Eulalia

Chapter 21: Legitimate Berries

Chapter 21: Legitimate Berries

“Brice!”
“Sandara!”
This was the first time I met Sandara in what felt like a really long time. On
that Thursday, she decided to call me out of nowhere and asked if I wanted to join
her for dinner. Since I had no other plans except studying that evening, I agreed
to it. Besides, I wanted to see Sandara for a while now. I was just never the type to
pick up the phone and call someone first. At this school, I felt like Sandara was the
only one who really understood me because we were so similar.
“I was thinking,” said Sandara, looking up from her lasagna, “of joining the
drama production.”
“Oh?”
“I used to act back in high school.”
“Cool.”
“I was in every drama production since freshman year,” said Sandara
proudly.
“Good luck.”
“Come with me.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“I don't know how to act,” I said, forcing my attention toward my food
instead.
Sandara laughed at my reaction. “I'm not asking you to try out with me.”
“Then...”
“I just need a supportive friend there to watch my audition,” Sandara said
sweetly. I was relieved to hear this. “I would ask Jordan but you know how that is.”
I nodded. “Yeah... it sucks.”
“Oh well.”
I wanted more than anything to ask Sandara whether Jordan was
homosexual or not. However, since she was in love with Jordan, chances were she
was blind to it anyways. If I recall correctly, Sandara claimed that Jordan's
girlfriend was a friend of hers, therefore she wouldn't know if Jordan was lying or
not about that either. I sighed. Jordan, when had you become so complicated to
understand? Then again, I had been avoiding him like the plague for several days
now. Instead, I had been looking for any signs, but so far, I hadn't seen anything
like that. He had way too much cabinet stuff like Etchi mentioned before, but I
wasn't sure how that was any indication that he was gay. He was just... healthy
and clean?
“I'll see you when I see you,” Sandara said at the end of our meeting.
I smiled at her. “Yeah.”
“Say hi to Jordan and the others for me.”
“I will.”
According to Sandara, the audition is next week on a Wednesday evening.
We decided to meet up in front of her room and then, head over to the audition
location together. I wondered whether I would be too out of place being there and
not auditioning for a part in the play. Whatever the case was, I made a mental
note not to forget this no matter what.
As for Sunday, I still hadn't decided who I would go to that game with. Like
Rosenthal mentioned before, Jordan was an obvious choice. He was into football
as much as me. At the moment, though, I was not comfortable going there with
him. Who were my other options? Actually, Etchi liked sports, too. However, Etchi
was the busiest person I know. There was no way he had enough time to go to a
football game with me on Sunday. Casey and Rosenthal were out of the question.
Xara and Vivien were not viable options either. It would be lame to go by myself
so maybe I'd ask a friend from high school at this rate.
Every Friday, I met up with Eulalia and Jordan for lunch. Even though I was
avoiding Jordan this week, I wanted to see Eulalia so I went anyways. I was only
supposed to see Etchi for dinner and study session on Fridays. However...
“Brice,” Etchi grinned at me from the table.
He was here! I wasn't mentally prepared to see Etchi this early in the day!
“Hi Etchi,” I said, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice. “Where's
Eulalia and Jordan?”
“Jordan's running late,” said Etchi, checking his text message. Etchi, you
sneaky bastard. You contacted Jordan behind my back. “Layla's not here yet, I
guess?”
“I'm here.”
I immediately turned around and noticed the short girl standing right behind
me with a package of blueberries. Eulalia looked sleepier than usual.. until she
noticed Etchi. She brightened up and grabbed the seat next to him immediately. I
was jealous at her obvious favoritism until I noticed she gave me a look of
challenge. Why was she staring at me like I was her enemy?
“I'll sit here then,” I said awkwardly as I sat in front of Etchi.
Eulalia pointed at the seat in front of her. “You sit there.”
“Er...”
Etchi appeared to be as lost as I was. “Layla?”
“So slow,” said Eulalia, gazing at me threateningly. “Move faster.”
Not knowing what to do, I sat down where Eulalia indicated. Now, I noticed
Etchi glaring at me from behind Eulalia. What was going on here? It wasn't my
fault Eulalia wanted me to sit in front of her where she could keep her eye on me
for unknown reasons. I mean, sure, I was flattered, but I was as much a victim of
Eulalia's manipulating ways as you, Etchi.
“Er, so,” I said, feeling more awkward with these two next to each other.
“You came, Etchi.”
“Yeah,” Etchi said, smirking at me. “I come all the time.”
I sighed at him. “I'm sure since it's your job.”
