From the very first day Kaiza introduced me to her circle, Rose seemed to take a very special, almost obsessive interest in me. Rose was beautiful, soft-spoken, and always acted very innocent and fragile, like she needed protection. But beneath that sweet exterior, she was also incredibly touchy, clingy, and persistent.
Every time she looked at me or touched me, it sent a chill down my spine because it reminded me so much of Talina. And honestly, I didn't like it one bit. It felt like history was repeating itself. It felt like I was being suffocated all over again by another girl who thought she could claim me.
"Cole, can you help me with this math problem? I don't understand it at all," she would say, leaning her head heavily on my shoulder and looking up at me with big, watery eyes, batting her lashes deliberately.
"Cole, let's eat together! I bought your favorite chocolate cake just for you! I remembered what you like!"
"Cole, you look so handsome today! Your uniform is so neat and you smell so good. You're perfect."
She would always find a way to sit next to me, no matter where we were. She would hold my arm tightly, fix my collar unnecessarily, pat my head affectionately, or even try to feed me food right in front of everyone. Just like Talina, she wanted the whole world to see that she was close to me. She wanted attention. She wanted people to think we were something more than friends.
Our classmates started noticing it immediately. The whispers started.
"Oh look, Cole has two admirers now! Talina and Rose!"
"Rose is so sweet to him, they look really good together!"
"Is Rose courting Cole? She's even more obvious than Talina!"
I hated every second of it. I felt so uncomfortable, so trapped, and so annoyed. I didn't like girls touching me like that, especially when I didn't feel anything for them at all. My heart belonged to someone else, and my body felt violated every time someone touched me without true consent. But I was too polite, too nice, and too weak to push her away harshly. I didn't want to cause a scene. I didn't want to hurt her feelings or make things awkward for Kaiza. So I just forced smiles and endured it, feeling awkward and dirty every single second. I didn't know how to say "stop" without being rude or creating drama.
But what I didn't realize, what I was too blind to see, was that while I was suffering silently from Rose's clinginess, someone else was suffering even more watching it happen. Someone was burning in jealousy, feeling a pain worse than anyone else could imagine, and it was breaking her heart into pieces right in front of my eyes.