Chapter 15
Stupid door. Stupid foot. Stupid cast. Stupid class! This is eating up my patience. I'm late. My right foot, which is still in a cast, is starting to ache. I'm carrying two books and a notebook and a water bottle on the other hand. I can't open the stupid door. I planned on using my feet but that's not gonna work out in my current condition.
"Are you okay?" I looked up to see who asked me that question. My eyes gleamed with hope when I saw him.
"Jace!" I said and I pouted at him. He helped me carry my books and opened the door.
"Why are you late?" The professor asked. I don't know what to answer. Should I say that I was standing outside for too long? Will that be a good reason?
"We went to the nurse's office because her right foot was aching. She couldn't walk properly, Professor Smith." Jace suddenly spoke. What a relief.
"Okay. Take your seats. Next time don't be late." Professor Smith said.
"Yes" we answered in unison then we took our seats.
When we got to our seats I whispered a thank you to Jace and he just winked at me.
Jace and I have three classes together because we’re both taking film and production. Meanwhile, Jeanny is taking up business so we only have one class together. It’s a relief that I know someone in class.
Thankfully the class ended earlier than usual because there was an emergency for the faculty of film. I cannot listen anymore to Professor Smith’s voice without my eyes closing and my head nodding.
"Do you have everything with you?" Jace asked. I immediately checked my documents. Resumè, check. Passport, check. University Registration, check. ID, check. 2x2 Picture, check. Birth Certificate, check. Okay I'm good. I nodded my head as an answer to his question.
"Do I look okay?" I asked as I faced him. We're inside the subway now going to BlueStone Entertainment’s building. Jace told me two weeks ago that the company’s production division is still looking for part-time workers. I immediately said yes when he asked me if I still want to apply.
"Hmmmm.." he said while placing his fingers on his chin acting like he's still thinking. "You look.... pale. Like a ghost. Are you going to audition as a prop? Halloween is in October, I don't think the production team needs a ghost in the middle of spring." he said while smirking. I rolled my eyes.
"Shut up Jace. You and your cousin are very much alike. Both of you are annoying. Just tell me honestly. How do I look?"
"You look fine. Just add some color here" he said as he pointed at my cheek, "and there," then he pointed to my lips. I nodded and brought out my lip tint.
"Do I look sick?" I asked him as I placed the tint on my cheeks.
"Hmm a little. You look better now than before." I nodded while putting lip tint on my lips.
"Is this okay now?" I asked as I faced him and he looked at me as if thinking what else is wrong in ny face. Then he took something from his bag and slowly leaned into me.
"W-what are y-you doing?" I asked. Why am I stuttering?
"This." He pointed at my forehead. Ah, the wound that's turning into a scar.
"Put this on your wound since it's not completely healed yet." He gave me a pink chequered band-aid. Who would've thought that a guy like him has a pink band-aid. I smiled at that.
"Stop smiling like an idiot and put that in your forehead immediately. We're almost there." Jace snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Thank you" I said and he just shrugged.
Five minutes later, the intercom announced that we’re arriving at the station.
Jace helped me get out of the train. He also helped me through the stairs, which was very hard work because of my injured foot. Before we went here I dropped off unnecessary things in my dorm room first so that I won't have a hard time carrying things.
When we entered the building Jace wore his ID and the guard recognized him immediately. I walked towards the reception desk and signed up my name then I was given a visitor pass. Jace waited for me as he stepped in front of the elevator. I sometimes feel sorry for him because he always has to match his pace with mine. I'm still using clutches which makes it harder for me to walk or move around.
But I don't know who I feel sorry for the most. Jace or Myself.
I walked towards him just in time for the elevator to open. Good thing a bunch of employees are getting off and it bought me time, and Jinyoung and I were able to get in before the door closed.
"Do you know which floor I need to get to?" I asked and he nodded, then he pressed the number 5 button. Oh, so it's the fifth floor.
"Are you nervous?" He asked. I nodded while staring into space.
"Don't be." I looked at him when I heard those words and I saw him give me a wide smile. A smiled at him too. He somehow has a way of comforting me and I'm glad he's with me today.
I followed him to a room that has a wooden floor and white walls. A huge mirror also welcomed me. I sighed when I saw my reflection. No matter how much lipstick I put on, I just can't deny the fact that I am tired and stressed. The last thing I want to be for this interview is not to be accepted just because I look sick.
At the right end side of the room was a long table and there sat three people. My heart started to beat faster and faster. Louder and louder. I feel like it's gonna jump out of my rib cage. I can feel sweat in my palms and my forehead. I feel suffocated as I feel the walls closing in. I can't breathe.
"Eunice. Hey!" Jace called out as he tapped my shoulders. I snapped out of that panic attack. Calm down, Eunice. Calm down.
"Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded at him even though I felt quite dizzy.
"Don't be too nervous. They won't let you do something that you don't wanna do. And they're not gonna eat you." He said as he winked and gave me a smile. I let out a small laugh. I felt relieved at what he said.
I was given a paper to fill up with my personal information and then we were directed to wait outside until called.
When we came there were already seven applicants. I'm number eight. We waited for more applicants to come but I guess there's only eight of us because they started to call the applicants one by one. JJace had to leave as the interview is confidential.
I was fiddling with my hands when I heard number 8 being called. I'm the last one. I quickly stood up and gave my form to the girl who was in charge. She gestured for me to go in. Before I went in, I let out a deep sigh. Fighting Eunice! You can do this!
"Fighting!" The girl whispered at me and gave me a smile. I smiled nervously at her. Then I went in.
I sat in front of the three interviewers.
"Eunice Ciara Suarez?" The interviewer on the left asked.
"Yes." I answered.
"So you're a foreigner. A Filipino." He asked while looking down at my resumè, studying it.
"Yes." I answered and nodded once.
"Hmmm it also says here that you are studying at the University. What are you taking?" The man on my right asked as he looked up at me.
"I am studying Film and Production." I said and he just nodded.
"If it’s not rude, may I ask what happened to your leg?" The man in the middle asked. I looked at my leg. Right. It's still injured.
"I got into an accident and broke my leg."
They all looked at each other with some sort of question in their eyes. They looked at me and I saw curiosity in their eyes. Do they know who I am?
"Are you by chance--" the man on the right spoke but I cut him off.
"I fell down the stairs of my dorm two weeks ago and broke my leg, that's why." I said immediately while trying to be polite. They all nodded in unison.
No. I don't have the intention of letting everybody know that I was the girl that got hit by The Wildes’ Jonathan Rodrigo. I don’t know how that information will affect my life, but it certainly will turn eyes over to me in pity and that’s the last thing I want.
A moment of silence. They're eagerly reviewing my files. I'm getting more and more nervous. What's taking them so long?
After 5 minutes the man in the middle spoke.
"So Eunice, can you sing?"
"Huh?" I was taken aback by his question.
"I'm asking if you can sing." He repeated his question while looking at me. Am I supposed to answer that? What should I say? Calm down Eunice. Maybe this is just a test. Breathe in. Breathe out.
"Yes, I guess so." I answered but my voice was really small.
"Okay. Then sing for us." He said. Now I'm more surprised and dumbfounded, rather confused. "You can sing any song you want as long as you're not cursing us." The man on the left said as he let out a laugh. I guess he's trying to make me calm. I let out a small laugh and I took a deep breath. Eunice, you just have to get over this. Just sing and this will all be over.
I sat down outside the room. I feel like my soul just left me. The hallway is empty, probably because the interview is over and all the applicants went home already.
The interviewers said that they'd give me a call if I passed the interview. But why do I get the feeling that I won't pass? They didn't even ask about my dreams, my passion, my experience, my edge among other applicants. Isn't that supposed to be how an interview will go? I even practiced all my answers so why didn't they ask me that. Instead they asked me to sing. I rolled my eyes and leaned my head on the wall. I closed my eyes in exhaustion. I want to go home.
I felt a figure pass in front of me and sat on the chair beside me. I instantly placed my head on his shoulder. Judging by his build, this must be Jace.
"I think I messed up." I ranted at him with my eyes still closed.
Hmmm, Jace is extra fragrant today. I laughed at that thought. I feel like dozing off.
"I guess I should change my name to Jace since I'm always mistaken for him" He said. I shot my eyes open, sat down properly, and looked at him with wide eyes.
"Jonathan." I said in shock and he smirked.
"Yes, Ciara.” He faced me and gave me an amused smile. He then held out his hand and gave me a chocolate drink. I took it.
"What's this for?" I asked as I opened the drink.
"It's an energy booster. You must be very tired walking around like a Walker" He said as he leaned his head back on the wall. I just glared at him and drank it all.
"I heard you sing a while ago." I spit out my drink onto his clothes. I immediately grabbed some tissues from my bag.
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry." I said as I tried to wipe the chocolate drink from his clothes.
"It's okay." He said as he took the tissues from me and wiped the stain himself.
“Did you really hear me sing?” I can feel my cheeks burning and turning red.
He stared at me for a while before laughing. “No, I’m just kidding. Why? Did you really sing at the interview?”
"Shut up." I couldn't take the embarrassment and that's all I can say.
Chase just smiled goofily at me and pinched my cheeks. “Your cheeks are like marshmallows. They’re soft and chubby.” He laughed again.
