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"Evangeline."

Rolling her eyes, Evangeline turned towards the approaching Jennifer, who was staring at her with no warmth on her face. And now that she got a full view of her, she noticed she was wearing a body-hugging floor-length gown. The risqué design features a low neckline and a high slit, highlighting all her assets.

​​

The man behind her was a young man, mixed and handsome as hell. He was clad in a three-piece suit all in white. All as perfect as the day they were purchased,

Evangeline bet that all of it was to spite her. To make her feel like a looser. She, who had nothing on her name and had a nerd for a boyfriend while Jennifer had a million-dollar company and an insanely gorgeous lover.

Jennifer smiled, the ways she used to in the past. If Evangeline didn\'t know her, she would still be fooled by her overly friendly smile.

"This is Dave, my boyfriend. Dave, this is Evangeline, my friend in elementary."

Dave\'s eyes shone, and he eagerly extended a hand at Evangeline\'s direction.

But instead, Evangeline smirked, snorting. "Friend? Now that\'s the funniest thing I\'ve heard all day."

Dave and Jennifer\'s face dropped, and the smile on their faces disappeared.

A little awkward, Jennifer turned to her man. "Could you excuse us for a moment?"

Dave hesitated a little, and he nodded after seconds. He shot Evangeline a glare before he sauntered back inside the hall.

The moment Evangeline and Jennifer were left alone, the latter stared at the former, a little upset.

"Evangeline, I know that I betrayed you, but it was already years ago. Can\'t you let go? I know you regretted meeting me––"

"I don\'t."

Evangeline cut in, a tight smile on her face that didn\'t reach her eyes. "I don\'t regret my past. I only regretted the time I wasted with the wrong people."

". . ." Jennifer couldn\'t respond for a time. Her mouth pinched, and a sour expression was on her face. Here she was, wanting to fix her past and have a clean slate. But what did she get in return?

Okay, Evangeline had the right to be angry about what she did. But she wasn\'t exactly asking to be her friend again. All she wanted was a clean slate. To make peace of her past and in hope by doing so, they could become rivals. As healthy competitors. After all, she had genuinely liked her and truly treated her as her best friend in their younger years until jealousy and envy took hold of her heart.

How could she possibly say that after all that happened? She was her friend and rival –– the person who she envied the most. But now, she was simply the person she didn\'t want to lose in the world.

She wanted to apologize, but Evangeline wasn\'t making it easy for her.

"Look," Jennifer started. Her lips quivered, pushing out the words she was too prideful to say. The words that were more than ten years overdue. "I\'m. . . I\'m sorry . . . alright? I was immature at that time. You know how cruel girls can be. They can simply hate you for the smallest reason for being too ugly, too beautiful, or too brainy. I only wanted to––"

Jennifer stopped when she noticed that Evangeline was smirking as she spoke. Her face was smiling, but her entire look was cold. And Jennifer thought, where did that timid girl go? Where was that gentle, warm girl gone?

Did I . . . did I cause this?

Pressing her lips together, Jennifer, for the first time, regretted her actions. All the memories of her childhood came crushing inside her head in a torrent of waves she could not control. Evangeline was greeting her with the warmest smile. She and her playing together after class and during weekends. She, protecting her whenever Calvin and the others bully her. Evangeline\'s pitiful, crying face whenever she saw her sad and her smiling, radiant face whenever she stared at her. And their promise of staying the best of friends forever.

All of it . . . it would never happen again. She would never see it again.

Heat pooled behind Jennifer\'s eyes as she choked the words.

"I- I . . . I\'m sorry . . ."

Evangeline laughed. Ugly, scornful laughter.

"To say sorry to me is like pasting a piece of broken glass, expecting to piece it back together. It will be whole . . . but it will forever leave cracks."

Raising an eyebrow, she looked at Jennifer with a glassy stare.

