CHAPTER 2
1285 Words
SKYE’S POV
“What did you say to him?” Camille asked as we walked out of the classroom together. Her brows were furrowed, clearly having been waiting to interrogate me after it was announced that Eros and I were going to be partners.
“Nothing. I just told him I didn’t want to work with someone lazy and useless,” I snapped irritably.
Camille raised a brow. “And what did he say?”
“‘Relax.’ Like he couldn’t care less.”
I stopped briefly in the hallway, trying to steady the rising heat in my chest. Why him, of all people? There were dozens of students in our batch, and I had to be paired with him?
I replayed the scene in my head that smirk of his, completely devoid of respect. Like he was trying to provoke me. I didn’t even know him, but in the short time we’d interacted, I already wanted to file a complaint and have him expelled.
But I couldn’t lose. Not now. Not ever.
Eros Del Valle, watch your back.
Ugh.
I couldn’t tell if something went wrong in his upbringing or if he was simply born to disrupt the very system I lived by.
But since I also refused to stoop to his level, I tried speaking to him calmly.
“What time are you free to discuss our project?”
“Anytime. Just not 7 AM. I don’t believe in waking up early for stress.”
“Are you serious?”
“Nope. But fine. Tomorrow, after class. At the coffee shop across the campus.”
I looked at him. “Coffee shop? Shouldn’t we be in the library?”
“It’s easier to think when you have a caramel macchiato in front of you.”
I couldn’t tell if he made sense or if he was just messing with me. But I agreed anyway. I didn’t want more drama.
“For the record,” I said as I walked out of the library, “I still don’t like you.”
“Noted,” he replied. “But you won’t forget me either.”
I thought he’d be hard to figure out, but it turns out, he was harder to ignore.
While we discussed our analysis of Noli Me Tangere, exploring how Ibarra’s identity reflected the modern youth, I saw the intellect hiding beneath his lazy front.
He had a point. Insightful. Deep thinker. Sometimes, I even found myself wondering why isn’t he the valedictorian?
But before I could be intrigued, he’d open his mouth and ruin the moment.
“You know, Skye,” he said as he stared at me, “you don’t look happy.”
I gasped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“The way you laugh. It sounds... rehearsed. And your eyes always alert. Like you’re afraid to make a mistake.”
I didn’t know whether to snap at him… or feel called out.
“You don’t know me,” I replied.
“Not yet,” he said. “But I’m getting there.”
I suddenly found myself staring at him. His messy hair. The curve of his smirk. The way he carried himself confident yet unpredictable.
And that’s when I realized—
He was dangerous.
Not just to my grades.
But to my heart.
I didn’t know what exactly happened that day.
But for the first time when I got home, I didn’t think about my planner.
I didn’t think about tomorrow’s quiz or the scholarship requirements.
All I thought about was—
His smirk.
His questions.
And the last thing he said.
“I’m not your enemy.”
But why did I suddenly want to prove him wrong?
---
EROS’S POV
I shook my head as I walked toward the library. I needed a quiet place. Not because I wanted to study I had no intention of being a teacher’s pet like my partner.
But I needed to avoid trouble.
Anyone would lose their mind if they spent too much time with Skye Aragon.
Perfect in every way movements, posture, voice. Even her glares were precise. Like she was trained in some academic bootcamp to be the ideal student.
But behind that controlled exterior, I saw the fire in her eyes. Not the kind you get from bumping into someone.
The kind you get from being ignored.
And that alone already meant I won.
I was surprised when the library door suddenly opened. And there she was Skye Aragon herself, notebook and planner in hand. Of course, she had a planner.
She glanced around, and her eyes landed on me.
“Oh great,” she muttered. “You’re here too.”
“You should’ve brought holy water,” I said, turning back to my laptop screen.
“If you were as serious with this project as you are with your sarcasm, maybe you wouldn’t look so lazy.”
“If you learned how to chill once in a while, maybe you wouldn’t be so stressed your acne’s acting up.”
She winced. Got up. Stepped in front of my table and slammed her notebook down.
“Listen, Del Valle. I’m not joking around. This is for our grade. And I’m not about to ruin my name just because you’re my partner.”
I sighed and pulled out my earphones.
“Alright, alright. Fine. What’s your plan?”
She didn’t answer right away. She looked surprised that I actually listened. Then she cleared her throat.
“They’re assigning us a classic narrative. We get to choose the story we’ll be rewriting. It involves analysis and a creative version.”
She showed me a list. Organized. Underlined. Color-coded.
“I already listed some options. There’s Pride and Prejudice, Romeo and Juliet, Noli Me Tangere—”
“Noli,” I cut in.
“What?” she asked, surprised.
“Let’s do Noli Me Tangere. There’s more room to play with the narrative. Ibarra? Complex character. Just like me.”
She raised a brow. “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” I grinned. “So we’re going with Ibarra and Maria Clara. You can handle the whole martyr part.”
The next day, she arrived at exactly 3:00 PM. Me? 3:07. Just enough to annoy her a little.
“Seven minutes late,” she remarked while swirling her glass of water.
“Better late than boring,” I replied as I took a seat.
She opened her laptop. “Shall we start?”
I nodded, holding back a smirk. Everything about her movement, tone, the way she looked at me was so deliberate. But I was starting to see the cracks in her wall. She wasn’t used to people like me.
And I wasn’t that easy to tame.
The air was thick as we left the café. Not because of the traffic or the summer heat.
But because of the things left unsaid.
I noticed how she avoided eye contact. Like even she was starting to feel confused. And that entertained me.
Before, I saw Skye as uptight, paranoid, and obsessed with achievements.
But now, I saw more.
She just wanted to win. Not out of pride, but because she needed to prove something.
And me? I wanted to see how far she could go.
“Thanks for the time,” I told her as we walked back to the campus gates.
“It’s nothing. For the project.”
I nodded. “But Skye…”
She turned.
“I’m not your enemy.”
She froze.
But before she could answer, I turned and walked away.
Because it’s true.
I’m not her enemy.
But maybe, just maybe… I’ll be the reason her whole game changes.
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To be continued…
- Writer
