Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Athena’s P.O.V.

I swallowed a sudden lump on my throat as I felt abrupt anxiety. I guessed I could have swallowed everything the moment I heard what he said. Now, I was the one forming tons of sweat. Tension immediately ruled all over my body as I found it real hard to move even an inch.

Being caught off-guard, I knew that my reddish face suddenly transformed into being pale right after he asked that question.

How could he know about Athena… or the real Helena? How silly that this could even make me feel so perplexed! I let out a smirk.

Whatsoever! How on earth that I even got confused with my own identity? I was really Athena, who was only pretending as Helena, but when he asked about Athena… of course, I was sure as hell that he was referring to my dead twin sister, Helena.

There were no pictures here to attest that we were twins. As if killing my identity was not enough, Daddy removed all of my photos, Helena and I’s selfies together, even those that include our mother. So, how could have Cristoff known about Athena when I was just alone here fighting a silent battle to win my identity back?

Is this about my handkerchief?

“Sorry, Helena. If you don’t want to answer it, I won’t bother you. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, I’m sorry for asking… I—I was just curious to know.” What he said broke the deafening silence that was reigning between the two of us.

I turned around to face him before lying my side on the couch and rested my head on the throw pillow. I was keeping my composure because there was no way he could figure out the truth.

“It’s okay, Cristoff. Anyway, Athena was my identical twin sister. She died just last year when we were on our way to Las Albas. No more questions please,” I closed my eyes and pretended that I was already asleep.

That was where I was good at—pretending, but tears suddenly rolled down my cheeks that it was too late for me to resist. It was indeed awful to say that I was already dead, and no words could help ease the feeling.

Then, I felt that he was already in front of me when his fingers gently wiped my tears. “Hey, crying doesn’t suit you.”

As I opened my eyes and looked straight at his brown orbs, I questioned him. “How did you know her?” I was still lying sideways on the couch as he steadily kneeled in front of me.

“I saw you browsing her Famebook profile at the library. I’m sorry if I lied to you. I also saw your handkerchief with Athena’s name on it,” he replied with guilt. I knew it. It was all because of my handkerchief.

“What else did you know?” I asked him while wearing my neutral expression. My mood suddenly shifted, that I didn’t know how to control it anymore. He was not doing anything bad, but his too much curiosity was sinking me into the sea of annoyance.

“I searched for your Famebook profile, but I found two accounts. I didn’t know to whom I would send my friend request then.”

Damn it, that explains everything!

My instinct was telling me that he already saw something way back then, but I too lousy to believe him only because he stated that he didn’t see anything. Liar!

“Either you had already sent a friend request to any of my accounts… I won’t ever accept it,” I scoffed. “Is our proposal still taking long? How long is it for you to work on it for you to go home? Or would you like me to finish it for you?” I snapped at him with a series of questions. I was already out of my mood.

Why does he have to mind other people’s businesses? Darn it! I’m getting annoyed at him again! He always made me reach my boiling point, and I always hated him for doing that.

“It’s okay, Helena… it’s already done. All we have to do is print the file and present it to Mrs. Cheng tomorrow morning, so you have to get well soon, okay? You have to report back to school tomorrow because we will submit our proposal together.” He smiled with his eyes glistening.

Whilst successfully snubbing what he said, I couldn’t ignore the way how he smiled at me. To cover it up, I removed myself from the couch, walked past him, and scanned the report. I raised my left eyebrow while silently criticizing the merged file that he had worked on.

Wow! In fairness for a guy, huh? He was good at it. I was amazed at the outcome of our report. It was unquestionably… superb!

Yes. I liked the way how he did the report, but I would never admit it. It still doesn’t change the fact that I was still irritated at him.

“So, do you have any comments, Miss Delgado?”

I frowned as I looked at him. Wait, did he just smirk at me?

“I thought you don’t want to be called on a last name basis. Why did you call me Miss Delgado then?” I raised my eyebrow before twitching my lips.

“Well, you are free to call me Rivera anytime… so I can taste your lips again even for a short period of time,” he huskily said that made my eyes wide open. That was when I proved that he was certainly grinning at me—too proud of his deviant ways.

Pervert! Flirt! Maniac!

I punched his shoulder as hard as I could. “How could you talk to me like that, pervert? May I remind you that you are in our territory? You, crazy geek!”

“Relax, Helena. I was just kidding! You told me a while ago that I’m free to say whatever I like here, right? I’m just stating the truth, and I think there was nothing wrong with that. But wait, it looks like you’re not sick anymore. From how hard you were able to hit me, I could say that you’re already okay. Hmm, let me check…”

I opted to move away from him, but he already placed his palm on my forehead, then on my neck. It felt so warm and gentle.

“Oh, great! You’re not having a fever anymore. Maybe that’s the effect of having a handsome nurse!” He complimented himself as he had the guts to wink at me. I returned the favor by rolling my green eyes at him.

He was too vain. He doesn’t even have the right to call himself handsome in the first place!

I shoved his hand away from me. “In your dreams, eww! You know what? You’re just making me throw up what I ate for lunch.” Then, I acted like I was shivering and going to vomit.

Then, I sardonically continued. “You’re smart, but you’re not handsome, okay? Wake up! And it was clear that you’re only taking advantage of laying your fingers on me, like hello? We’re not even close for you to check my temperature. My thermometer can do the job! Can’t you just leave me alone? Since we’re already done here, it’s better if you will now go back to school. You still have an afternoon class, right?”

Peeving aside, I didn’t know why but there was a strange feeling growing inside me. It was some sort of unexplainable happiness because he was here. The kind of feeling that I wasn’t bored being alone like the previous weekends? His being optimistic suddenly made me want to see the beauty of life and destroy the wall that I built around me.

Even though we were treating each other with rivalry, even though he doesn’t know how to mind his own business, even though he was indeed infuriating most of the time, I must admit that he was making me… genuinely happy.