Twice The Trouble Book 2 of 2: Twice The Love

Chapter 25: Tolerance

Stacy

Three weeks later..

It's the middle of August and the inexorable hot weather of the Philippines had subsided just a little bit due to the upcoming typhoon, but hey, us college students are waterproof, aren't we?

Today also marked the first month of Bryce's courtship to me.

I didn't know how long I was going to wait before I said yes to him, but one thing I'm damn certain of is that I was falling harder and deeper in love with him with each passing day.

Every morning, without fail, Bryce always picked me up from the house and gave me a ride to Orion University and escort me to my first classroom, making it a point to kiss either my cheek or my forehead before he said goodbye.

And during break time, he waited in line for me and treated me whenever he won the argument, because although I appreciated his efforts, I felt uncomfortable having someone buy me food everyday.

Whenever class ended, I would find him waiting for me outside my classroom so he could drive me to SM Manila for my part-time job, and when my shift ended, he was sitting at one of the round tables, smirking at me from across the nautical-themed diner to bring me home.

He was working so hard to make me feel special, I often felt racked with guilt that he was putting in too much of his time towards me, which was ridiculous, right?

Oh, God, what do I do?

It's been a long time since I had someone court me. It wasn't supposed to be this.. confusing.

I mean, obviously, I should let him make an effort,because guys pride themselves on those kinds of things all the time. If I say yes to Bryce too early, he'll either think I'm too eager or he'll feel completely dejected after only four weeks of courting me.

"Just go with the flow," I mumbled beneath my breath as I flipped a page of my textbook.

It's Wednesday morning and I have a long quiz for my last class, hence, the thick book in my hands. I casually plopped onto a vacant seat of a two-seat table in the campus library and began to review the tedious words in front of me.

Fifteen minutes later, however, just as I was clapping my book shut, a tall shadow fell over me.

I'm gonna be honest, I'm a brutally frank person if I want to be. And on occasion, shallow and judgmental.

So when this guy suddenly appeared in front of me, I rose from my chair and frowned at his omnipotent face.

Eric Ortega.

He had the body of a football player, a mop of platinum blond hair, hazel brown eyes, and one of the worst personalities I ever came across, and I was not exaggerating.

I met him a few weeks ago. Apparently, he's currently taking up Business Management, and that he was at the top of his class, that I should be proud that he was talking to me, blah, blah, blah.

Wordlessly, I shoved my textbook inside my pink backpack, then slung it over my shoulders.

"What the--now just a sec--" Eric grabbed my arm but I yanked it out of his grasp as violently as I could.

"Listen, Ortega," I said through gritted teeth. "We're not friends, we're not acquaintances, and I don't plan on changing either of those statuses, so kindly leave me alone."

I turned around to leave but he clamped his hand over my wrist so hard I winced.

"Hey, I just wanted to talk to you. No need to be a bitch about it," he snapped, glaring at me.