Eulalia opened her package of blueberries and threw one in her mouth. The
thing was... she chewed so loudly that Etchi and I had to stop our conversation to
shift our attention over her way.
“You have something to say, Eulalia?” I asked.
“Not in particular.”
Etchi took a blueberry without asking and said, “She won't tell you unless
you beg, Brice.” I was confused now. “Whenever she replies with a 'not in
particular' to a direct question like that, it's not that she has nothing to say. In
actuality, she wants you to fight for her real response. If not, it's your loss, not
hers.”
I was slightly impressed. “You do know her well.”
At Etchi's comment about her, Eulalia simply put another blueberry in her
mouth and chewed loudly. I could tell she was definitely frustrated by something.
But what could it be? None of us had done anything yet to make me upset. Like
me, Etchi was watching her and figuring out what she might be trying to say with
this obnoxious noise.
“Layla,” said Etchi. No response from Eulalia. “I promised to make it up to
you by having lunch with Jordan and Brice. I'm here now. Shouldn't you be
happy?”
“I'm not happy,” Eulalia stated.
“Why aren't you happy?”
“Who knows.”
“That's my line.”
“You don't own that line.”
Etchi smirked and pinched Eulalia's cheek. “Tell me.”
“No,” Eulalia said. “Read my mind then.”
“Hm,” Etchi said, taking on the challenge. “You're upset because I said
something perverted earlier.” Eulalia shook her head. “I knew it. You're fine with
me being a pervert.” I had the wrong mental image of them right now. “I just had
to put that out there for safety reasons.”
“Try again.”
“I gave away your secret language to Brice?”
Without saying anything, Eulalia wrapped her arms around Etchi's neck and
hugged him. It was the cutest gesture I had ever seen so I had to look away
because I was burning with jealousy. I wanted Eulalia to be that cute around me.
God. How was I so blind to how cute she was before? Damn it, Etchi.
“But you were acting childish before then,” Etchi said, patting the back of
her head. “Let's see.” Etchi pretended to be lost in thought until he cried, “Layla,
stop thinking of ripe ovaries! I'm trying to concentrate and read your mind here!”
At that comment, Eulalia laughed and squeezed Etchi harder. I had never
heard her laugh like that before. I kind of wished she wasn't hugging Etchi at the
moment because I wanted to see what kind of expression she made when she
laughed. I wanted to make her laugh like that. All of his reminded me of Eulalia
saying that Etchi was good at making her laugh.
“I'm not thinking of ripe ovaries though!” she said.
“Liar! You're always thinking of ripe ovaries!”
“Nu-uh! Ken-ken's just making stuff up!”
“Hey,” Etchi said, obviously upset. He kept glancing at me now since he had
no idea I already knew. “You're not supposed to call me that here.”
“I like Ken-Ken's real name more,” said Eulalia stubbornly.
“Still.”
“It's just Brice.”
“That's not the point...”
“Ken,” I snickered to myself.
Annoyed, Etchi said to me, “My name isn't Ken or Kent.” Eulalia finally
released him and sat back down, eating her blueberries like nothing happened. “If
you must know, I have multiple names. My father's side of the family calls me
'Kenichi' while my mother's side calls me 'Ken-zhi'. My American name is Kenny
though.”
“That's cool,” I said sincerely.
“Is it?”
“I would like multiple names.”
“Layla is the same as me,” Etchi explained. “She has many names, too.”
Eulalia sighed. “My full name is very long.”
“Eulalia Luis Ramirez de Sans y Lopez de Molinero Zamora Luna Garcia
Perez de la Cruz,” said Etchi, stealing another blueberry from her.
“Show off,” Eulalia said.
“I always wanted to say that out loud.”
There was a part of me that was tempted to ask Etchi to repeat that name
again so I could memorize it myself, but I thought better of it. Eulalia used to call
me 'Mr. Stalker' constantly. I had no intention of returning back to those days.
“So,” I said. “Your name would be Eulalia de la Cruz?”
Eulalia shook her head. “Under American custom, my name would be Eulalia
Perez. Perez is my old man's surname.”
“Oh, got it.”
“Imagine how crazy it would be if our kid inherited all of your surnames and
my random Asian family name before the end,” said Etchi in a teasing voice to
Eulalia.
Eulalia lowered her eyes. “When we're married, I only want your random
Asian family name.”
I liked how Etchi used 'if' and Eulalia used 'when'. Then again, I was
grasping at straws here because these two acted exactly like a couple even if they
weren't really dating at the moment. I had to think of something to break up this
mutual conversation between them.
“That's no fun,” Etchi said in a whiny voice.
“Too bad,” Eulalia said in an equally whiny voice.
