Two Hearts

A week has passed since the evening the best friends made their promises to one another, and the finals was just around the corner. The team was training harder than ever and the students were bubbling with energy for the upcoming game.

\"Pass! Pass!\"

\"Heads up!\"

\"Slam Dunk!\"

\"Unbelievable!\"

\"Foot work!\"

“Rebound!”

Shouts were heard from the gym almost everyday. There was no day that the team was found lounging about. The only time they were silent was break times.

\"Hey, guys! Break time!\" Ea shouted over the noise.

\"It\'s about time.\" Tom mumbled.

\"Hey, hey! It\'s your fault you\'re going to the finals! You should be happy!\"

\"Who would be happy with the way Bill is training us?\"

\"Well, alright, I\'ll try talk to him. Your game is three days from now, right? On Saturday?\"

\"Yup. At this rate, we won\'t be able to play well. We\'ll be so tired that we won\'t even be able to stand.\"

\"I\'ll talk to him, don\'t worry. I think he knows what he\'s doing.\"

\"He better.\"

\"Alright! Listen up! Since our game is three days from now, you will have the remaining days off. I want you all to be on time and fit on Saturday. Is that clear?\" Bill announced.

\"Yes.\"

\"Now go!\"

\"Ea, could we talk for a while?\" Bill asked, turning a light shade of pink.

\"Yeah, sure. Hold on a sec.\" Ea said and ran to Tom\'s side.

Bill saw Ea and Tom clearly from where he was standing. He felt a little lonely at what he saw. Ea gave him a towel and a bottle of water. He saw Ea whisper something to him and he looked at her before nodding. Tom then went to the shower rooms. Ea then approached Bill.

\"What is it, Bill?\"

\"Well, you know...\" he flushed.

\"Hmmm? Are you alright? You look a little flushed? Are you sick?\" Ea asked, pressing the back of her hand on his forehead to check if he was alright. He swatted at her hand lightly. Ea looked a little offended.

\"I\'m ok, really. Well, what I want to say is...\" Bill started, turning a darker shade of red.

Unknown to them, Tom just got out of the shower room and was listening on their conversation.

“You know Bill, I think there’s something wrong with you.”

“What? Wrong? With me?”

“Yeah ‘cause you never act that way. Are you nervous?”

“Sort of.”

“What? Why?”

“I’m going to tell you something, Ea. I want you to listen carefully, ok?”

“Sure.” Ea said and smiled faintly. She then listened intently to what Bill was about to say.

Bill breathed in a deep breath and said, \"Well, I like you, a lot.\"

Ea smiled. \"I like you too, Bill. You and the guys are like the brothers I never had.\"

Bill sighed. \"No, I mean, I like you.\"

Tom\'s eyes widened. \'Bill likes Ea? How did this happen? When? Why didn\'t I see it before? All the glances he has given her!\'

\"You already said that.\"

\"What I mean to say is that I like you more than a friend.\"

\"Oh. OH! I\'m sorry Bill, but I don\'t like you that way. You\'re like a brother to me. I\'m really sorry.\"

“I know. I just wanted to see if I had a chance.”

‘Bill is really courageous to say that to Ea when he is thinking that he had little chance.’ Tom thought.

“I’m really sorry. Please don’t do anything rash.”

“What?” Bill looked bewildered.

‘What? Rash and Bill are associated in one sentence?’ Tom thought.

“Well, some people become crazy or something or try to commit suicide because they were rejected. Ehehehe…” Ea said, a little panicky.

Tom smiled. ‘Ea is still so naïve.’

“Ea, do you think I am that kind of person?”

“Well no…but no one knows…maybe…ehehehe…”

“Ea, I won’t do anything rash. Ok?”

“Ok!” Ea said happily. “But I’m really sorry for rejecting you.” She said, a little sad.

\"No, it\'s okay. I just wanted to get it off my chest, even though I know you like someone else, I just wanted to let it out.\"

\"Hey! What do you mean I like someone else?\"

\"Just like I said.\"

\"What?! I don\'t like someone! I\'m not ready for that yet. I’m still young!\" Ea turned red.

\"No, you see, I can see the way you act whenever he\'s around.\"

\"What do you mean? And who is he?\"

\"I am talking about the way you act around Tom.\"

Ea, if possible, turned a darker shade of red.