"Stop." I said but he just wouldn't. Do you know how much a pinch on the cheek hurts?? So I pinched his cheeks too.
"Let go." he said. He's not smiling anymore.
"I would if you let go first."
"We both let go at the count of three." He said.
"Okay."
"one…two…three!" We both counted.
But as I expected, nobody let go.
"I knew it! You liar! Don't even try to trick me." I shouted at him.
"Look who's talking! You didn't let go either." He shouted back.
I pinched him harder.
"Hey! Eunice Ciara that hurts!" He said as his face grimaced in pain. Then I felt him pinch my cheeks harder.
How dare he? Where’s the ‘gentleman’ that all his fans were talking about?
"Jonathan Chase, let go!”
"You let go first!"
We stared at each other's eyes intensely. No way he's gonna win this. I'M gonna win this!
"Both of you let go" I heard someone behind me speak.
I was too stunned when I heard a voice behind me, so I quickly let go of Chase’s cheeks.
Then the owner of the voice walked to us. He was beside me and Chase now. I looked up to see who it was.
It’s Ethan.
"Hey, Jonathan. She already let go of you, let go of her cheeks now. This is not what I taught you. I told you to take care of girls and not hurt them." Ethan said as he took Chase’s hand off my cheeks and pinched his ears.
"Ouch! Ethan, that hurts!" Chase shouted in pain as he tried to get Ethan's hand off his ear.
I just watched them wide-eyed because I’ve never seen them bicker like that.
"That's what you get for hurting her. I raised you to be gentle and kind to girls." Ethan said.
Raised? Is Ethan Chase’s mom? That’s funny. Oh that’s right. I read from the internet that the band members have been together for seven years now. They were living together for three years prior to their debut, and this year is their fourth year of being The Wildes. So, Chase must have been really young when he met Ethan, and maybe that’s why Ethan says that he raised him.
I just laughed at these two and turned to look at Chase and stuck my tongue out at him, teasing him while Ethan wasn't looking. I saw his eyes widened and I saw an "o" forming in his lips. I can see him fuming right now. Ethan looked at me suddenly. I immediately stopped teasing Chase and placed my hands on my cheek, acting like it still hurts.
"Ms. Eunice, are you okay?" Ethan asked and stepped closer to me as he examined my face. I was surprised by his movement so I was a bit flustered.
"I'm okay." I said shyly. He nodded. Chase glared at me.
Ethan suddenly smacked Chase’s head. But not too hard.
“Why are you glaring at her?! That’s not a nice thing to do." Ethan shouted at him.
Chase immediately cut off his glaring and looked at Ethan and smiled at him cutely. I just realized now that his two front teeth are quite larger than the rest of his teeth. It makes him look like a rabbit.
"Was I glaring? I wasn't. I'm just looking at her."
"Say sorry to her, Jonathan." Ethan told him.
"Why would I?" Jonathan replied.
"Because you were being bad to her."
"We're just playìng around!" Jungkook reasoned. "Right, Ciara?" He looked at me.
"Yes, we're just playing around. It's no big deal." I said while smiling to assure him.
"Fine. Don't fool around too much. You might get hurt." Ehtan said and we both nodded.
"Eunice!" I heard Jace shout from the far end of the hallway. He's coming towards our direction.
"Jace!" I waved at him.
Ethan walked towards him and hugged him tight. "Jace, I missed you.” He said as he caressed Jace’s face and patted his head like a puppy. Jace smiled widely.
I didn’t know that Ethan can be very caring towards other people. I mean, I didn’t expect him to be soft on anyone and act like a mom or a big brother because he always looked serious.
"You're smiling like an idiot." Chase said and I immediately glared at him. I didn’t even notice that I was smiling at the view of Ethan and Jace. I didn’t know that Chase’s band members were also close to his cousin.
"Were they always close?" I asked.
"Who? Ethan and Jace?" He asked back and I nodded while smiling again and still watching them.
"Yeah. All my bandmates are close to Jace. He used to train with me to become a singer too, but then he suddenly gave up on that. He said he fell in love with production, although he still wants to give music production a try.”
I was surprised by that new information. I never knew that Jace and Jonathan had the same dream. I wonder what Jace felt when he saw Jonathan reach the dreams he also once had. Did he feel regretful, or relieved that he chose a different path?
“Hey. Are you ready to go?” Jace asked after he and Ethan had their ‘sibling’ moment. I nodded at him. “We’ll go now.” Jace told Ethan and Chase and they hugged each other. I just waved goodbye to them.
“Take care of Eunice, Jace! Don’t copy your cousin!” Ethan shouted when we reached the end of the hallway.
“What did I do again?” I heard Chase complain at Ethan and I guess they’re bickering again judging by the muffled sounds that I heard before we went into the elevator.