“Let me take care of the naming business,” said Etchi, pinching her cheek
again. “All you need to do is eat your blueberries, little one.”
“No, they're-”
“Legitimate berries,” said Etchi and Eulalia in unison.
Thankfully, Jordan arrived in time to catch their last word together. He
simply smiled and greeted all of us. Eulalia brightened up at the sight of Jordan
and offered him one of her blueberries. Anyways, Jordan dropped off his
belongings on the chair and excused himself to buy lunch. Much to my surprise,
Jordan asked if Eulalia wanted to tag along.
“Too sore,” Eulalia said in reply.
“I'll buy you any drink you like.”
Eulalia accepted the bait. “If you insist.”
Right after Eulalia and Jordan left, Etchi glared at me and asked, “What the
fuck did you do?”
“Do what?”
“What did you say to Eulalia?”
I shrugged innocently. “Nothing really.” Honestly, I had no idea what he was
implying. “Er, what exactly are you talking about?”
Etchi wrapped his arms across his chest. “Why the hell does she want you to
sit in front of her?”
“Is it that big of a deal?” I asked smoothly, even if I wondered the same
thing.
“You know how she is. She's too aloof to ask that of you for no reason.”
“Why should you feel threatened by me?” I asked. Etchi's eyes widened at
my assertion. “I have nothing over you and you know it.” I stopped and thought
about my own words. “If so, why do you always treat me this way?”
Etchi laid his eyes elsewhere. “It's not always about you.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” Etchi said quickly. “You sure you haven't said anything to her?”
“Nothing important,” I lied.
My words managed to calm Etchi down. I thought about what I said to her
last time about how she should be more active with her feelings. I hadn't seen any
of that though so I wasn't really lying, was I? Thankfully, Jordan and Eulalia
returned before Etchi could question me further on anything. Eulalia was sipping
orange juice from a straw without a care in the world. I said this once already but
she was so adorable. After Eulalia slipped into her seat, she passed over a bottle
of pink lemonade over to Etchi. Somehow, she got him a straw too so they looked
like twins sipping juice at the same time.
Anyways, I set on focusing on my lunch while Jordan talked to Etchi since
they hadn't seen or talked to each other in a really long time. I noticed that Eulalia
was staring at me while the other two chatted. I unconsciously either glanced
away or kept my entire attention on my lunch instead. There was no doubt about
it- Eulalia was acting weirder than usual. But why?
“So, Etchi,” Jordan said. “I heard from Lally that you'll be joining us from now
on?”
“I kind of had no choice,” said Etchi honestly.
“Welcome on board!”
“Thanks.”
“It's nice to have more men in the group,” Jordan said.
“You'd like that, wouldn't you?” asked Etchi, smirking.
“Huh?” asked Jordan, obviously confused.
“And this is why you can't make friends,” I said to Etchi.
“Well,” Jordan said, looking a bit down. “It would be nice to have the other
ladies back.”
“Other ladies?” I asked in surprise. “I wasn't aware we had one.”
Thanks to my words, Eulalia came back to earth. This must mean that after
her initial Eulalia glare at me she went in a daze again. In that time period, she
must have traveled a thousand miles in her world of ripe ovaries and pollinators
before she paid any attention to what we were talking about. At first, she pouted
at me. Next, she simply ignored me and grabbed a hold of Etchi's arm. At the
touch, Etchi glanced at her and looked like he had the hugest urge to pat her on
the head.
“Oh, right,” Jordan beamed at the sight. “I always wondered this but you
guys must be close.”
“Depends on what kind of 'close',” said Etchi, looking at me now for some
reason.
“What kinds of 'close' are there?” I asked, taking him on.
Releasing Etchi's arm, Eulalia sat up straight and decided to join in before
Etchi and I argued like usual. Somehow, it just happened without either of us
trying.
“I'm not dating him,” she stated.
Jordan laughed. “Well, I just thought-”
“I don't believe in dating,” Eulalia said firmly.
“That's all right, too,” said Jordan. “Everyone has their own beliefs.”
“Anyways,” I interrupted. “I agree about what you said about Sandara and
Vivien earlier.”
“Yeah,” Jordan sighed. “Even if it is my fault.”
“What's with the sudden self-deprecating?” asked Etchi, smirking cruelly at
Jordan. “You're too hot to do that to yourself!”
Jordan blushed. “I'm not trying-”
“I miss Sandara.”
Neither Jordan nor I had heard so much emotion in Eulalia's words before.
The way she said those three lines came across as very genuine. There was no
doubt that Eulalia missed Sandara and wanted Sandara back. Judging by Etchi's
painful expression, he was thinking hard on what he should say or do. I knew Etchi
well enough to figure that he wasn't that great at responding to emotional
moments like this. This was when I thought of something.
