I ran away as fast as I could from the hell of a room that is. I had my doubts about him because when I first saw him, he was so familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. He looked at me in a very questionable manner—like he was yearning and wanting something.
At first, I tried to ignore it, but then my heart screams otherwise.
When I look at him, my heart hurts so much that it feels like I'm dying.
And then we encountered each other again and again, each time making me more confused.
I never knew my heart could beat at the same time and pace with another person. But how could this even be possible? The only love I know and desire is Aaron's—my Eros, so why is this heart of mine fluttering for someone with a similar name—who doesn't even look like him?
I know in my heart that I still love my Eros and I never will stop even when I die. But why—why am I happy whenever I get to see the Eros that is my classmate?
"Hey, Therese?" a friendly voice called me as we sat on the dinner table in the school's cafeteria.
I smiled at him. "Yes, Ashton?"
"Are you okay? Why are you not eating?" he asked again, getting the attention of the others who were busy with their own food.
"Yeah, it seems like you did not get enough sleep last night. Your eyes are so puffy!" Dianara said as she ate the bread she was munching.
"Did anyone bother you again?" Ashy asked, as she heard what the new transfer student did to me from Ashton. "Tell me if anyone did. I'll come to your rescue!"
"No one did, don't worry," I answered, feeling guilty for making them worry. "I am okay. But I think I'll retire early so I could rest."
I stood up and left the table after saying my goodbyes.
"I'll accompany you back," Ashton stood up and called for me as the others just continued eating, waving us their good byes.
-
"Uhm, Therese?" Ashton called me as we headed to the girl's dormitory. He walked beside me, trying to match my walking pace, but he suddenly stopped walking.
I looked back at him, wondering why he stopped.
He approached me and handed me the handkerchief I lost two days ago. I remade it from my memory of the one I gave my Eros on the day I first saw him, and I was so sad that i lost it.
"I'm so glad. Thank you so much for giving it back. I've been searching for it everywhere!" I said as I happily took the handkerchief from his hands.
I was going to continue walking when he suddenly talked again.
"Did you make it?" Ashton asked me, his face smiling, and his hair seemed to be in flames as the sun hit it. It was always so fascinating to watch.
"Yes, I did." I replied and tucked the handkerchief in my pocket. "It took me a long while to finish it and my hands had a lot of blisters because of the needle."
I showed him my hands with the bandages and turned my back against him.
"What does 'EA' and 'LT' mean?" Ashton asked again as we were walking towards my room.
I was taken aback by his curiousness that I almost let go of my childish acting. I quickly regained my calm and looked at him innocently.
"That's a secret!" I said, and he just accepted it.
After a while, we arrived at my dorm, and he left after making sure I was inside.
It's always nice to have a brother nearby. In the absence of Ivarage, I have found a brother in this school.
I let myself fall down my blue bed just beside the window, and I sighed. I live on the second floor, and the breeze was not as nice as Eros' room on the fifth floor of the boy's building. The scenery beyond the window was not as nice, too, it's just all trees, and no flower island.
Aaron—my Eros always loved the idea of living there together. He even made plans to buy it with me, with our wages, and I was so sad when news spreaded that the Prince bought it. It was the only time when Eva was delighted, because it was rumored that the Prince bought it for his lover.
But as it turned out, his lover was me, and that my Eros was the Prince.
Just the very memory of him was making my heart flutter with so much love. His platinum hair almost looked transparent in the moonlight. It always smelled like lavenders too—and I caress it whenever I can, always struck by its beauty and softness. They were like silk threads that were so expensive I cpuld only dream about having it. There were even times that I thought that he looked pretty too, with his blue eyes that resembled the vast morning skies. I never saw him under the sun before, and when I did before I left the empire, it was almost so unbelievable that such a person loved me before.
Loved.
Loved.
Loved.
Loved.
Loved.
I can never love anyone else in my life and all the other lives I'll ever live because my Eros was imprinted on my very sould with a thread that was almost unbreakable.
"You know that your time is almost up, don't you?" a voice suddenly spoke on my left ear, making me sit up straight on my bed.
The voice was so small and faint, but the gravity of its words were nonetheless making me scared.
"Yes, I know that. That's why I'm writing everything I remember on paper." I replied to him and stared straight at the being in front of me.
It was the small green fairy that appeared out of the enchanted stone that my Eros used to go back in time. The reason why he never received it in this life was because the stone was with me as it chose me.
The stone recognizes its new owner when the heart of its original owner beats for another person.
As long as the stone is with me, I am sure that Eros still loves me. It was a mere theory before, but I am now sure of it because I accidentally activated it, making the fairy come out.
"Once your birthday comes, all the memories of the life you used to live will disappear, same with Aaron," he said, and flew towards my hands. "It's because of his wish for you not to love him in your next chance."
"I love him, but that wish was really so stupid," I chuckled my frustrations away and lied on my bed again, this time, with the fairy beside me.
"The gods honored the sanctity of his wish because his heart was so sincere that it broke the gods' lack of interest in humans," he replied. "That kid loved you so much that he begged them."
I knew that it was the truth. I knew how much he loved me. I knew how much he tried to protect me. However, I just wish we could have loved each other longer. And now that we are apart, I am basically letting myself be erased from his life because I thought that it is what he wanted.