Bea's POV
"She has hands, right? You don't need to wipe her," Arcus said seriously as he handed me the tissue that was on the table. "Oh," he added.
"I've noticed you've been bothering Eunice for a while now. Are you her brother?" Leo asked.
I saw Lily smile, and it seemed like she wanted to laugh.
"No," Arcus replied briefly, "But I'll have you punched by her brother if you don't stop," he said. I coughed a bit at what he said, and they both handed me a drink.
I didn't take anything they offered. Instead, I just grabbed my water from my bag and drank. Everyone fell silent and didn't say anything else.
Lily was still on her phone, glancing at the cafeteria door.
"Eunice," she suddenly called out to me. I looked at her and raised my eyebrow. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Yeah," I replied.
"Hello my loves, my sister, and my brother-in-law," Ulysses said as he suddenly appeared, carrying his bag with the buttons of his uniform undone.
He was just a year older than me, so maybe that's why he still seemed like a kid in his thinking.
"Hello, darling," he said, moving closer to Lily and kissing her cheek, then playfully nudging Leo. "Shift over a bit, bro. I'll sit next to my girlfriend," he said, pointing to the empty chair beside Arcus.
The table was round with five chairs. Lily was on my right and Arcus on my left; Leo was beside Lily, so there was one chair between Leo and Arcus.
"Okay," Leo said and moved next to Arcus. I wondered if he knew there was something between Lily and Arcus.
"Eunice, don't be surprised, but Lily and I are together now. She's your sister now," Ulysses said with a grin, raising his eyebrows teasingly.
"I don't care," I whispered and continued eating to finish quickly. I could feel Ulysses' stare; I knew he didn't like my response and was surprised by it.
I glanced at Leo, who was quietly eating. He looked at me and smiled. "Hurry up so we can leave," I told him. He nodded and hastened his eating. "Eunice, are you okay?" Ulysses asked. I just nodded and ignored them.
After Leo and I finished eating, we immediately stood up. I noticed Arcus lifting his head. "Are you leaving? Wait for us," Ulysses said as he rushed his food. I didn't wait; Leo and I left first.
"What grade are you in?" I asked Leo as we walked toward the dean's office. "12," he replied briefly. I just nodded and didn't talk to him anymore.
"Who are the people we were with?" he broke the silence. "Ulysses is my older brother, the last to arrive. Lily is my friend, and Arcus is my brothers friend and classmate," I responded.
"It seems like Arcus likes you; he was glaring at me," he said and chuckled softly. I frowned at what he said and laughed too. "You're mistaken; he was practically cursing me," I replied.
"I'm not mistaken; I'm sure of it."
I decided to ignore what he was saying because none of it was true.
I didn't want my name to be associated with Arcus because I knew it would only hurt me. I didn't know what was between him and Lily, but I hoped they wouldn't hurt Ulysses.
When we arrived at the dean's office, we went in together because he said he felt shy talking alone.
"Oh, Ms. Welsh, you're here too. Do you need something?" our dean smiled and asked. I shook my head. "No, I just accompanied Leo because he was too shy to talk to you," I explained.
I heard his soft laughter as he asked us to sit down. He spoke only to Leo and handed him his schedule.
"Leonardo Alejandro Gabriel your section is 12 STEM 1. You'll be classmates with Eunice's brother and crush," Mr. Smith said.
The dean was our uncle, he is also the owner of the school, he married my mom's sister. We were close to him, and Ulysses had mentioned several times that Arcus was my crush.
"I don't have a crush on that guy, Uncle," I said, shaking my head at him. He just laughed and said, "Since you two already know each other, I'm assigning you, Eunice, to tour Leo around the school." I nodded in agreement and didn't argue anymore.
We both left the office and headed straight to a waiting shed. "I'll tour you around tomorrow; we don't have enough time now. There's only 30 minutes left until class resumes," I told him. "Okay," he replied, pulling out his cellphone.
"Eunice, can we take a picture? I'll just send it to my mom," he said. I wanted to decline, but I saw Arcus, and it looked like he was searching for someone.
"Sure," I replied to Leo and turned toward his camera. We both smiled and faced the lens, but just before he could click the shot, someone interrupted us.
It was Arcus, and he looked furious. He seemed like he wanted to hurt someone just to release his anger.
"Not so fast, Gabriel," Arcus said as he shoved me aside and took back Leo's cellphone.
Arcus dragged me to a place where there weren't many people and then glared at me. "I thought you liked me? You're a liar," he said. I furrowed my brow and glared back at him, saying, "I don't like you anymore, Arcus."
"I'm not going to accept that."
"And why not? Don't you hate me?" I said in frustration as I pulled his hand off my arm.
"Eunice, please give me some peace of mind," he said hoarsely, almost pleading.
"Did you drink, Arcus? Are you drunk? You should be the one giving me peace of mind. I'm no longer bothering you. I'm ignoring you, but you keep trying to get my attention!"
"No, I can't handle it if you ignore me. I'll lose my mind, Eunice. What do you want me to do so you won't notice that Gabriel anymore?" he asked.
My heart was racing, and it felt like it was about to explode.
"I don't care who you talk to, Arcus. You don't want me, so stop what you're doing. Don't give me false hope."
"I do care, Eunice!" he shouted, now angry.
"What do you care, Arcus? You're Ulysses' friend, yes, but our friendship ended a long time ago. So tell me, what do you care if I'm with someone else?" I asked him.
"I care, and it hurts me because I love you!"