Chapter 13: Deal

Mariela's POV

I don't know why I ran away from Archer; maybe I was afraid to face him because of his post, and I felt frustrated that I suddenly got attention from my fellow students. The boys looked at me as if they had seen me for the first time, even if I had seen them ever since the classes started.

I know there is no way I can hide away from Archer forever, knowing he is so popular in our University. And his fans are dying to have a simple conversation with him, even boys wanted to be his friends so they could be part of his popularity, and I love being in the shadow. Still, right now, I couldn't stop my classmates from looking at me while I waited for our professor to get inside.

I couldn't believe Archer would come to my classroom. And now, I got the undivided attention of those girls who are dying to go on a date with him, and they are looking daggers at me as if I snatched their boyfriends away from them. And the boys are making me so conscious, and I am just glad no one dares to talk with me.

I agreed to meet with Archer in the library during lunch since that is the only way to stop him from bothering me. And I ended up feeling anxious for the rest of my morning classes. I only bought a tuna sandwich for lunch and bottled water because I needed to save more money.

"You only eat a little, Ella; you should eat this," Valeri said as she handed me an apple.

"I am already full, Val, and you know I needed to maintain my figure." I declared with a wide grin on my face.

"You can't lie to me, and you don't need to have a diet because I have known you for so long, and I know no matter how much you eat, you will never gain excess weight; that is one of the things I envy about you aside from your face and intelligence." She said while she looked at me with a solemn expression on her face, while I grimaced at her.

"You have a perfect figure, Val; how could you be envious of me?" I asked.

"Don't flatter me, Ella; I know I could never level your gorgeous body you were hiding beneath your baggy pants and a loose t-shirt." She replied, and I fell silent since I knew I could never win against her every time we argued.

"Thank you for your concern, Val, but you have to trust me; I am fine. And you know I will let you know if I need your help." I started after a long silence.

"Yeah, like when you didn't tell me you don't have a place to stay for the night? You need to come with me to our place, Ella." She softly said.

"I am sorry, okay? If you do not change your mind to become Archer's roommate, then you have to live with me." She responded, and I shook my head.

"I will let you know, and don't worry, I promised I would be there at your place if I have nowhere to go," I said, and I gave her a reassuring smile.

"Okay, please, don't make me worry about you, Ella." She muttered as she released a soft sigh.

"You don't need to worry about me, Val; you know I will always find a way," I replied.

"Yeah, even staying with a stranger, you are just lucky it was Archer, or else we don't know if you are still alive right now, or your organs are still intact." She declared, and my face fell.

"You are scaring me, Val," I mumbled.

"You should be, Ella, and please don't ever do that again, unless you went to a boarding house where the landlord got full information about who your roommates are, but it is better to stay in a place with your friends." She said.

"I know, and I need to go to the library now; I need to speak with your idol, and I hope he will stop bothering me." I declared, and she shook her head.

"I don't think that would be the case, Ella, you messed up with him, and I am sure he will never stop bothering you unless you will stay with him at his place. Archer Lopez always gets what he wanted." She replied.

"I am telling you, Val, I am different, and he can never convince me to stay with him." I quickly answered her, but I suddenly remembered how caring he was, and I couldn't deny I got nervous about facing him.

"Be careful with what you say, Mariela; I don't want you to eat your words." My best friend said, and I raised my eyebrows as I looked at her.

"What does it even mean?" I asked.

"Nothing, all I know, it is hard to say no to him. Just watching his pretty face would make me say yes right away, whatever he wants with me." She said, and I could say that my best friend was imagining Archer right now.

"And I wonder how wonderful it is to taste his red lips." She added while she closed her eyes.

"Do you know it is gross? You have to stop daydreaming about Archer, Val. Can't you see those girls? Please don't be like them." I said, and she pouted her lips at me.

"It is not awful, Ella, it would be the most wonderful thing that will ever happen to me if Archer kisses me, but it seems you will be the receiving end of it, my dear best friend, and please don't forget to tell me the details after you kissed him." She declared.

"I couldn't believe your imagination will run this wild, Val; how could you say I will be kissing him?" I said while I couldn't deny that I felt hopeful it would happen even if it sounded so stupid.

"Well, I could tell that he really likes you because he will never do something like that if Archer is not interested in you because this is the first time he mentioned a girl's name on his post aside from his sister," Valerie responded. I know she was so busy following Archer. I don't think my best friend missed a single post of Archer.

I walked towards the library with books in my arms, and I could feel my heart was racing so fast as I saw Archer waiting for me near the entrance of the library. And when he smiled at me, I couldn't stop my heart from skipping a beat, but I knew I needed to stop myself from reacting this way towards him because I couldn't allow myself to be like Valerie. It is enough that she was crazy about him.

"Thank you for giving me a chance to speak with you, Ella." He said the moment we sat across from each other, we took the farthest table away from the librarian.

"What do you want from me, Archer?" I asked, and I tried my best not to give him even the slightest smile.

"I know you hated me because of my post, I already deleted it, Ella, and I want you to be honest with me. Do you already have a place to stay?" He asked, and I was speechless.

"See, I know it is hard to look for a place right now, please hear me out, just give me one week, I will allow you to stay at my place for free, and if after one week you don't really want me to be your roommate, then I will help you find your own place." He said, and I could see Archer's sincerity on his face.

"And if you wanted to stay, then I will only ask you to pay half of the utilities, as for now you don't need to worry about anything, Ella, because I already paid the one-month security deposit and two months advance rental, and I can assure you, you have a roof on your head for two months, and the rental for the coming months, we will work it out." He explained, and I looked at him in the eyes, and I wouldn't say I like it because I can't deny it; it feels like his intense stare hypnotized me.

"And why should I live with you?" I asked.

"Because I need your help, Ella." He responded.

"You can have any girl you want for a roommate, Archer, and why do you make an effort to look for me when you know I don't have enough money to pay you?" I asked, and he smiled.

"You are the only one I am comfortable to become my roommate, Ella," He replied.

"And why is that? You don't know me, Archer." I stated.

"Yeah, but I could tell I can trust you. I know you are not attracted to me, which is the most important thing for me because I can't live with someone who will be throwing herself at me. You already told me not everyone at the University is stupid, so I guess you can live with me." He declared.

"And if you will not stay with me as my roommate, then it only means one thing," He trailed off.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"Maybe after spending one night with me, you realized that you like me too, and you are one of those foolish girls who liked me. And you are afraid to live with me because of your fear of confessing your feelings for me," He responded, and I couldn't stop myself from feeling so angry with him.

"Archer, I will never like you," I said in a stern tone.

"Then prove it by living with me; let us go back tonight at my place, and I can't wait for you to become my official roommate. Don't be a coward, Ella." He said as he looked at me in the eyes, and I hated him more, but there is no way I will

let him win.

"Of course, I can prove it to you," I responded even if I was apprehensive about my decision, but I couldn't accept I am one of those girls.

"So, does it mean, you will stay with me, Mariela? Is it a deal?" He asked as he offered his hand to me.

"Deal," I responded as I took his hand for a handshake, and he gave me one of his sweetest smiles that could melt any woman's heart, while I felt so afraid if I made a wrong decision, and I couldn't believe that Valerie was right, it is so hard to say no to Archer Lopez.

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