Chapter 2
Eulalia showed no sign of leaving.
I felt a sudden flare of irritation.
Just as I was about to snap, I caught a glimpse of my own reflection in the glass window.
I was momentarily stunned, then let it go.
No point losing my cool over a fake girl like her. It'd just make me look petty.
Eulalia's eyes were red at the corners as she gave Tobias a timid look.
"Tobias..." she whispered.
But Tobias didn't look at her.
Her pride stung.
In the end, she could only mumble, "I swear I didn't mean it."
Then she wandered off, looking utterly dispirited, like a lost soul.
Tobias had never gotten mad at me.
He always knew exactly how to handle my emotions.
So he'd never call me out in front of others.
No matter how unreasonable I got, he'd only sit me down and talk things through when we were alone.
Tobias said, "Did you really have to be so blunt? You put her on the spot."
Tobias took my hand.
He glanced over at me. "You weren't like this before."
"What?" I asked, looking up at him.
"You used to be the one who'd say things like that for me," I said.
As the ace at med school, Tobias definitely knew what that message was really about.
Back then, Tobias would never have stood for something like this.
But today, he just went along with it.
And to top it off, he even showed he was upset with me over it.
Confusion flashed in Tobias's eyes.
From high school all the way to now, there were always tons of people crushing on Tobias.
But he never gave any of them the time of day.
He could see through all their little games and never let anyone get too close.
Tobias smiled and gently tucked a stray lock of hair behind my ear.
"Sorry, I put you through all this," he said softly.
He leaned in and kissed me, his breath warm against my nose.
"She's just someone from school," he murmured. "She's nobody important."
Tobias pressed his cheek against mine, softly brushing the ends of my hair.
He confessed his feelings with heartfelt sincerity.
"Bellamy, you're the only one in my heart," he said, his voice low and genuine.
I didn't know if Eulalia was seeing anyone.
But I was sure she had a thing for Tobias.
Girls like her had come and gone over the years.
But Tobias never gave any of them a chance.
But this time, things were different.
I thought the warning I gave Tobias last time would be enough.
But I never imagined that on my birthday, he'd just leave me behind and hurry back to school because of Eulalia.
"Eulalia's got a science competition, but her data's all messed up. I need to go help her out," he said.
When I woke up in bed, all I found on my phone was an apology text from Tobias.
He said: [Next year on your birthday, I promise I'll make it up to you.]
The spot beside me was still warm.
Outside, the waves howled against the shore, wild and relentless.
Their noise filled the night, unrestrained and chaotic.
It was my first birthday without Tobias by my side.
He seemed to forget that I was competing in the science competition too.
There was one result I'd been working on forever, but no matter what I did, I just couldn't crack it.
Romilly Snow was my roommate, and she was also on Tobias's team.
She sent me a video and a screenshot.
In the video, Eulalia was nervously adding some chemicals into a test tube.
Tobias was standing right behind her, showing her what to do.
The reaction freaked Eulalia out a bit, and she jumped back without thinking.
She instinctively ended up pressed against Tobias's chest.
"Ah! That scared me to death!" Eulalia blurted out.
Tobias patted her shoulder, his voice gentle as he comforted her.
"It's okay, I'll show you," he said softly.
He took the test tube from her and started demonstrating the proper technique.
Eulalia rested her chin in her hands, looking at Tobias with stars in her eyes.
"Tobias, you're incredible! Bellamy must be so lucky to have a guy like you," she said, her voice dripping with admiration.
She blinked her wide eyes, playing up the innocent act for all it was worth.
Tobias just gave a small smile, not bothering to correct her.
The other screenshot was from Eulalia's social media post: [Nothing in the world is too hard as long as Tobias is here! Tomorrow's competition is in the bag!]
In the photo, Eulalia was standing right next to Tobias, holding his hand in an encouraging pose.
She looked adorably naive, her face full of confidence like she already knew she was going to win.
Tobias didn't pull away.
In that moment, my whole body went cold.
It was like I thought I'd totally nailed the test, but turns out I got every single answer wrong.
My blood was raging, screaming for action.
I just wanted to reach through my phone and drag her down myself.
But after all these years with Tobias, I'd learned to handle things just like he does.
He once told me, "Don't ever waste your time or energy on people who don't matter."
I saved the video and screenshot, then made my way back to campus alone.
For a whole day and night, Tobias didn't reach out or say a word to me.
The next day, he walked into the competition with Eulalia by his side.
It was like he only just remembered I existed. His eyes flickered with surprise.
"Wait, you're in the competition too?" he asked.
I stared at him. "I told you about it a month ago."
He just forgot.