Chapter 3 III.

CHAPTER TWO

"PERVERT!" I scream and throw the stone in his direction. I cover my eyes at the sight of the thing between his thighs. Gosh, my innocent eyes!

I feel like running home and tell him to my mother at once. Where does he come from, and who gives him the right to contaminate the water?

"Hey! What's your problem?" he snarls at me.

"What's my problem? You're my problem! Pervert!"

"I don't remember peeing being a nasty thing to do. It's human nature."

I put my hands away from my eyes and eyed him sharply. Good thing he looks decent now.

"How dare you pee here! Can't you see someone around? This place isn't a comfort room. How can you be so cruel to nature?"

"It's nature's fault she called me!" he countered, folding his arms in his chest.

I splash him with water to my irritation. He tries to avoid it, and he paddles and almost fell on the water.

"Go somewhere else and spread terror there!"

"I am supposed to be the one to get mad here, you know. You just saw my junior," he says cockily.

For a moment, I am petrified. My face flushes. Because of that, the image of his 'junior' flashed in my memory. Oh, I hate him even more now! How dare he! How am I suppose to get it off my mind then, huh?

"Now, you're trying to make it look like it's my fault now!" I snarl in disbelief. "Get out of here! Don't you dare pollute the water ever again!" I splash him with water again.

The annoying stranger smirks at me. "Are you the guardian of the waterfall? By any chance, are you a fairy? Because I just realized the beauty of supernatural beings is just a myth."

I look at my body only to find my breasts revealed under my clothing. I hugged myself and dipped my body into the water. This is so embarrassing!

"Don't you ever come here again!" I snarled through gritted teeth.

The man waves at me, laughing as he turns his back and started walking away. I pound my fist on the water in frustration. I should have landed my fist on his face instead.

I immerse my body into the water. I wish the waterfall would swallow me now.

***

"YOU SHOULD smile. Look how pretty you are."

I suppress a frown with Mother's remarks as she fixes my hair in my room. I don't want to ruin my mood, but I just can't help feeling pissed just thinking of the man I met in the waterfall this morning.

He did not say it directly, but he's implying that I am too ordinary to pass as a fairy-that I am not beautiful enough. Does he think highly of himself? He's just tall, and he's got a nice physique. He has fair skin and dresses up nicely, but that does not make him handsome either!

And what's more embarrassing is that the image of his 'junior' is clearer than his face that I could recall! Why 'jumbo' is the better word for it either!

Gosh. What am I thinking? What's happening to me?

"I hate him," I muttered, gritting my teeth.

"What is it, Mary Cris?" Mother asks.

I get back to my senses. I did not realize I was already talking to myself!

"N-nothing, Mother. I was about to say I owe my beauty to you and Grandma." I smile at her from the mirror. "Am I right?"

Mother giggles.

"By the way, I just saw Don Conrad's grandson when they arrived. He's so charming he looks like a celebrity! Once he proves to you and to the tribe that he is deserving to be your husband, I'm sure you'll make beautiful offsprings."

I could not believe the delight in Mother's face.

"Mother, do you really think we could be a normal family?" I said with a frown.

"Let's not close our doors for the possibility that you'll fall in love with each other. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I don't want to fall in love with anyone right now, Mother. What my father and Ruden did to us was enough. We don't need men in our lives."

"What about my dream of having my own grandchild?"

"Mother..."

Of course, I would love to have a child of my own someday. And to make it possible, I have to get married. I wish women are like plants so that they could just self-pollinate.

***

"CRIS... wow, you look gorgeous."

I halted when Ruden suddenly blocked my way. I'm on my way to the covered court where the gathering is. Don Conrad's family is waiting for me.

I have to be honest. I am tense right now. And I could not believe Ruden is making it even harder for me. He's the last person I want to talk to right now.

"Thanks," I replied curtly.

I am about to walk past him, but he stopped me by the arm.

"You know it's not too late. We can still do something about this whole thing. Let's run away from here. You don't have to go in there," he implored.

I pull my hand away and give him a sarcastic smile.

"Do you think I'd be making the right decision if I go with you? We're not getting back together, Ruden. I trusted you once, but what did you do?"

I can forgive Ruden, but to give him another chance is another story. It would be a stupid thing to do for me. If there's one thing I learned from our relationship is that not everything that was lost can be regained. I once dreamt of my future with him, but that dream shattered because of him, too. I felt sorry for the fate of our relationship, but I was over it a long time go. We're over a long time ago.

"You know I never loved Agatha. She was giving me motives and-"

"You're just a man after all," I snap and smirk. "You forgot that I'm a woman too, Ruden. Agatha and I were not your toys." I smile bitterly. "Leave me alone. Do you hear me?"

I did not wait for his response. I left hurriedly and looked for Grandpa Mario because he will be introducing me to Don Conrad's grandson.

For what I can remember, Ruden will be one of Don Conrad's grandson's competitors.

If Ruden would succeed, there's a big possibility that I'll end up marrying him, which I dreaded to happen. Whoever overcomes tomorrow's challenges is still not favorable to me.