Chapter 24: Sweetheart

"Eugene? He's already 10 years old. I'm sure he's worried right now, but I hope he's at least eating. I'm sure he can survive somehow since he's a smart kid and all, but I can't help but feel nervous. Who knows what he's doing now?"

Haru silently stared at her, unsure what to say.

When Camille returned, Alicia immediately tended to Haru's injury and left to stay inside another circus tent.

With solitude accompanying Alicia then, she felt like all the tension had taken a toll on her, making her fall asleep.

20 years ago, when Alicia was just a normal teenager and just attending her high school like usual, she met a boy her age during eleventh grade. He was a new student.

He had the proper school haircut, tucked shirt, straightened slacks, and clean uniform.

His hair was jet black, he had some freckles, and he was a bit short.

The girls from the class thought he looked lame and the boys weren't impressed with him, so it was hard for that new student to make any friends.

Of course, at that time, Alicia thought he wasn't worth any time either.

However, that boy didn't seem to mind as he always went through his day, looking completely unbothered.

He enjoyed his meals, studied hard at the library, bought bread on his way home, drew sketches and scribbles on his notebook, and exercised in the morning.

Somehow, Alicia was able to see all of that as they always seem to bump at each other coincidentally.

It made her a little envious.

'He looks like he's always having a blast and actually lives his life to the fullest every single day,' she thought.

And to her, that was amazing.

The first time Alicia and that new student had a proper conversation was during gym class, a third period after their snack break in their second semester.

Their teacher randomly assigns partners and it was the first time they were paired together.

The boy pulled Alicia at the very back of the class and said, "Let's do our warm up and activity here."

Alicia thought it was a bit weird since he always used to go right at the very front during gym classes.

He's the enthusiastic type of student, after all.

He went on with his stretching and then he began teaching her the dance they were supposed to do.

He was even demonstrating it.

Alicia got annoyed and started rambling, "Hey! Are you looking down on me? I know the dance steps as well! You didn't have to demonstrate it like that as if I'm a kid! And you didn't even wait for me to warm up with you! What's your problem?"

The boy was a bit surprised, but his expression suddenly softened as he smiled, "I see, that's a relief then. I knew you'd be fine with the dance steps."

"What?"

"Let's just have some minimal practice and I'll do everything. Don't worry, I'll cover for you."

"What are you even talking about?"

"I mean, you have your period right now, right? So I thought it must be uncomfortable for you to move around, especially with the steps in the middle. I saw you bending over in pain during classes and you even visited the clinic during snack break for a hot compress."

Alicia blushed.

"It's alright, I understand!" The boy added with a wide and reassuring smile. "My mother taught me about those things, so you don't have to worry. Just a bit more and you can go home, so hang in there!"

The boy's expression turned confused when he saw Alicia breaking into tears.