*Patrick's P. O. V. *

~~~Several Months Later~~~

I guess this is it again. I'm unfortunately back at square one - sadly admiring her from afar and knowing that those times with her is not gonna happen again.

Actually, it's way worse this time. Back then, I still had the chance to talk to her and spend time with her as a professor, but now all that are gone. She really did what she said that day, it's all left in the past and forgotten. I can see her doing everything just to not let our paths cross. Honestly, it would be better for me if I see her actively being outright rude and pushing me away, but no...that girl can never do that and I see it. I can see that she herself doesn't want to walk away and that's just making this more painful than it already is.

Several months has already past. A lot has happened already and one good thing that happened is the rumor about me and Y/N has died immediately. It didn't caught fire like what Elaine was expecting, but it left me at this state, and honestly I don't know if I'm ever going to move on.

Elaine, on the other hand, just kept on winning. She has me on her palms and I'm not doing anything more to escape. It frustrates me to see her so joyful that she got what she wanted by doing something this awful. I can't fathom how she's seeing this as okay. Yes, I may be with her, we may be going out once in a while, but she knows that I hate her. The girl has just became too delusional for her own good.

I composed myself again, organize my messy thoughts before leaving my office to continue my day and by that I mean try to act like everything is fine around me. The school day is about to end and the moment I saw some students, I'm reminded again about what day it is.

Valentine's day.

Just the right day to mock me more.

Call me a cheesy and a hopeless romantic but I already had a plan for this day months ago when Y/N's still with me. I already planned a surprise for her, but that's all gone with the wind now.

I would have loved to surprise that girl...she gives off the best kind of smile whenever I surprise even with little things.

I continued to walk along the halls and like that this day is not enough to mock me, I suddenly saw her with Meagan walking to the opposite side. I wanted to focus on her as she's genuinely laughing with her friend who's obviously teasing her about something, but my attention landed on the bouquet of flowers she's holding. And now that I focused on her, I saw her blushing and getting all flustered.

I guess she...moved on.

Finally, she noticed me and her natural smile slowly fades into sadness. She gave quick glances and we both stopped our tracks even if we're far from each other.

I should be happy for her. She's picking herself up, she's doing great without me. I should be.....proud?

"Hey, Y/N!~" my thoughts were interrupted by a voice and a second after that, I saw Ethan, another student of mine, appearing out of nowhere with a guitar and walking towards Y/N, "You like the flowers?" he said with that douchey smirk of his.

It's not that I don't like the kid, but I don't like him if he's the one going after Y/N. He's somewhat of a great student but has doen some questionable things already. He's that talented but arrogant and concieted kind of guy that thinks he can own anything by utlizing his skills and pretty face. I really don't trust him.

But maybe I'm just biased? Who knows?

Ethan began to serenade Y/N, his friends even accompanying him and acting all quirky and sweet, but for me...it annoyed me. Lucky for him, there's no strict rule about this around campus or I would have already dismissed him even before reaching Y/N.

But I guess Y/N's not feeling the same thing...she's laughing with them. Smiling and chuckling like she used to with me.

"Stop it. I told you, you dont have to do something like that," I heard Y/N say. I pushed myself to continue to walk and just act normal and nod at them.

"Oh come on, but admit it! You loved it," I heard his arrogant tone, "Come on, I did great, right, Mr. Stump? You're Y/N's adviser since the beginning, so if I got a yes from you, I could conclude she saw this as great too," he continued. I didn't expect him to go this way, but I'm sure he's going to regret it.

I looked at them, faked a smile but pretending that it's a genuine one, "Well, technically that's an overused song to sing. It's too generic and common. A lot of flat notes too and better work on your guitar playing, you're missing a lot of chords. Better get good for a pitch perfect like her, Ethan."

Wow, I didn't even hold back. All of them were looking shocked at me. Y/N was the most shocked one and it's like she doesn't know how to react. I playfully laughed at them before it gets worse and patted Ethan on his back, maybe a little harder than I should have.

"I'm joking! It's great of course! Any sweet gesture is. Keep it up," I said and thankfully they bought it.

"See? Told you he'll approve of me," I heard him, smirking and winking at Y/N.

No, kid.

I honestly don't.

*Y/N's P. O. V. *

Why did this have to happen in front of him?

Out of all the places and time, why here and now?

"See? Told you he'll approve of me," Ethan said after Patrick's shocking and mixed comments about him. He's not wrong though, in fact his comment is painfully true...but why would he act like that?

I caught myself just looking at him and I feel like he's looking dismissive at Ethan.

Or am I just delusional?

Thankfully, he left after that and I was able to breathe again.

"Really Ethan. Thank you for the gesture, but again, I don't want to rush things. I hope you understand that," I told the guy.

"Of course, this is just for friends for now," he stated.

Ethan is......interesting. I never actually thought that he'd notice me, but apparently he did and he's doing this now. He's nowhere like Patrick though, and I just don't mean the age and profession. He's way different than him.

He has the talent and is arrogant about it, he has a pretty face which makes him feel like he's on top of others. His actions may seem normal to him but I know a lot of other people can see red flags too, but of course, I'm not just going to shut him down. He might be a douche sometimes and does wrong decision, but I think he's genuine about this.

"Mr. Stump acted weird earlier, but nevermind that. Let's talk about Ethan...are you liking him now?" Meagan asked as we drive towards our apartment.

"No, I don't think so," I said.

"So...are you just giving false hope---

"No, that's not that too. I just want to see where this goes. I'm not on the point of saying that I do feel something, but somehow my gut is telling me to go with this for some reason. I can't tell, Meagan," I told her.

"That's a little cyptic, but okay. I'm just happy that you're getting off it. You know, the past stuff between you and ---

"Yeah. I should. I have no choice. It's still so hard and painful to just leave it all behind, but we both have to move on. He seemed to be doing fine and I should be too," I said, more to myself than to my friend.

I just need to continuously tell myself that we may really not be meant to be.

///
Idk why I always name the guy Ethan.
No reason behind that, I just thought of that name.

Thanks for reading! ~