\"Wha---? What do you mean?\"

\"Well, let\'s see. It\'s always Tom you look for when you arrive. When you leave, you leave together. When it is break time, you speak with him and give him his towel and a bottle of water, and so on and so forth.\"

Tom, who was hiding, let his jaw drop. \'Am I dreaming? Bill is telling Ea that she likes me? Is he insane?\'

\"Well it\'s natural for best friends to do that, isn\'t it? What\'s the difference?\"

Tom nods from his hiding place.

\"What’s the difference? Although you think that you’re just friends, I can see that you treat him differently than the way you treated him before. You know, you’re more in denial than I thought you were going to be.\"

\"What are you trying to say? That I’m in denial about my own feelings?\"

\"Yup. That’s probably it. I thought you were intelligent, Ea, but I guess I was wrong.\"

\"Well, that’s right, you thought wrong. I am not ‘intelligent’ because I’m stupid, am I right? I’m stupid because I can’t even get what you’re saying, is that it? You wanted to talk to me just to say that I was stupid? I can’t believe you!\" Were the last words Ea told Bill, before bursting into tears and running out of the gym, forgetting that she was supposed to wait for Tom.

Bill was taken aback.

\'What possessed me to say those things to her? It wasn\'t her fault that she was naïve.\' Bill sighed heavily and sat down. \'What will I do? She’s probably very upset and will be avoiding me from now on.\'

Tom decided that it was time for him to leave and find Ea and try to comfort her. He still couldn\'t believe the conversation he overheard.

-- -- -- -- -- -- --

Running through the path to her house, Ea wiped bitter tears from her eyes and ran faster. Her only goal was to reach home as quickly as possible and just lie down on her comfortable bed and just forget about everything Bill said.

\'I can\'t believe he said that! I thought he really cared for me, but now I know that I was wrong.\'

She suddenly bumped into somebody and she would have fallen if not for a strong grip on her waist. The person steadied her before letting her stand on her own.

\"Thanks.\" she mumbled and walked past the stranger, when the person said something, which stopped her in mid stride.

\"Someone as pretty as you shouldn\'t be crying.\"

\"I\'m not--\"

\"Don\'t try to deny it. I know when someone is crying.\"

\"What do you want?\" Ea asked backing away from the stranger.

\"Come here, you petty little thing.\"

\"I think I\'ll leave now. I need to go home.\"

She was about to run when he pulled her back.

\"Where are you going, little one?\"

\"I\'m not a kid! Let go of me!\" she struggled.

\"I don\'t think so, cupcake.\"

\"Stop calling me names! You\'re pathetic!\" she tried to kick him but he blocked it with his leg.

He turned Ea around and pulled her close to him. She was about to spit at him when she felt something sharp on her abdomen. She froze.

\"Don\'t make this hard, buttercup. Besides, you owe me one.\" He said, pressing the dagger closer to her skin.

\"What do you want?\" she asked, scared.

He moved his face closer to hers and stopped past her ear.

\"Follow me, honey.\"

He was dragging her to a dark alleyway while she was struggling fiercely. It looked suspicious, and he only stopped her from struggling by pressing the dagger to her neck, leering at her.

\"What do you really want?\" She asked scared.

\"What do you think I want from a young one like you?\"

They finally reached the alleyway and he pinned her to the wall.

\"Don\'t you worry, girly, I won\'t make it hard for you.\"

She whimpered and shrank away from him, but he will have none of that. He pressed himself against her, with one hand, held her arms over her head, the other pressing the dagger to her abdomen.

\"Stop struggling! You will like it, really.\" He said, his breath coming in ragged breaths. He decided to place the dagger in his pocket so he can have more \'fun\'.

He started to unbutton her blouse. He trailed kisses down the exposed flesh, sometimes leaving red marks.

\"Please, just leave me alone. Don\'t do this.\" She said fresh tears streaming down her cheeks.

He ignored the tears for a while, trying to unclasp her bra, but the crying was getting to him.

\"Stop crying, my pet, it won\'t do you any good.\"

The stranger thought of having more fun, so he got his knife and trailed it on her neck. He added just enough pressure so that it will leave a scar. He watched as blood seeped out from the wound he made on her neck. Ea winced in pain. She began struggling once more and the stranger cut her deeply in the wrist. Ea screamed in pain. The stranger, trying to stop the screaming, kissed her hard on the lips.

Someone was passing by the alleyway when he heard a scream but was muffled a short while after. He looked in the alleyway and saw something that made his heart tighten.

\"Let her go!\" a deep voice floated from the entrance of the alleyway.