“Actually,” I spoke up. “Sandara's auditioning this upcoming Wednesday.”
“For a play?” Jordan asked.
“Yeah,” I answered.
“That's great,” Jordan said. “She used to act back at Wilson.”
“Was she any good?” asked Etchi curiously.
“She's pretty good,” Jordan smiled.
“I want to see,” Eulalia said suddenly.
I nodded at her and suggested, “We should all go and cheer her on.”
“I like that idea,” Jordan said. “Let's do it.”
“Sorry, but I'm busy every day,” Etchi said quickly.
“It's in the evening,” I told Etchi.
“I have work.”
“Eulalia,” I said, turning to her for help. “Say something.”
“His work schedule conflicts with Sandara's audition time,” Eulalia said. She
just finished her juice. “Rescheduling is quite a hassle for his type of job.”
“Thank you, Eulalia,” said Etchi, sighing. “Finally, someone understands
me.”
Well, she was no help at all.
“I truly believe that Etchi is adequate at acting, though,” she continued.
Wait. Maybe I spoke too soon.
“You can act, Etchi?” asked Jordan, surprised at the news.
“He can do anything,” said Eulalia, raising her voice. It was as if she was
advertising him. “There is nothing Etchi can't do if he wants to. I have never seen
him fail at anything.” Etchi was flustered and speechless all of a sudden. Smiling
in satisfaction, Eulalia turned to Etchi, “You should try out, too.”
“Yeah,” I said, recovering from Eulalia's words. “You should.”
 “It would be a nice opportunity for yourself,” Jordan agreed.
“I'll...” Etchi said softly, “think about it.”
Our lunch meeting didn't last much longer after that because a bunch of
girls finally noticed that Etchi was sitting around and gathered around him. It
appeared they recognized them because one of their friends was a client of
Etchi's. Anyways, these girls cared for Jordan too because he was hot, but ignored
Eulalia and I for the most part. Key word: most.
“Is she your client?” one of them asked.
Etchi glanced at Eulalia before he grinned at them. “No, they're my friends.”
“Oh!”
“If you want,” Etchi said, getting up. “I'll show you what I'm capable of.”
With that, Etchi exited with a bunch of squealing girls. Eulalia stared at the
bottle he left behind before she heaved herself up from her seat as well. Without
saying a word to either Jordan or I, she went off the opposite direction as Etchi.
Jordan told me that he was going to try to contact Sandara's high school friends
before I ran after Eulalia. Since she was slow and took forever to walk, I caught up
in no time at all. She kept walking despite noticing me next to her.
“I'll walk back with you,” I offered. She stayed silent so I added with a forced
laugh, “But don't you have class right after lunch?”
“I'm sleepy,” she said.
“Oh, okay.”
“Anything else, Mr. Stalker?”
The nickname returned so I was too annoyed at her and asked, “How about
you? Do you always walk away in defeat when you feel jealous?” Eulalia must be
annoyed at me, too, because she kept walking and refused to answer. “It's not
good to keep it in. Why don't you tell him how you feel?”
“I'm not a switch, Mr Stalker,” Eulalia said. “I can't talk about my feelings
because you say so.”
“You should at least tell someone, if not Etchi.”
“I'm not a switch,” she repeated.
I sighed. “You can at least try?”
Eulalia stopped and turned to me with a forced serious expression. I was a
bit taken back because she gave no indication of stopping her walk at all. With our
huge height difference, she had to lift her head up to stare me straight in the
eyes. Other students passing by stared at us and some even talked among
themselves about us. What were those two doing staring at each other like that?
“Er, Eulalia?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable.
“You are a hypocrite,” Eulalia said in a robotic yet slightly angry voice. I felt
defensive all of a sudden. “You sleep with other women all the time but you refuse
to sleep with me. You spend all your time with other women but you rarely see
me. You even kiss and hang out with men. You act like we're together when we're
not together anymore.”
Since Eulalia was saying these words to me, everyone around us were giving
me the weirdest looks ever. They looked like they were shunning me. They were
wearing 'you are a terrible boyfriend' on their faces. I wanted to shout out loud
that she wasn't saying all these nasty things to me but to Etchi! But of course, I
couldn't exactly say that when I was the one who provoked Eulalia to speak out
her feelings in the first place. She would never trust me again if I were to protect
myself. Still, I was feeling very uncomfortable at being stared at like this.
“You promised our relationship would be simple,” Eulalia continued
nevertheless. “But you keep giving me mixed messages. You want me to be less
passive, but you know from the very beginning that is how I am. What do you
want from me? How am I supposed to tell you my feelings when I have no idea
how I should say them?”
