Chapter 4

Isabelle’s Point of View: I looked at him and puffed. “G-get away.” He stepped aside, and I took a deep breath. “And I don’t have time for you.” I slowly spoke, knowing that things would get worse if he kept behaving the way he was. Everything was barely bearable as it was. “I have an interview real soon. So, bye.” I was about to leave when I heard him. “You don’t wonder why Matt cheated on you and with Chloe, of all people?” I stopped in my steps and turned to look at him. “How… Do you know about it?” He smirked. “How does everything go wrong in your life?” I was having a few stupid thoughts, but shut them out. “You’re out of your senses.” “Oh baby girl, I am not, but I am sure that you’ll be.” My heartbeat increased when he called me that. I looked down and heard him chuckle. I looked back up at him. “W-What?” I asked. “Do you know how bad of an actress you are?” I looked at him while my eyes threatened to moisten. I had thought a lot about what he was saying—about what he meant but I didn’t want to assume anything. He wasn’t talking about my feelings… Was he? No, of course not. He wouldn’t know anything about them. Either way, I didn’t have the courage to ask him what he was talking about. “So, I really think we should talk. Right?” He continued. I nodded slowly. “But, but I need to do this interview…” “Don’t worry about it. Just tell me which university you need to go to and I will arrange a private interview later.” I looked at him but couldn’t smile. I was afraid of his thoughts on my feelings and what he meant by the things he had said. I was scared of how he knew about Matt and Chloe. No one knew about him. He came to me and took my hand, dragging me to some place. I couldn’t focus on where he was taking me because his touch on my hand seemed to give me butterflies while his scent intoxicated me. I wish I could stay in the moment forever, but I didn’t want to be so scared. We finally stopped after getting into a dark alley. “Why are we here?” I asked slowly. He sighed and stood leaning against the wall. “When you left Lebanon, I knew that I had to tell you everything. I didn’t think I would be here so fast.” I stared at him. What was he talking about? “Tell me what?” He looked away and sighed. “You’re stupid. You know that?” “Yeah, I do.” He came closer to me while I took a step back, unknown to what he wanted. He kept coming till I hit the wall of the small alley and I could feel his breath on my face. “Achilles.” I breathed slowly. “I love my name from your mouth.” Chills danced down my spine when I heard that. My eyes shot open, and I looked at him. He smiled, but then it turned into an evil smirk. “You want me to say that to you?” “I-I…” He stepped away. “Did you think that I had no idea about your feelings all this time?” I looked into his eyes, even though it was a little dark to see. I couldn’t understand him and his emotions. What? I kept quiet. “I knew from the day I stepped into your life. The way you looked at me, the first time. It was more than how a sister looks at a brother. It was more than anything.” I looked down. So? What did he feel about it? Why didn’t he say anything about it till now? Why was he behaving so weirdly? What did he mean? “Ace, what do you—” “Don’t call me that.” I bit my lip. I didn’t know what to say or do. “Achilles,” I said, “Why didn’t you say anything till now?” Somehow, in my mind and heart, I hoped and even believed that he was finally here to accept me. To do something about it, or at the very least—sympathise! “Because it was fun.” His voice was bitter when he said it. I looked at him confused, trying to interpret his sentences positively… If I could. “It was fun watching you make a fool of yourself,” He continued. “To watch you trying to hide your sloppy emotions while knowing how wrong they were. To see you having everything ruined in your life while having no damn clue why that was happening.” I stood quietly as I felt my heart shatter into pieces. It wasn’t a normal heartbreak. It felt like someone plunged a knife into my heart and twisted it again and again. Like someone threw me on a floor full of needles. It felt like an everlasting pain I might never recover from. I felt the strength fading from inside me. It didn’t make sense. These were emotions—how could they take any physical strength away? But they did. I fell down on the ground suddenly, and a few silent tears streamed down my face. My knees hurt from the sudden fall and I was sure that a little blood came out. But that didn’t even hurt me now. There were no words after that. I felt footsteps retracting and soon I could feel that I was alone in the alley. Alone with my broken, stupid feelings. Again.