Escape Route

CHAPTER 15

It was a typical afternoon, the kind that started off well and ended up feeling like a weight on my chest. I was walking through the hallways of school, mindlessly watching the students move past me when I noticed them.

Eliezer and Rhea.

I didn't mean to eavesdrop. But the sound of their voices, low and urgent, pulled me in without warning. I had been walking down the hallway, minding my own business, when I heard them, Eliezer and Rhea, standing just around the corner by the side of the school building. I froze, my heart skipping a beat.

I wanted to walk away, to pretend I hadn't heard anything, but my feet wouldn't move. My curiosity — no, my paranoia, kept me rooted in place, and I found myself leaning slightly to the side, just enough to catch a glimpse of them.

They were close, closer than they should've been.

Rhea was standing there, looking up at Eliezer with that soft, sympathetic look that she was always so good at pulling off.

Her hand was gently resting on his arm, fingers brushing against his sleeve like she had every right to be there.

Her smile, the one that always seemed just a little too knowing, was aimed directly at him. I couldn't help but feel my blood begin to boil.

Eliezer, on the other hand, looked... conflicted. His jaw was tense, his brows furrowed as if he was struggling to come to terms with something.

I saw his eyes dart away from Rhea's gaze for a split second, as though he couldn't bear to meet her eyes directly. He pulled his hand from his pocket and raked it through his hair, clearly agitated.

He was wearing his usual white shirt and jeans, but today, there was something off about him. His shoulders were slouched, his usual confident posture absent, and his face was more worn than I had ever seen it. I couldn't tear my eyes away from him, even though I should've.

"Alam mo, Eliezer," Rhea's voice was smooth, almost too sweet, and it cut through the air like a knife. "I get it. You've been trying for so long, pero siguro it's time to let go. You deserve someone who's there for you, hindi yung nagpapaasa, di ba?"

I felt a sharp sting at her words. Nagpapaasa? Was that what I was doing? Was I making him wait for nothing? I tried to push that thought away, but it kept creeping back into my mind, heavy and suffocating.

Eliezer's eyes flicked towards her, but he didn't say anything for a moment, almost like he was weighing her words. "I don't know, Rhea," he finally muttered, voice soft and tired. "I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this. Wala eh, tinutulak ako palayo kapag lumalapit ako."

Rhea's eyes glimmered like she was savoring his words, as if she had been waiting for him to admit his frustration. She took a step closer, moving into his personal space with such ease that it made my stomach turn.

Why was she always like this? Why couldn't she just leave him alone?

"Alam mo, Eliezer," she said again, her voice now a little more intimate, almost like she was speaking in whispers. "If she's not going to choose you, then maybe it's time for you to move on. You can't keep waiting for someone who doesn't even know what she wants."

Her hand slid down his arm, her fingers brushing against his skin in a way that made my chest tighten. I felt my heartbeat accelerate, the jealousy boiling up inside me. Move on? Was that what he was thinking? Was that what he was considering?

Eliezer looked down at her hand, his expression unreadable, before pulling his arm away gently. "I don't know, Rhea. I've never felt this way before. I've always been able to get through to people, but Adah... she's different." He trailed off, his voice almost a whisper, but there was something in it that stung more than I expected.