“That's good, Eulalia,” I said proudly, trying to sound enthusiastic. “You
should tell him like that.”
Eulalia sighed. “Really...”
“You need to be less forceful though.”
“Less forceful...”
“You don't sound natural at all. You sound like you're reading off a piece of
paper.”
Eulalia glared at me. “You're making fun of me again.”
“Oops,” I said. “It's true though!”
“I can only say it how I say it,” she said under her breath. “I don't know any
other way.”
“Well,” I said, thinking. “If that's the case, you should say it like that.”
“I suppose.”
“Hey! I know that line! Don't shrug it off so easily!”
“I sound so whiny,” Eulalia said suddenly. Wait. What topic was she on about
now? “Like you.”
“What?” I cried. Where did that come from?
“You are whiny.”
“No.”
Eulalia glanced away. “I can only be Eulalia. I can't be Brice.” I was more
confused now. “I don't want to express my feelings like Brice. I want to figure out
how to express myself accurately.”
“Are you insulting me?” I demanded.
“No,” Eulalia said firmly. “I envy you.”
Okay. I did not see that coming. “How?”
“It takes a lot of effort to be that whiny,” she said.
“You are insulting me!”
However, Eulalia seemed to be fed up with our conversation so she went on
her way. This time, I decided not to pursue her. I just stood there and ignored
everyone around me. Eulalia was... envious of me? Why? What had I done? I never
thought someone like Eulalia could be envious of someone like me. Just then, I
had an image of Etchi in my head. He said he was jealous me before, too. I sighed,
feeling shitty all of a sudden. Those two were so similar.
That evening, I met up with Etchi to study as usual. Unlike his usual cool
self, Etchi looked beaten up at my front door. When he entered my room, he
immediately collapsed into a nearby chair. I checked up on him. Etchi seemed to
have fallen asleep. Sighing, I went ahead and studied by myself at my desk. A few
minutes later, I noticed that he stirred and observed his surroundings as if he had
no idea where he was. When Etchi realized he was in my room, he sat up straight.
“Brice!”
“Hi.”
“May I have one of Jordan's hair clips?”
 I blinked. “Jordan has hair clips?”
“Of course he does,” said Etchi, walking over to me. “Lend one to me.”
Much to my surprise, Jordan indeed had hair clips in his cabinet. I handed
them to Etchi. Etchi clipped up the strands of hair in his eyes. With his hair out of
the way, Etchi appeared more focused than before. He sat down, pulled his book
out, and went into study mode. I called it study mode because when Etchi became
like this, nothing was able to distract him. I liked him better this way. After all, the
amount of discipline it must take to be this focused was something only Etchi was
the master at.
After an hour of pure silent reading for both of us, someone knocked on the
door. I jolted up from my trance. Who could it be? I had an image of a bunch of
Etchi or Jordan fangirls standing there. They were the only logical explanation.
Jordan always had his key with him so it wouldn't be him. Sandara would call me
before she visited. I wasn't that hopeful to see Vivien and Eulalia all of a sudden. It
seemed out of character for Xara or Casey.
Before I answered the door, I glanced over at Etchi. Like I thought, he was
concentrating so hard on his studying that he didn't even hear the knock. I sighed.
I should learn from him and ignore all distractions. Too late now. I got up for this so
I should answer it. Besides, it would be way too annoying for whoever it was to
keep on knocking over and over.
I opened the door. Eulalia was dressed in a white dress with white ribbons
holding her hair up. I nearly blushed. However, as expected, Eulalia went pass me
like I didn't even existed and straight to where Etchi was. I wanted to stop her but
then, it would be really weird and questionable. So, I had to stand there and watch
as the girl I liked went over to my best friend. I was going to predict this: Etchi was
going to notice Eulalia despite his study mode.
“Ken-Ken!” Eulalia tackled Etchi into a hug.
“Ah! Layla!”
See? Etchi had never been able to focus with Eulalia around.
“What are you doing here?” asked Etchi, throwing me a nasty look over
Eulalia's shoulder.
“Is there something wrong with me being here?” asked Eulalia.
Etchi narrowed his eyes at me. “You're here often?”
“Relatively.”
Eulalia, were you purposely trying to get me killed? You've been to my room
three times since the last time Etchi was here! Then again, three times was
probably more times than any other room she might have visited in this dorm
building. In any case, Etchi was taking this the wrong way. Whatever. He should.
He had been underestimating me for a long time now.
“You should go,” said Etchi softly.
“Why?”
