Eunice's POV
I've been quiet all day; I can't concentrate. Luckily, our department head made a late announcement about a meeting for the teachers, so we had no classes.
The Grade 12 students are in the gymnasium for a contest happening next week, and I know Arcus is probably there too, so I didn't join my classmates when they decided to go and watch their practice.
"Eunice, aren't you bored here? Come on, join us," Lily said to me while eating cheese rings.
No matter how much she eats, she never seems to gain weight.
"I'm fine here, Lily. You should go to the gym and join Shane," I replied, pointing to some of our classmates who were leaving the classroom.
"Sorry, Eunice, I love you dearly, but I really have to watch," she dramatically said and pretended to embrace me. I let her hug me, and after she finished, she quickly ran off to join the others. I even caught one of them rolling their eyes at me, but I chose to ignore it.
I feel like an outcast in my own classroom; I don't often join them, and Lily is really the only one I hang out with. The others only seem to befriend with me when they need me to give their gifts to my big brother who's in Grade 12 or when they see me with Lily.
"How tiring," I whispered, closing the book I was reading and using my arms to rest my head on it. I dozed off for a moment, knowing we certainly wouldn't be doing anything for the rest of the day.
I don't know how many hours I slept, but I felt someone staring at me, so I lifted my head. I was surprised to see Arcus looking at me with dark eyes.
"D-do you need something?" I asked him.
His thick eyebrows furrowed even more, leaving me speechless and unable to ask again.
"Why aren't you in the gymnasium?" he asked.
"I was feeling sleepy. Is it required to watch?"
"As far as I remember, the dean said all senior high school students were to help with the props and designs for the competition" he replied, sitting down at our teacher's desk with both hands in his pants pockets.
"I-I didn't know; no one told us," I said shyly, discreetly wiping my eyes and mouth. It was embarrassing; I was worried I might have drool on my lips and sleep in my eyes.
"You wouldn't know because you didn't go there. Your brother is also worried about you, but he can't leave what he's doing, so he asked me to check on you," he said again, seemingly complaining about my brother's request.
"You could have just asked someone else," I mumbled, bowing my head.
"Everyone in the gym is busy; I can't just tell them to leave their work to come get you because you're not there. You're not special, Eunice. Don't inconvenience everyone around you," he said angrily.
"Why did you even come here? You could have just called, or you could have sent Lily," I replied, on the verge of tears.
Arcus's words hurt; it seemed like he wanted to physically hurt me just to make me realize that he didn't like me.
"Lily called you several times," was his brief response. I pulled out my phone to check if he was telling the truth. It was already three o'clock in the afternoon; I had slept for five hours and had ten missed calls from Lily.
How embarrassing, Eunice; you probably thought you were important.
"I-I'll just go to the gym" I said, feeling ashamed. He left without looking back, leaving me staring at the door he exited.
I fixed my hair and put the books I used earlier into my bag. I also grabbed my wallet so it wouldn't get lost.
I headed to the gym and saw senior high school students enjoying snacks.
"Eunice arrived just as we were eating. You really have a strong sense of smell!" shouted one of my male classmates. I heard the laughter of the others, so I just let them be and went directly to the empty spot.
As soon as I sat down, I suddenly heard shouting, which made me look over. I saw my classmate Anthon lying on the floor, holding his cheek.
"Buenavista, what's wrong with you?!" I heard Sir Lemuel shout as he just arrived.
"Sorry sir, my fist accidentally flew out and hit his face," Arcus replied while pointing at Anthon. I noticed my brother Ulysses grinning and walking over to me.
"Oh," he said, handing me a sandwich and a bottle of Coke.
"I'm on a diet," I told him and shook my head.
"Well, you can worry about that once you have nothing left to eat. Just take this," he said. I couldn't do much since our conversation would probably take a while, so I just took what he offered.
"Next time, don't tell anyone to pick me up," I said as he sat next to me. He looked at me, seemingly confused by what I said.
"What are you talking about?" he asked, then checked his cellphone, where his wallpaper was Lily. He had been courting Lily for a long time, and she said that she would only go out with him after he graduated from senior high school.
"About Arcus, don't tell him to come for me anymore. He's mad at me," I replied. He let out a quiet laugh and hid his cellphone.
"What are you saying? He's the one who—" "Eunice!" I heard Lily shout before Kuya could finish his sentence. She came panting to us and took the Coke that Kuya had given me and drank from it.
"Sorry, I'm tired. I'll just buy you another one," she said, catching her breath.
"No, it's fine."
"I thought you were still in the classroom; I just came from there. I was going to invite you to go to the cafeteria. Why are you here, by the way?" she asked.
"To help," I replied briefly.
"Help? Sir sent us away earlier because we were being disruptive, so we just hung out in the cafeteria," she said.
"I thought you had a lot to do; you also have a ton of missed calls from me."
"Huh? I didn't even use my phone. But someone borrowed—" "Okay, Grade 11, back to your classrooms; recess is over. Grade 12, take a break and go straight to your classrooms. Thank you for your help," Sir suddenly said, cutting off what Lily was about to say.
The three of us, including Ulysses, stood up. He had been listening to our conversation but was focused on Lily and wasn't speaking. Arcus approached us and invited Kuya to go to the cafeteria to buy some water.
"Eunice, Lily, come with us," Ulysses said. I looked at Arcus, who was giving me a nasty look, before shaking my head at my brother, saying that I had something to finish. He didn't push me, and he took Lily with him instead.
"Shut your f*cking mouth, you two," I heard Arcus whisper to Ulysses and Lily..