Chapter 20
Even though I still had no friends at the time, a part of me still desperately didn’t want my current classmates to see any hatred in Ethan’s eyes.
Or, worse still, to have him reveal my most shameful origins and past.
I lowered my eyes, bit my lip, and gathered my strength to continue supporting Sophia as we walked.
Ethan tossed the basketball into a flowerbed. Without a word, he can
over and held the other arm of the girl I was supporting.
My palms were slick with cold sweat, as if I were awaiting my execution.
But all the way until we got Sophia safely into the infirmary, he still didn’t say a word.
Later, when Sophia was getting an IV and I went out to fetch water for her, Ethan also stepped outside, ready to leave.
With no one else around, I whispered, “Thank you.”
He turned his head, his gaze lowering to meet mine for a moment before dropping to my hands.
The scars on my hands were still there after all these years, and my wrists were so thin they were almost painful to look at.I instinctively pulled down my sleeve a bit more.
The mocking voice I had expected never came.
Ethan spoke, with a hint of awkwardness in his tone. “Is the money on your card… still enough?”
My throat suddenly tightened. After a moment, I replied, “Yes. There’s plenty. I couldn’t spend it all if I tried.”
He responded with a simple, “Oh.”
After that, and utter silence fell between us.
After that day, Sophia began talking to me more often.
She said, “That day, I really thought that even if I died right there at my desk, you wouldn’t have noticed.”
“The whole class thought you were aloof because you were the top student and didn’t want to be bothered by anyone.”
“Everyone… was a little afraid of you.”
I could hardly believe it—she actually used the word “afraid.”
All this time, I had assumed that everyone naturally hated me. But apparently, they didn’t.
I was no longer always alone. I had my first real friend in life.
Sophia was particularly proud, saying that the top student n the grade only wanted to play with her.
One day, I mustered all my courage and told her about my past.
She was shocked, yet hugged me and said, “Your past is sad.”
“But you’re smart, and everything will get better in the future.”
It was the first time someone looked at me with pity, describing my past as “sad.”
Gradually, classmates began speaking to me as well, sometimes asking questions about tests.
I answered carefully, quietly hiding my trembling hands.
The four high walls that had surrounded me for so long seemed to finally be cracking.
In winter, Uncle David and Mom came to pick up Ethan.
Chapter 20
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Whether by chance or by design, their path took them right past my dormitory.
I went downstairs to get water and bumped into them.
Mom was with Michael, standing close enough to suggest they had long since remarried.
She looked much better than I remembered. Her skin was fair, no longer rough.
Now, she finally resemble the woman in the photographs I’d seen years ago at the Miller family home.
Uncle David even had a rare, relaxed smile on his face.
I lowered my head in a panic, hoping to blend in with the other students and leave.
But from afar, Mom called out, “Emily.”
I froze. I stood there clutching the thermos, staring at them blankly.
My face burned, my heart pounded like a drum, and I tried desperately to stay calm.
Mom stepped closer and reached out, seemingly to touch my arm.
But after so many years without contact, the distance betwee us felt vast.
Her hand hovered between us for an awkward moment before she let it fal back to her side.
She asked softly, “All these years… have you been all right?”
Chapter 20
