FELIX

"Damn! I was indeed surprised what you did in school earlier today. Truthfully, I thought you'd try to make her life a living hell," Rex tells me.

I scoff, my face showing its most scathing look. "I don't need to do that. You ever heard of the popular saying, 'kill 'em with kindness?' That is exactly what I'm doing."

We keep walking towards home, and all I think of is the cast on Agnes's face when I offered my help. That gesture definitely touched her heart of stone I'm certain, and if by any chance, it will make her feel so guilty she'll be the one chasing after me.

Hold up! It's better not to aim too high, at least, not yet. Perhaps, I should be planning the next move, peradventure this one doesn't work out. And I must act fast while the iron is still hot.

"What will happen after this? You think she will warm up to you?"

"Take a guess. I can't assume anything yet, but there's a possibility."

"Of course there is. You paid an act of evil with an act of kindness. Everybody will think you are the victimized hero. But knowing Agnes, I don't think she will be so easily moved."

"I know she won't. That's why I am going to use this opportunity to befriend her. Trust me, I've got it all planned out already."

He chuckles, "that is as good as impossible. Not intending to burst your bubbles, but you know Agnes's hatred for you is unfathomable."

"That's what you think. But do this for me, just move aside the 'I' and 'M' from impossible and you'll see what I mean."

"I, M, Possible!" He tilts his head while his brain spins gears. "Oh! I see what you did there!"

"Exactly. Look, I don't see impossibility in what I set my mind on. This will be no different."

"That's correct. You're Felix King, and Felix King never back down from a challenge." He rolls his eyes with a dispatched look on his face.

My turn to chuckle. The look on his face clearly means defeat seeing that I'm on my way to win the bet sooner than later. He assumed so little of me before. I'm a hundred percent sure I'll be seeing more of this look in the coming days and honestly, I can't be more delighted with myself when I do win our bet.

We walk few meters before he breaks the long uncomfortable silence suspended between us. "You wanna know something? I was absolutely shocked on Friday. I couldn't believe my eyes. I expected she would possibly want to make you fall while dancing or do something to make you lose focus then you'll trip or whatever, but just leaving you on stage halfway through the show was epic. She completely humiliated you."

My face turns sour and I know why. The hostile memories start flooding back in with the anger I tagged onto it. The injury's still very fresh, and whenever I remember, I develop an inclination to lash out unreasonably on anyone in my way. Rex becomes mindful of that when he sees my change of mood, but there is no giving him that satisfaction he desires, which brings me to two conclusions; he is either an idiot for bringing up this topic since there is merely anything left for us to chat about, or he is bitter I'm making such remarkable progress to win our bet right up his face so he thought of this ridiculous comeback.

Either way, my victory remains untouchable.

"Don't you worry, with time, she will fall in love with me and that will be the biggest mistake of her life," I say out of my repressed indignation.

"The event must have truly taken a toll on your mental health."

"Huh?! What does any of this got to do with my mental health? In fact, don't answer it. I always knew you were a gormless bonehead anyway."

"Hey! Don't vent your frustrations on me!"

"When is our next football game?" I change the topic since he's so bent on adding salt to injury.

"Till the weekend."

"The weekend! That is such a long time!"

"Why? Exams are fast approaching, you know."

"I need to keep myself busy with something."

"You can keep yourself busy with studying."

"Of course, I keep myself busy with that every day, in as much as I hate it. Studying is nice, but I mean something more physical, something to transfer my energy to."

"Oh, sure..." he drags the last word. "More like, vent your anger on. I'm going this way, see you online."

Finally! I can get him off my case.

We arrive at a junction split in two directions. I turn left and he goes right but we halt when we see Agnes running at a far distance to catch up with us.

"Is she running this way?" I ask Rex.

"Yes, I think," he replies, equally as surprised as I am.

We wait for her to come meet us and when she arrives, she's gasping for air. Here I thought she will take her sweet time before running to me. My luck must be bigger than the whole sky and I'm so happy she's going to do it in front of Rex.

"Oh my! Um... hold on, let me catch my breath first." We wait until she breathes evenly. "Felix, can I have a minute with you?"

"Sure, I guess," I reply with my eyes narrowed. "You tracked me all the way from school. I'd be lying if I tell you I'm not utterly curious to hear what you have to say."

