It's terrible when you find out that the girl you love never loved you. It's even worse when other people can see how blind you are, in love with that girl.

No doubt. No suspicion. Just living in a perfect bubble of love. Waiting for it to burst and be greeted with the harsh and heartbreaking truth.

"I knew she would do something like that to you when I first met her."

I look at Ryan blankly. Ryan only met Aria twice since he got here. I remembered when I introduced them to each other, Ryan was too formal with her.

When Aria left, I asked Ryan about his thoughts on Aria. He said she was okay so I thought his formal attitude was because he's a bit shy around new people. And now, it seems like I misinterpreted his behavior all along.

"You didn't like her from the very beginning, do you?" I try to clarify.

Ryan looks at me with a small unsure smile.

"Yes?"

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" I question.

Ryan gives out a sigh then says...

"Well, it's pretty difficult to tell you that I don't like your girlfriend when you are so whipped for her. I feel like I will only offend you or you would just brush off my thoughts."

Well... when he puts it that way I can't argue with him. After all, I was the one who was so blind.

"Was I that oblivious to see that she didn't care for me at all?" I ask as I put my cold coffee away and get a plate.

"What I think is she at least cared about you. But when I saw you two, I see you love her a hundred times more than she loves you. I was actually worried that she might take advantage of you or take you for granted. And she did. She even went as far as cheating on you."

Ryan had always been very observant of everything around him. It is one of his traits that I wish I had. If only I was as observant as him, maybe I would have foreseen this betrayal.

I do not know how to respond so I remain quiet. I take some rice from the nearby rice cooker. Then I take a large serving of omelet. I cite a short prayer then I start to eat.

Seeing I have no answer to his outburst, Ryan sits down and serves himself some food. We quietly eat our breakfast. None of us tries to start a conversation. All you can hear from us are the clanging sounds made by our eating utensils and our faint chewing noises.

Soon enough, we have both finished eating. As I am drinking my glass of water, Ryan looks at me as if he is contemplating saying something. And indeed, he is.

"So what do you plan to do now?"

"I don't know," I answered truthfully.

"Have you confronted her about it?"

"I haven't..."

Ryan looks at me in shock.

"Then do it! Go to her now. Confront her about it." Ryan says with enthusiastic encouragement.

In all honesty, I want to do that because part of me is angry at her. I am angry because she cheated on me. She made me believe that I was the only one. She played with my feelings and treated my love for her as a joke. She thought it was okay to be in another relationship even if we are still together.

But, a huge part of me felt like I am also at fault. If I was good enough, she wouldn't have to accept someone else. I know I'm not what they call "celebrity handsome". I look ordinary. Nothing on my physical appearance looks striking. I'm plain-looking.

I'm also not brainy. Yes, I get good grades but they are not something you can boast about. I only aim not to fail in class. I also don't have any special talents like singing, drawing, dancing, and so on. I'm a regular guy who can do what other people can do.

I'm also not rich. Yes, my family is well-off. But that's because both of my parents have high-paying jobs. I don't have the luxuries that other students at our university had. The car I drive is only a secondhand car that my dad had for 10 years. He gave it to me when he was able to save up and buy another one.

I wasn't someone a girl will regret if she left. I'm someone a girl would practice on for relationship experiences. Then when she's done with me, she would move on with her Mr. Right. If my experiences with my ex-girlfriends aren't proof enough, Aria solidified it yesterday.

"I don't think I should," I say.

Ryan looks at me with exasperation. He goes closer to me and puts both of his hands on my shoulders. He looks at me with a dead serious face.

"Did you say what I think you just said? You don't think you should?" Ryan pauses for a while then continues talking.

"Are you kidding me? Kuya Justin, that girl who you don't want to confront, cheated on you. She agreed to be your girlfriend and promised to commit to you only. You have the right to confront her on breaking her promise."

"I know. Maybe one day but not today." I hesitantly reply.

"And why not today?" Ryan says as he raises an eyebrow.

"She'll be with the other guy today." I blurt out with thinking.

Ryan looks stunned for a moment, pondering what I said. By the slow change in his expression, I can tell he's going to burst any sec-

"WHAT!" Ryan screams then continues.

"She's with him today and you knew that!" Ryan shakes my shoulders vigorously as he talks.

"Yes?" I reply silently.

"How did you know that much? What exactly happened yesterday? And how did you find out?" Ryan says bombarding me with questions.

I take a deep breath and remove Ryan's hands on my shoulders. Then, I told him what exactly happened, how I found out, and how much I know so far. He listens to what I was telling. He is holding his chin as his lips are pressed on his knuckles pondering every word I say.

When I finish telling him everything, Ryan is quiet for a while. Then, his head shoots up and his eyes look for the clock. Instinctively, I also look at the clock. It is already 7:04 am.

When I look back at Ryan, our eyes lock. Soon, his thin-lined lips turned into a smirk. By the look on his face, I can tell he has a plan, a plan that he will make sure I'll go along with no matter how much I protest.

Approximately 30 minutes later...

Here I am in my car driving towards Aria's place. As I said, my brother did convince me to go to Aria and confront her. He said that if there is the best time to confront Aria, it's now when she's meeting up with her other boyfriend. I need to catch them red-handed so Aria would be in a position where she can't think of a way to deny what she did.

Ryan was pleased with this idea. And I also think it's an almost foolproof plan for confrontation. However, there's just one problem... me.

I'm not ready.

I don't know if I can face them if I can face the truth. I don't know if I can accept the consequences of this confrontation. Actually, I don't even know what will be the consequences.

Will she beg for my forgiveness? Will she break up with him and stay with me? Or will it be the other way around? I thought I knew Aria well but yesterday proved me wrong. I feel like I don't know her anymore. I feel like I never even know her in the first place.

But Ryan is still right. This is something I should deal with as soon as possible. I need to know why she did it. And if possible, we might still fix this. Only then I can get out of this agony she had inflicted on me.

My heart starts to ache like yesterday when I took the turn to her area. I decided to park my car two streets away from my destination to make sure Aria won't see it.

After finding a suitable space to park, I take a deep breath and think for a second. Do I need to do this? Can I handle this? Honestly, I don't know if I can handle this. But, one thing I am sure of is I'm not a coward.

With that mindset, I open my car door and get out of my car. I make sure it's lock before I walk away towards my real destination, the bench at the corner of her street.

Soon enough, I reach the bookstore I saw yesterday. It isn't open yet but by the looks of it, it will be soon. No one is sitting on the bench, to my luck, so I take a seat there. Once I am seated, I take a peek of the time on my phone. It is ten minutes away from eight o'clock.

I am wearing a dark blue hoodie that covers my head. The slight coverage of my head will prevent anyone to recognize me from afar. I lean my back on the bench and observe every person passing by.

My chest starts to feel heavy as I see every moment passes. Soon, it will be at 8 o'clock and I will see them. I will soon execute my plan of confrontation. I can finally know why Aria did it.

I am in the middle of my musings when someone interrupts me by tapping my shoulder.

Who could it be?