“I'm studying with Brice. I can't study with you around.”
Eulalia pushed herself away from Etchi. I was in awe. She had the most hurt
look on her face. It was like a child whose parent just told them that they weren't
getting any ice cream for dessert. Upset, Eulalia began pulling Etchi's hair. The
clips fell out and on the ground. The two were wrestling on the floor now. I had no
idea what to say or do so I just stood there like an idiot.
“I'll study, too!” Eulalia declared.
 “You don't like studying!”
“But I want to be here with you!”
Etchi had Eulalia pinned on the ground now, but he had a soft look in his
eyes when she said those words. Actually, those words shocked me too,
nevertheless Etchi.
“You... mean that?”
Eulalia nodded. “Why wouldn't I?”
“You're willing to study to spend more time with me?”
“I said that.”
“But,” said Etchi, trying to wrap his mind around it. “You rarely do anything
you don't like.”
“I do not understand what you mean,” Eulalia blinked. “I like being with
you.”
Flustered, Etchi muttered, “That's the first time you said something like that
to me.”
“You should know it already.”
“I know, but it's nice to hear it out loud.”
“I want to study with you and Brice.”
At the mention of my name, I thought I should join in, “You should let her,
Etchi.” Etchi gaped at me. He must have forgotten I was here. “Eulalia shouldn't
be attending USC to grow plants. She should be here to study and learn and work
towards a major.”
“Major...” said Eulalia thoughtfully.
“Eulalia,” I said firmly. “Haven't you thought at all about your major?”
“No,” she said honestly.
“You should.”
Etchi got off Eulalia and up to his feet. “If you're willing to study, Layla,
that's the next step you should take.”
Eulalia knelt on the ground. “What's your major, Ken-Ken?”
“Music,” he said immediately. “At least, that's the plan for now.”
“I'll be a Music major, too.”
“That's not how it works, Eulalia,” I said sternly. I went closer to them. “You
can't just pick a major randomly like that.”
“Why not?” asked Eulalia, confused.
“Etchi is a Music major because he plays an instrument,” I said. “Do you
play an instrument?”
“Do you have to play an instrument?”
I sighed and glanced to Etchi. “How about you explain it to her?”
“Layla,” said Etchi, crouching down in front of her. “You have to study a lot
about music to be a Music major.” Eulalia nodded in understanding. “I know you.
You will be bored. You have no interest in music at all.”
Eulalia clutched Etchi's sleeve. “I can start.”
“I doubt that, but what is this?” Etchi smiled tenderly at her. “I haven't seen
you like this before. What happened to you?”
At his question, Eulalia lowered her eyes and mumbled, “I do not wish to
whine like Brice.” Etchi was lost since he had no idea what she was talking about.
I felt embarrassed that she would describe me like this in front of Etchi. However,
she went on, “It does nothing for me. It does nothing for you. I have studied your
schedule earlier today, Ken-Ken.”
“Oh?”
“Outside of work,” said Eulalia, tightening her grip on his sleeve. “You only
participate in a few activities.” Etchi glanced at me, questioning what she was
talking about with his eyes. I shrugged. I had no idea either. “You sleep, jog, study,
practice guitar, and attend classes.”
“Fuck,” Etchi said, hiding his face behind his arm. “My life is shitty.”
“I cannot sleep with you and I cannot play guitar,” Eulalia continued. “But I
can wake up early and jog. I can study with you and Brice.” Eulalia paused and
muttered, “If we have the same major, I can attend classes with you.” Eulalia
pulled Etchi's arm away from his face and stared at him. “Since I cannot ask you
to stop working because that would be unreasonable, this is the only way to
increase our time together. It will increase by about fifteen hours a week.” Eulalia
stopped and dropped her eyes. “You're not saying anything. Have I
miscalculated... somehow?”
“No,” said Etchi, lowering his head. “You calculated it correctly.”
“Have I said something wrong?”
“No, you haven't.”
“I cannot read your thoughts on my suggestion.”
“Just... give me a moment.”
“That's reasonable,” said Eulalia, clasping her hands on top of her lap. “I will
wait.”
All of a sudden, Etchi laughed miserably and said, “I want to cry, but that
would be very lame.”
“That is your choice,” Eulalia said, slightly down. “But what have I said to
make you unhappy?”
“That's not it,” said Etchi quickly. “I want to cry because I'm happy.”
“How strange,” Eulalia's eyes widened. “People cry when they're happy?”
“Yeah, they do, Layla.”
Eulalia managed a small laugh. “I should learn how to cry whenever I'm with
you, then.” Etchi reached out and hugged her against him without saying a word.