"Don't be curious, it's nothing special. I want to say that I'm sorry for everything."

Rex and I exchange a glance before we face her again.

"You're saying sorry to Felix?" Even Rex himself cannot believe his ears. After having his shot at convincing me that Agnes will never apologize, he must the most surprised.

But her apology still takes me off guard indeed. She is saying sorry for everything, I hope it also includes the unfair treatment I've been getting from her. "For what exactly?" I ask.

"Look, don't assume otherwise okay. I still very much hate your guts."

"Naturally."

"But I owe you an apology. Thank you for what you did today."

"Ah. I see. So...?"

"So, I'm saying I'm sorry for what happened on Friday."

"Do you mean for embarrassing him in front of the entire school and denting his reputation?!" Rex interjects.

"Nobody here asked for your input. This is only between Felix and I, alright?" Agnes fires at Rex so bluntly, I almost burst into laughter. He is so stupid, he doesn't know when to stop.

"Well, guess what, I'm part of this because—"

I intrude, "Rex was just about to leave, weren't you, Rex?" I glower in his direction. He seals his mouth and crosses his arms before I face Agnes again. "Okay, apology accepted."

"Thanks," she responds and walks back, clearly stating that her business with me is over.

"So... what was that?"

"You just don't know when to shut up, do you? You should as well tell her we struck a deal, you fool!"

"Well, I didn't. Happy? But can we rewind back to Agnes's apology?"

"And it so happens she finally did it, contrary to your false prediction."

"That's something."

"Something to celebrate, because this will turn into a friendship then relationship sooner than you think." I cast my stare on Agnes as she goes further away and disappears.

"But did you really accept her apology?"

"Of course not! This is just the beginning of my well planned out revenge."

"But she still hates you."

"She's just saying it. Remember, shown hatred is hidden love."

He laughs, "I guess I'll see you online."

We finally part ways.

*

The following day, I wake up super ecstatic, too excited I couldn't contain it. I pick up my phone and update my status: ~it's a brand new day~

And the first message I see is from Rex replying to my status.

Rex: It's a new day, for what exactly?

Felix: Okay, Rex, don't just view my status and ask me silly questions. It's obviously a new day.

Rex: Your head is still over the clouds, because Agnes apologized to you yesterday, am I right?

Felix: Of course not!

Rex: Felix... for once be honest.

Felix: LOL

Rex: You can't fool me. I can literally sense your excitement from this end.

Felix: Fine. I'm excited, so what?

Rex: See that wasn't that big of a deal to admit, was it? Anyways, gotta go. See you in school.

He goes offline.

Despite how annoying he usually is, he's sort of accurate about that. Recently, I hardly wake up early feeling this good about myself, and when I remember that Agnes apologized to me – that is like the icing on the cake.

I look over my chats and find that Xian's online.

Shit! Xian is online.

I must utilize this ideal opportunity to reconcile us both before things get any messier than it is.

Felix: Hey, best friend.

Xian: Felix.

He's mad, freaking mad. The way he replies me with just my first name literally spells out, 'I am freaking mad at you, Felix.'

Felix: Listen, I'm sorry. I hope we can be alright again.

Xian: Depends on how you answer me.

Felix: Yay!

Xian: I heard what happened.

Felix: About...?

Xian: With Agnes. You helped her sell cookies.

Felix: Oh, that.

I really don't want us to drift further apart than we already have. Still, I need to tell him nothing but the truth. Fingers crossed, I pray he doesn't freak out too much.

Xian: Please tell me that is not part of your sick strategy to make Agnes like you.

Felix: When you put it in that way, you make it seem like I'm the bad person.

Xian: Just answer the question. Was that a part of your gimmicks to woo Agnes?

Felix: You see, in this instance, desperate times calls for desperate measures. I had no choice.

Xian: What!!!

Felix: And don't give me your disapproval. You know I'm still going to do what I want to do.

Xian: You know what? You're on your own.

Oh jeez! That reply was the worst way to make things better than before. Why did I have to go on to tell him the whole truth? Now he is going to get mad at me for real.

He goes offline, and I finally leave the comforts of my bed to prepare for school, with hopefully a plan to restore our friendship.

* # * #

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