The Last Dance

Chapter 11 - Irreplaceable

My eyes went down to the bandage in his right hand. I thought he already removed that before the competition? My eyes went up to his perfectly toned arms, and the veins were displayed proudly on them. How come Stallion's uniform looks so good on him?

"Of course I know how hard you prepared for that, Alisha..." He seems in doubt whether to continue what is in his head. "But I don't want you for such competitions. You don't belong there. I thought you wanted a lowkey and private life. Being the Ms. Stallion University entails responsibility and unwanted popularity." My lips are on thin line when I realized how hollow his reason is.

"So what if I become famous, Marco? That will not harm me. In fact, I can use that to build my network. Can you just please be honest with me now. Don't pretend that you care for me when you did what you did!" His jaw moved, and I am awed. He is pretty much a perfection from heaven.

He stood and walked close to me. My brow raised to challenge him. His honesty might hurt me. And when I get hurt, it's only me who will suffer because he will never be sorry for saying what he wants. No matter what he says or does, I will still accept him in my life. It's always me who loses because I am afraid of really being away from him.

"You came into my life first." My tears started coming out when he said that silently. He does not want to imply argument or anything negative.

"And so?" I asked as I wiped my wet face.

"And so nothing comes before you. Don't cry in front of me because that makes me feel sucks for hurting you. No title can define how great of a person you are, Alisha. Even you did not win, you still came first in my life. I might have chosen her at that time when I was devastated, but I can't live without you. Sorry. Sorry for being a loser who bribes the judges to let the woman I love win." My heart aches a little when he called Camille the woman he loves.

What is the point of coming first into his life if he can't give me the love I wanted? What am I exactly in his life?

"You are confusing me." I said as I turned my back on him.

"In what way? Tell me in what way I am confusing you, Alisha, so I can give you a definite explanation. I don't want anything to be blurry between us. You know that I rely on you more than anyone. I will be a mess once you decide to abandon me." That sounds good in my ears. I love that he depends on me as much as I depend on him too.

For the previous years, he stayed with me when I need someone to cry on when my grandmother died. He cooks for me every time I'm throwing a tantrums because of my period. He takes my side every time I am having an issue with my classmates. He's always with me regardless if I am mad, sad, wrong or right. He would stay with me until I regain my old self, and then would make me understand my fault and others' perspectives. He can be so immature when it comes to chasing Camille, but his wisdom and intelligence are really sexy about him. I fell deep.

"You made it look like you chose her over me. Mom wanted the title, and I worked hard for a month for that. How dare you... gave up my fight for her?" His breathing went fast, but his eyes remained calm. That jaw that's been moving in anger made my legs quivered for a brief moment.

Even the air conditioner in the laboratory is at lowest, my eyes still feel hot when he

hugged me.

"Stop crying please." Only at that moment, I realized that I was crying.

He pulled a handkerchief from his pants and gave it to me.

"I told you. Your place in my life is irreplaceable, Alisha. There is only one thing that can take you away from me, and that is death. For the rest of my life, I want you to be here with me. Stop crying. That is not the Alisha that I know."

I punched his chest because I still felt so bad for what he did.

"I promised to treat you to an ice cream parlor. Just let me help you finish these experiments so we can go ahead." I nodded. That's how weak I am for you, Marco. You can crash me alive, and I will still pick my own pieces if you command me to.

I excused myself to go to the comfort room to fix my make up. He volunteered to do the rest of the experiments and lab report. This is his forte; Science and Math. No wonder, he is one of the top students in Engineering.

When I was about to open the glass door of the laboratory, the handle can't be pushed nor pulled. It is a glass door, and it is locked through RFID. I tried to look at the fingerprint verification machine outside, but it has no lights anymore meaning it has been turned off. Oh no! Did they lock us out here?

I need to calm.

"What is the problem?" Marco asked sounding so cool.

"Uhm we got locked in here. It's still early, so I'm sure there is still a lot of students who will pass by. But if you have phone, that would be a great..."

"I left it in my car. I was rushing here, so I forgot it there. For sure you have your phone. You can just call one of your friends to report to the guards." He did not even bother looking at me. He's taking a good look at what he was doing.

"My battery is dead and I don't have my charger with me." That's the moment he looked at me with his brows raised. Before he said something, he first looked around the room as if looking for something that can help us to get out.

"As long as there is no ghost here, I can stay for the night. We can have ice cream tomorrow." Is he kidding me?

"What? You can't be serious! You have to do something about this!" He shrugged his shoulder.

"Let's see. The glass doors in the laboratory are one-way glasses. Even you stand in there for the whole evening, ghosts from the outside will not be able to see you. We can use flashlight to call attention, but my arms hurt so much from..." He stopped from what he was about to say.

I cleared my throat. Did he get into fight?

"From what, Marco Sy?" He took a deep sigh, and looked at me from head to toe.

"From punching Alexis. That fucker has been bothering you for days. I can't stand for it, so I taught him some lesson." He said it casually as if nothing is wrong with that.

"Aquino? H-he is my friend! Why did you do that?!"

"Friend my foot, Alisha. I can clearly see his intention in befriending you. He promises not to hang with you again. Just tell me if there's any man who bothers you. Your brother will take care of him." I glared at him, but he did not seem to care. What a psychopath!