Bea's POV
"You love me? Are you joking?" I asked irritably, letting out a small laugh.
He shook his head and tried to take my hand. "I love you, Eunice. Please believe me," he said in a hoarse voice. I could see the sadness in his eyes.
"You don't love me, Arcus. You just can't accept that no one is chasing after you anymore," I replied, fighting back the tears that threatened to escape my eyes. "You don't love me. Because if you did, you wouldn't hurt me," I whispered.
"I love you, Eunice. I love you so much," he said again, taking my hand and kissing it. I felt his tears streaming down, and I wanted to comfort him, but I was in pain and felt pity for myself at the same time.
"Arcus, please, don't give me false hope. Just stop this!" I yelled, pulling my hand from his grasp. He stared into my eyes, and I saw tears continue to flow from his. Tears from the eyes I once loved so much.
"You told me you didn't like me. I—I felt that. I felt that you really couldn't love me. You couldn't even look me in the eye, even though we were friends," I said, and all the tears I had been holding back fell at once. "You said you would protect me from those who bullied me, you said you wouldn't leave me, but you left me anyway," I uttered, unable to raise my voice because it felt like something was stuck in my throat.
"Eunice, I admit that I made a mistake. I admit that I pushed you away, but it was for your own good because I didn't want you to get hurt. Because I love you."
I was about to respond when the bell rang, signaling the start of class. I turned my back on Arcus and walked straight to my building, seeing my classmates already sitting quietly.
I took my seat and noticed Lily looking at me. "Are you okay?" she asked. I just nodded and didn't say anything.
I didn't want to talk to anyone, not to anyone. I didn't want to speak to anyone because I was confused, confused about what I was feeling. I was scared and relieved, but the fear overshadowed everything in my heart.
I just listened to the class and didn't speak until it was over.
"Eunice, come with me and your brother," Lily said, grabbing my arm. "No, I still have somewhere to go," I replied curtly, turning my back on her.
The truth is, I still wasn't ready to talk to Lily because I was unsure about what kind of relationship she had with Arcus and what they were hiding.
I walked out of our building and headed straight to the gate. I spotted Leo there, seemingly waiting for someone. When he saw me, he waved, so I waved back. I approached him since I was waiting for a taxi to pass by.
"Eunice, are you okay? Sorry I didn't follow you earlier; my mom called," he said. "I'm fine," I replied and smiled at him.
I then saw Arcus walking towards me. We stared at each other; it felt like my world stopped as I looked at him. His uniform's buttons were open, revealing a tight white shirt underneath that accentuated his muscles and abs.
Once he reached me, he looked at Leo first before turning back to me. "Can we talk?" he asked. I didn't respond and waited for him to continue. "Just for a moment," he pleaded. I nodded and told Leo I would go ahead.
We walked until we reached a vacant field at school, where no one else was around. I waited for him to speak to break the silence between us.
"Eunice, everything I said was true," he started. "I'm not lying to you, and I certainly don't want to hurt you. I just really had to make a decision that would hurt someone."
"And I'm the one you chose to hurt," I whispered. He looked at me and shook his head. "It's not like that," he said. I laughed at him and was about to leave when he quickly grabbed my arm.
"Please, stop it, Arcus. Just stop this. You don't love me, okay? Because if you did, you wouldn't go after my friend. You know my brother is pursuing her, and you also know that I like you, yet you still chose to hurt me, and you dragged my brother into this too!" I yelled, my anger boiling over, but my love for him was even stronger.
"What? Lily and I aren't in a relationship; I don't like her," he replied.
"I heard you talking. Lily was crying. And why are you meeting up? Why did you help her when she fell? While me even if I were to suffer and die in front of you, you still wouldn't notice, because you don't care about me!" I shouted.
"We don't have a relationship. Ulysses and Lily found out that I like you, and they're definitely going to tell you. I've been trying to stop Lily from telling you the truth because I didn't want you to find out. I'm afraid of hurting you. What you heard was her crying because she wants to tell you the truth, but I've been stopping her, and she's feeling your distance, which is why she's hurting. I helped her because I was told to watch over your class; if anything goes wrong to all of you, I'd be the one blamed," he explained, looking deeply into my eyes. I could feel the sincerity in his words, but I was still scared of getting hurt.
"Arcus, let's talk tomorrow. I'm just exhausted," I replied. He nodded slowly and helped me towards the gate. He was also the one who called a taxi for me to go home.
"I love you so much, Eunice," he whispered, kissing my forehead before allowing me to get into the taxi.
I didn't look back and kept my gaze fixed on the road, but he suddenly spoke, "Eunice, believe me. I will come up with a plan to get out of this bind; I'll fight my father just to be with—" I didn't hear what he was going to say because the taxi I was in suddenly started moving.
When I got home, I immediately went straight to my room and locked myself in. I cried and hugged my pillow, wondering why everything was so easy for him.
I had tried to confess to him several times, but he always rejected me. Still, I couldn't stop my heart from loving him. I couldn't teach my heart to just be angry with him.
"Eunice, are you in there?" I heard my mom say as she knocked. I hesitated for a moment, unsure if I should open the door. "Eunice, your dad is here. He's looking for you," she said. I stood up and straightened my uniform before heading to the door and opening it.
I could see the concern in my mom's eyes; she wanted to ask what was wrong, but she respected my space. She didn't want to pressure me into sharing anything.
"Sweetheart, I'm just here," she said and hugged me. I smiled at her and hugged her back. Together, we went down to the living room, and I saw Arcus talking to my dad.
I quickly walked over to them. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Uh..." he replied, glancing at Ulysses, who was sitting down and on his phone.
"Eunice, your boyfriend is here. Aren't you going to say hi?"