There is no love triangle without a love rival.

It was Friday. it was supposed to be just another day. 

Grace is sitting next to Bernard. Patricia is standing in front of them asking for her seat. Timothy is sleeping in the middle of class like always. in a corner Alice is doing her makeup. Hanna is talking about hot boys in school. nothing out of the ordinary.

then Mr. Bark comes to class. he presents the new student. his name is Pierre Da Petit. a boy with short wavy black hair. he has a pale tone of skin. green deep eyes. a bit of facial hair. eyebags. thick eyebrows. he looks directly at Grace with a malicious grin.

Pierre walks towards Grace. he pushes Patricia to the side. he then kneels in front of Grace. he grabs her hand carefully. he kisses her hand as he looks at her in a lovely way. he touches her hand with care and love. there is some evident past between those two.

"Excuse me. remove yourself from her sight at once." demanded Bernard furiously. 

"I am no other than her former lover, of course. we have some nights of history ahead of us. something that a little man like yourself won't ever get to understand." said Pierre smirking.

"Don't pay attention to him. he is just playing around. did we share a romantic past? yes. but that all ended when he betrayed me. our relationship never developed enough to reach the physical point he claims to experience. his betrayal was of great disgust. ever since then I haven't felt attached to any other person." said Grace showing deep resentment.

their classmates get the wrong kind of 'betrayal' idea out of the conversation. some of the girls argue that they won't mind being betrayed by such a man. others look down on him. most of the guys are disappointed on the idea of someone ever betraying a beauty like Grace.

"And who are you?" asks Pierre.

"Well, she is my. we are. I am her property. she claimed me to be hers the first day. and as her property is my obligation to protect her from guys like you." said Bernard loud and proud about such a statement.

"I see, monsieur Bernard. I hope we can all be good. really good friends." said Pierre with a sinister smirk and malice between his words.

just like that another volatile day was in the making. Bernard knows too well that Pierre is miles ahead of him in charisma and looks. he has a charm like no other. Bernard felt small in comparison to him. but he wasn't giving up on his little one-sided romance too easy. Bernard wants to look masculine in front of Grace.

Grace didn't care much about either of the boys. she was too busy paying attention to class. she needed to blend in naturally with the mundane society. she isn't feeling too well. she is thinking deeply about the nightmares she had last night. the memory of her last encounter with Hannes affected her greatly. she keeps telling herself that she is alright. no need to worry.

Bernard notices that she isn't feeling well. he stops arguing and grabs her right hand. he squeezes her hand tightly without hurting her. Grace reacts. she looks at him and smiles. she then keeps working on her studies. Pierre was looking at the scene amused by what he saw. Grace has changed greatly. she seems more humane. there is a difference between the person she is right now. and the person she used to be back then.

"Something tells me that we will be really good friends monsieur Bernard." said Pierre with sincerity for once.

Jack was minding his business talking to his girlfriend. he looks at the trio. he ignores them as he doesn't care about them. then Chloe tells him to go out there and show them who is boss. Jack stands up tired and walks towards them. he stands in front of Pierre. he spits in the floor trying to look intimidating. Pierre seems unaffected by the class's bully.

Jack looks back at his girlfriend. he is too tired to fight. she demands of him to show them who is the big bad in there. Jack looks back at Pierre. he has to do what he is told to do in order to make his girlfriend smile. he throws a punch at Pierre.

"Are we playing top dog games now? I bet you I can break you with one single hand. I am not to be taken lightly pretty boy." said Jack desperate.

Jack is done with Chloe's demands. but the reason why he stays at her side is because he loves her even when she is twisted and sickening. 

"Oh monsieur. you are assez interesse in me. am I to your liking messire." said Pierre trying to mock Jack and showing who is boss.

"Not over pretty boy. I will get you next time." said Jack as he returns to his seat.

for the rest of the class Pierre was constantly talking to Grace. he kept talking about the old times and the life they shared in common. he was consistent trying to keep her attention. every time that Bernard or anyone else would talk to her. Pierre would find the way to get in the middle of the conversation. he knew what he was doing. he did it just to anger Bernard.

Grace was nervous. she could easily kill Pierre where he stands. the more she thinks about it. the more obvious it seems that Pierre was send here by Hannes or a third party trying to get on the way of her mission. it was too dangerous to keep a fox like Pierre so close to her. he is a man that appears to be nice, but deep inside is quite the monster.

the class was finally over. Grace was walking in the corridor. behind her was Bernard almost running trying to keep up with her. behind them was Pierre who was stopped by Mr. Bark. they had some stuff to talk about. Grace turns around for a second. her eyes meet Pierre's eyes.

Bernard steps in front of Grace. he grabs her from the shoulders. he lets her know that he wants to help her. Grace smiles feeling relief that there are people out there on her side. Bernard has been of great help by just standing at her side.

"As you are aware. he is from my timeline. remember those lights the other day? it was him. he is most likely working for the tyrant. I need to avoid him as I fulfill my mission." said Grace feeling desperate.

"I am here. I am at your side. no matter what happens remember that you can always count on me to be your support." said Bernard feeling confidence.

"Why? why are you no nice? I haven't done anything for you. I can be the cause of your death. my existence alone may cause you great agony. I am starting to think that now is the right moment to end our little partnership before I hurt you." said Grace with teary eyes.

"No, please. I will do anything for you, but I won't do that. I can't allow for you to keep walking in absolute solitude surrounded by guilt and blame. I know we are under different circumstances. but I know what it feels like to blame yourself for something that happened in the past. I am the holder of my own sins. you wanted me to tell you before, right? well, I feel like it's about time we show each other's scars." said Bernard crying loudly.

Grace kisses him in the cheek as she thanks him for his help. Grace doesn't know how she is going to deal with the issues at hand. but she will do her best. she will try. there are people out there ready to help her. people who will be on her side no matter what comes their way. for once she finds confidence as things aren't as grim as they appear to be. there is hope in a better tomorrow. a better future.

their conversation ends. Grace walks towards her locker. she opens the door to find another letter in there. this time it's asking for a meeting at a cafe. Grace trembles nervously. things seem to be fine one minute. then the next minute a storm slaps her into reality.