Eulalia decided to continue, “After all, you are the reason I learn that people laugh
when they're happy.”
“You don't have to force yourself to talk anymore. I understand your
intention.”
“Okay.”
Unable to take this anymore, I left my own room. Throughout the entire time
those two talked to each other, I was in so much pain that I couldn't say or think
of anything. My chest hurt so much that I wanted to throw up. I had never felt
such a cold feeling throughout my body before. The sensation just went down to
my fingertips and toes as I walked weakly away from my room. Hell. Even my
throat was beginning to tighten up.
“Brice.”
I stopped in my track and muttered, “Yeah?”
“I did it,” she said. “I managed to express myself sincerely.”
“I know. I saw.”
“You are not like my old man. You helped me.”
I turned around and faked a smile at her. “I told you so.”
 “My perception of you has changed,” she said. “Let's bring Sandara and Vivi
back.”
“Yeah,” I said lamely.
Finally, Eulalia left me alone and went back inside. I was torn now. What
should I do? What should my next move be? I thought that if Eulalia expressed her
negative emotions to Etchi, Etchi would not take well to those selfish feelings.
Also, I thought that if Eulalia understood those feelings, she would finally
understand that Etchi and she were not really twins at all. I wanted her to notice
the differences rather than the similarities they shared. Why did my plan not work
then? Instead, I strengthened their relationship.
After calming down by walking up and down the stairs multiple times, I
acted as if nothing happened at all and returned to my room. I expected to find
them to be in couple mode, but thankfully, Etchi was showing her his music
textbook. He had his hair clipped again. At the sight of me, Eulalia brightened up
and seemed almost relieved to pull her attention away from the text. She was not
going to do well in a Music major.
“Where did you go?” Etchi asked curiously.
“Restroom,” I lied. “Besides, I wanted to give you guys some space.”
“I never expected you to be the considerate type,” said Etchi, lifting a brow.
“What type am I then?” I demanded.
“The type who like to listen to people's private conversations.”
I laughed it off, even though I immediately thought of the two times I spied
on him without him knowing. “Why should I care? You always think badly of me.”
“Now, now, Brice,” said Etchi, smirking. “No need to be so defensive.”
Eulalia pouted at Etchi. “Even though Brice is an easy target for your nasty
remarks, you should play nicer. He is fragile.”
Nope. Those words did not help one bit. They hurt my pride as a man even
more.
“Layla, you don't get it,” Etchi laughed. “He's only being a good boy in front
of you.”
“You should give others more credit,” she said.
“I don't like people.”
“You need better reasoning than that.”
“Er,” I interrupted them. “Shouldn't we be studying now?”
“Layla, go get your biology book,” Etchi said.
“I'm too lazy...” Eulalia was being her usual self.
Etchi got up from the ground. “Give me your room key. I'll get it for you.”
I liked how even though Etchi had the keys to Eulalia's room already, he
pretended otherwise. After he received the key from Eulalia, Etchi left quickly. I
thought about their relationship again. There was a reason why he always had to
keep up an act- Etchi was not supposed to have a girlfriend in the first place. It
would prove difficult for him to retain his job with a girlfriend. Was this the reason
why he kept denying Eulalia in front of other people and me?
“Eulalia,” I said and sat down at my desk. “Are you and Etchi back
together?”
“I suppose,” she said safely.
“Are you not going to tell anyone this time either?”
Eulalia blinked. “Why would we tell anyone?”
 “Never mind,” I said quickly.
Staring at my open textbook, I thought back on everything that happened
between Eulalia, Etchi, and I. From the very beginning, Eulalia and Etchi acted like
complete strangers even though they knew each other before. According to Xara,
Etchi was stressed out from a girl ignoring him at the beginning of the semester.
As far as I could tell, that girl must have been Eulalia. After all, Eulalia had a
tendency to ignore people when they hurt or criticize her character. Finally, Etchi
admitted to me that he used me as a rebound relationship from a previous one.
Even though he never confirmed it, Etchi and Eulalia broke up at some point in the
past.
So, if I put all this information together, Etchi and Eulalia broke up for
reasons unknown before school started. Afterwards, Etchi and Eulalia ignored
each other for a while. They met coincidentally so they talked like they had no
idea who the other person was. Moreover, Eulalia probably knew about the
restrictions on Etchi's job so she kept her mouth shut on their previous
relationship. Despite all this, Etchi wanted to win Eulalia back so he sent her lots
of presents and letters. But for other unknown reasons, Etchi refused to tell her
that he was the person behind all those presents and letters. Eventually, she
found out and they talked for two hours straight.
