My mind was stuck in what Tiffany had said. I couldn't figure out a way to not hurt him and talk it out. Kevin told me that Elijah was pretty serious about everything.

"He'll lose it if you deny,Nora." That's what he had said.

I'd never even thought of hurting Elijah. He had always been there for me no matter what. But I couldn't lie either. I never liked him more than a friend.I didn't want to mess anything up.

I didn't even notice it but I was dozing off in my tuition.

"What is my full name?"he asked me out of no where.

"Huh?"I snapped back to reality.

"You're not focusing."He closed his pen.

"I'm sorry... I was lost somewhere."I looked down at my hands, staring at my phone. Thinking about what I'd say to El.

"Is something bothering you?"he inquired. I blinked in confusion. Was he being concerned?

"No."I turned to him.

"There must be something that has you thinking like a nerd,"he pointed to my hands,"even your palms are sweaty."

"It's..."I thought about telling him the matter or not, but honestly he seemed to be the best guide for a sec,he must've been rejected once in his life at least,"it's kinda complicated." And then I told him everything. His time was also up for tutoring me. He listened carefully and attentively.

"Be honest,"he looked at me,"that's the best you can do."

"It'll hurt him,"I was scared for a sec.

"Elijah Jones,"Mr.Eugene paused for a moment,"stay clear of that kid...he has much more to himself than you see."

"What?"

"Never mind..."he got up, picked his phone,"see you at night then, Ms.Bridges." He left through the front door. I never got this guy. What did he even mean by what he just said?

~

I took out my phone. Typed a text to Elijah.

"Hey,El...I heard about you and Tiffany. Can we talk?If you're okay."

I waited for few minutes till he'd reply. He didn't see the texts for about half an hour so I guessed he must've been busy. I left my phone in my room, looked through the window, Mr.Eugene wasn't in his room either. It was past nine o'clock.

'He must be at a party.Probably.'

I went downstairs to check for food, my second meal of the night.  "We have cake, pizza and some leftovers of dinner."I took the slice from yesterday's pizza and heated it. Silently made my way up to the my room and tried my best to not make a single sound locking the door.

Click.

"Phew."

"You didn't bring anything for me?"he asked.

"GYAH!"

"Yeah hey!"he waved at me. "What are you doing here?!"I was still in panic.

"Your phone was ringing...I just picked it up-"

"Give it back!"I snatched my phone and checked. It was Elijah."What did you say?"

"I didn't even say anything."He pouted.

"You'd better not!"I called him back...

"He's not picking up!" He looked away, acting as if he hadn't messed up here. But I knew him too well to believe him. "What did you say to him?"

"Bonjour,"he whispered. "You-"

He took my phone from me, and placed it on my study table.

"What the hell?!"I was more shocked than expected. What was this guy's problem?

"If he asks you out...what will you say?"

"Huh?"I was taken aback. "What will you say?"His bangs covered his eyes, the moonlight behind him made it harder to look at his face. I stood in middle of my room and he stood beside my window. "I-I,"I stuttered answering this weird question that came out of nowhere.

"I will say no obviously."I gave the obvious gesture. He sighed,"That guy loves you...a lot."

Was he trying to convince me for Elijah's feelings?

"Be careful for what you say,"Mr.Eugene rested against the wall,"how do you feel about him?"

"Me?"

"I would like to hear your answer."

"He and I... I like him a lot, obviously as a friend but there's nothing else I feel for him."I denied. "You wouldn't want to rethink and try dating him for once?"He sounded serious.

"I don't know what you think of someone's feelings as...but I will be serious in the matter of true love!"I got serious. Mr.Eugene stared at me for a minute. I stared back.

"Hope you heard the answer."He picked up the phone and showed me the screen. My eyes widened, did he take my phone and picked up the call?

"Elijah-"

"I'm sorry,Nora...I'm not going to force you...I hope we can stay friends."He sounded so broke. My heart ached, I was never thinking of something like this to happen with me. It was all Mr.Eugene's fault. The guy tricked me into saying this.

"Elijah...I didn't know he had you on call I really didn't mean to-"

"It's okay..."he sounded hurt,"see you around."He hung up. My mind went blank. I didn't know why and for what reason this happened. "I-I...I did something horrible!"I told myself, running my hands through my hair.

"He got the direct answer without getting played,"Mr.Eugene came closer to me,"or else he would've kept hope from you."

"You don't know him!"

"Really?"

"He is the best person out there as far as I know!"I yelled at him. "I'd date him if I have to choose between him and you!"

The smirk on Mr.Eugene's face appeared again. He was standing by the window and in a sec he was in front of me.

"I dare you to deny me."His husky voice got my hair standing at their edges. I tried to look away but the closer this guy got...the better he looked. "You can't even take your eyes off me,Nora,"he cooed in my ear. My breath hitched. I didn't have any feelings but hatred for him. This guy was nothing more than a burden for me to bear in my life. He was trouble. Probably?

"Get away from me."I pushed him. I couldn't forgive him for what he did to Elijah. It was all his fault. He broke a person's heart and that was not funny for me.

"Say it if you mean it,"he grabbed my wrists and pulled me close. He had this aura around him that could pull you inside. It was addicting. I hated it but felt mesmerized as well. His leg pressed between mine. My body felt hot. I inhaled heavily as he leaned closer. His grip got tighter.

"Let me g-go!"I did a faint struggle of trying to escape from him but I knew I couldn't. He got closer and closer, almost ending the gap between our lips. I felt numb again. The same feeling of losing control I always had when he'd get closer than one feet. I closed my eyes in fear of whatever he was about to pull.

"Fight the urge to deny me."He stopped. I opened my eyes. His phone started ringing in his room,"Be careful next time...cause I won't hold back."He took a step back, breaking his grips and walking to the window.

"I'll see you tomorrow."He climbed out of my window and went to his room.

I was silent, numb and unable to digest whatever had happened. I fell on my floor. My cheeks were burning, again my heart beat rose to a level that I could hear it. I found it so easy in rejecting anyone but whenever this guy did something...I lost control.

I hid under my sheet after writing an apology to Elijah. I messed it up. All thanks to him, but I couldn't bring myself to hate him somehow.

I hoped that El would've read my text and gotten better. I didn't blame him tho.

~

"You wanna get some shopping done for summer?"Kate laid her head in my lap. It was Saturday and she usually spent her weekend at my place since her parents were divorced. She didn't like to deal with the family issues.

"I'd love to get few good things for sure." I winked at her frankly.

"Yeah,"she chuckled,"if Grey or Elijah don't drool over you!" She laughed.

"El? he's coming over?"I didn't want to face him after breaking his heart like that.

"Yeah...we were planning this trip with our friends from college and even Kevin's friends thought of tagging along,"Kate told me.

"Really?" 

"Duh!your grandma already agreed to it!" She shrugged.

"Grandma didn't tell me!"I felt cheated. "Where we going?"

"It's some sort of hiking area...I don't know but my dad's friend owns it,"she took a bite from her burger,"he offered dad."

"Sounds fun!"I sipped my iced tea.

"Sure does,"she winked at me before turning the TV's volume up.

I hadn't told anyone here about dad, I remembered he bought a Farm house in Tokyo last year. I didn't want to get any unnecessary and unwanted attention. Staying low was my thing. Besides he never really had the time for me at all. It didn't matter to him if I'd never even tell my friends that I had no parents. Life was cruel but dad's business was even worse.

It had been four days and he still hadn't sent me a good morning text. Even thinking of him ruined my mood.

I hope you remember that you have a daughter as well out here somewhere...dad.

~

"I lie to them, saying that we're frenemies...but it's just us. So us."