"You shouldn\'t say sorry to me. In fact, I should be thanking you. Because of you, I am what I am. Because of you, I learned to choose who I allow into my life wisely. Not because I am better than everybody, even though I am, but because I remembered what happened when I wasn\'t careful and just let everybody in. A time when I was innocent and naive to believe that everyone has the same heart like me."

Jennifer didn\'t respond –– she couldn\'t. She didn\'t know what to say faced with Evangeline\'s scorn and hatred.

She realized there was an innocent, naivety, purity that died within Evangeline. And the warm, gentle, timid little girl was no more. Evangeline Krisnov was dead. She killed her.

Not registering the pain of her nails scraping against her palms, Jennifer turned away and bolted inside the hall, couldn\'t take the regret and guilt.

". . ."

Once again, Evangeline was left alone. Refusing to look where Jennifer ran off, she stared at the ocean, staring at no particular spot with a blank expression.

"Evangeline."

----

Jittering to his feet, Eric was forcing himself to be at the presence of the annoying bunch of men, not speaking to avoid giving away his feelings. He only listened as the men barked their success with a vacant look on his face.

For Evangeline\'s sake, he had to endure. These people were Evangeline\'s classmates. He kept repeating to himself so he wouldn\'t march away with Evangeline in tow.

But any more of the, \'founded the Vodka brand this and that. CEO of a clothing company. Making the most luxurious cashmere and wool and what not. Taking a vacation in the private island of West Coast while eating the roe of a rare Tangeda fish\' –– and Eric would drag Evangeline back home.

If these what reunion is like, then it was better if they hadn\'t come at all!

"What about you, Eric? What are you doing for a living? As Evangeline\'s boyfriend, you must be quite remarkable. I mean, she even broke up with a Prince."

And the moment Eric dreaded had come.

Maintaining a vacant face, he spoke in a matter of fact tone.

"I work as an assistant in Sparkle Entertainment."

. . .

. . .

"You\'re kidding, right?"

With a distinct hard jawline, Eric shook his head with a no-nonsense expression.

There were audible intakes of breaths. Some tilted their head away, refusing to engage with him any longer, and most curled their lips in disgust.

"And here I thought you\'d be something else. Like a billionaire or something since you\'re dating Evangeline and all. No offense, with your looks . . ." Benjamin didn\'t finish his sentence as he shook his head in disappointment.

While the more open and blunter one, Jonathan, wrinkled his nose, making a quick disgusted snort.

"More like, what on earth happened to Evangeline? She broke up with a Prince for this . . . commoner! That\'s the stupidest joke I ever heard!"

Jonathan leaned back with arms cross while he asked questions to discriminate Eric further. "So, how did you do it?"

"Do what?" Eric asked back, pretending no one was disregarding him.

Jonathan flapped a hand in dismissal. "Don\'t play innocent." His mouth then twisted in an ugly smirked. "How did you manage to snag someone like Evangeline? Or am I missing something and you aren\'t really going out? Wait!"

Jonathan chuckled, a dopy look on his smug face. "Did Evangeline hire you to pose as her boyfriend as a joke or something? Because honestly, I don\'t see how someone like Evangeline could date you."

Eric stared at Jonathan, and the latter kept his face natural, but he was too arrogant.

Using a carefully controlled tone, Eric replied, "When two people like each other, it\'s only natural that they would date."

. . .

. . .

Ahahahaha!

Resounding waves of laughter boomed –– laughter of mockery and scorn.

Jonathan bent on his knees, laughing so hard tears pooled beneath his eyes.

After some time, he composed himself and ran a finger through his hair while a warped smirk never left his face.

"Now, this is something. I\'ve seen the vast world. I heard fancy and flattering words. Been with all kinds of people and felt all sorts of pleasure. But you . . ."

He then pointed a finger at Eric, and shook his head, a dry smirk on his lips. "You though . . . is the real thing. I\'ve never met a man who is so shameless and delusional as you who think they are someone else. In this game called life, you aren\'t the experienced gambler who can get the women with some tricks. No . . . you are the insignificant, annoying pebble stuck in the gaps of the gambler\'s shoes."