybe the president is being considerate since the gymnasium where her club meets every afternoon is near the said place.
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And then that afternoon, Denise indeed goes to the school yard with his twin brother, Dylan. Actually, Ulysses and Denise already saw each other. She even waved to the president in a distance and Ulysses answered it with a nervous smile.
However, she remembered something. She left her phone at the gymnasium!
"Dylan." She calls. "Can you please tell Ulysses that I need to go to back to gymnasium? I'll be back real quick!"
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"Uh, yeah sure." Dylan wasn't so sure if his sister heard him.
She sprinted back to the gymnasium without even waiting for his reply.
Ulysses was staring at the ground that time because he was very anxious. And so, he didn't saw that it was only Dylan who's approaching.
And the complete mess happened after that.
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"Let go of my chocolates!" Ulysses said, trying to pull the box.
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But Dylan's pride won't let him let go. He already offered it to him, and Dylan already got a hold of it too. Why won't he just give it to him?
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This is the scene that Denise saw when she gets back to the school yard.
"Dylan? What are you doing?!
Denise hurried to them and tried to separate the two. She pulled her brother. Denise, being an athlete, even though she's a woman, she's stronger than average.
She didn't estimated her force she applied beforehand so her pull made Dylan lost his balance. This made Dylan's grip on the chocolate box tightens pulling Ulysses down with him.
The next thing that Mr. President knew is that his lips landed into something soft.
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Denise could only gasp and exclaim. "OMG! I'm so sorry!"
Meanwhile, Mico hides back behind the three trunk.
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Ulysses immediately rises up as he lips his lips with his arm. "For goodness' sake!"
He then picks up the crumpled box, and walks out. This is just beyond embarrassing. They're plan is completely ruined!
Seeing the president walking away, Mico shows himself to Denise. "Miss Cruz, Mr. President needs to go now. I'm so sorry but let us talk about the women's volleyball team next time."
The SC Secretary then followed Ulysses.
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"Can't we at least talk about the finance we need?" Denise yelled but no one of the two looked back. "Did I just made Ulysses upset? What should I do with the financial problem in our club?"
The clueless volleyball team captain really believed that they were supposed to talk about the club matters.
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Meanwhile, Dylan gritted his teeth. "My chocolates!"