Yes! That was the turning point! After that, they were able to amend their
relationship a bit. At the time, I thought Eulalia was developing feelings for Etchi.
In actuality, she always liked him because they were together before. Everything
made sense, then. Right now, they probably arrived to the conclusion that despite
everything that had happened so far, they could make this relationship work
again.
However, the previous problems still remained. Because of Etchi's job, he
could not recognize Eulalia as his official girlfriend. Because of Eulalia's beliefs in
relationship, she could not recognize Etchi as her official boyfriend either. Because
of that unknown reason that broke them up in the first place, there was still a
certain strain or distrust in their relationship that probably only I could see.
Furthermore, Eulalia had a hard time expressing her feelings; Etchi had a hard
time creating time for her without getting caught.
From the way I perceived it, these two could only get so far before they
mess up again. In other words, I had been planning my strategy from the wrong
angle. I should stop trying to break them up. Xara should try to do that on her
own. Instead, I should start taking advantage of what I had that Etchi lacked so
Eulalia would like me better than him. I had to convince Eulalia that I was a better
significant other than Etchi. After all, even though he was more intelligent,
handsome, and skilled than I, I could openly be in a relationship with Eulalia and I
could spend way more time with her than Etchi. Plus, it was all about timing in
relationships. Thanks to today, I had moved up in Eulalia's mind. Yes, I wasn't
losing. I should be more confident and optimistic about all this.
Right on time, Etchi returned with Eulalia's books. They looked like Eulalia
hadn't touched them once. At the sight of them though, Eulalia accepted them
without complaint. While I studied at my desk and Etchi at Jordan's desk, Eulalia
read her books on my bed in silent. This was nice. I thought that if Etchi and
Eulalia were in the same room, they would start acting all lovey-dovey in front of
me. Anyways, I noticed that she couldn't sit still the entire time. One minute, she
was laying on her stomach. Another minute, she was sitting on her side. Yeah, her
side. God. I should stop watching her every movement.
“Sleepy,” Eulalia stated two hours later.
Before anyone could say anything, Eulalia fell asleep on my bed with her
head on top of her book. I went over, pulled the book from underneath her head,
and dragged the sheets over her. I sat down and released a heavy sigh. Etchi was
gazing at me from the other side of the room.
“Can you carry her back to her room?” Etchi asked.
“Why can't you?”
“I don't want to touch her right now.”
I gaped. “What kind of an excuse is that? She's not that heavy!”
“Douchebag,” Etchi muttered. “That's not fucking it.”
“And the cursing returns.”
“I don't trust myself with her right now,” Etchi said calmly.
I smirked. “Fine, I'll do it. You have to save your strength for Master Xara
instead.”
“You're just bitter.”
“Not really,” I said. “You just have your priorities all wrong.”
“Shit,” Etchi cried, unclipping his hair and picking up his belongings. “She's
going to study with us from now on, isn't she?”
“Pretty much.”
Etchi groaned. “My grades are going to be crap after this.”
“Wait,” I smiled at him. “You haven't been studying this entire time, have
you?”
“Not one fucking bit,” Etchi laughed. “I can't stop thinking of sex.”
“You... should work on that.”
How else was I supposed to respond to his comment? “I had been watching
your girlfriend this entire time”? Or “I couldn't study for shit either”? Or maybe:
“Same here since she was on my bed after all”? Next week, there was no fucking
way we're studying in my room again. Also, next week, she was not allowed to
wear a dress like that. I was not going through another two hours of torture.
“Actually,” said Etchi, heading over to the sleeping Eulalia. “I'll take her back
to her room.”
“You changed your mind quickly,” I said, forcing myself to sound casual.
Etchi smirked at me. “I forgot for a second there.” I arched a brow as he
lifted her on his back. “She's not wearing a bra. I can't trust her with you.” Damn.
I missed my chance. Etchi indicated at her books. “You can carry those instead.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
Neither of us noticed someone waiting for us when we left the room
together. It wasn't until I heard a 'shit' from Etchi when I whirled around to find
Xara against the wall opposite to our room. Oh shit indeed. I was blanking out. I
could think of nothing that would explain for Etchi's actions. For the past couple of
days, Xara had been venting to me about how she was certain Etchi had found
himself a girlfriend. And now, of all times, she caught him carrying a sleeping
Eulalia. Worst of all, Eulalia wasn't properly dressed either. The only good thing I
could see from all this was that at least, Etchi was leaving my room, not Eulalia's.
“Hi Master Xara,” Etchi greeted.
Xara pointed at Eulalia. “Who is she to you?”
 At Xara's question, Eulalia stirred on top of Etchi's back and muttered, “Ken-
Ken...”