Chapter 12
I watched him from a distance, and my eyes, to my dismay, welled up with tears.
The class monitor had gotten second place. When her parents came to pick her up from the classroom, they brought a large cloth doll as a reward.
Then, her father lifted both her and the doll high into the air and left the classroom.
At that moment, I watched them leave. I remembered when I was very small, Mom used to lift me high like that too.
After I turned three, no one ever held me again.
My wole body trembled with nervousness. I strained to raise my voice, calling out with a tremble. “Y–you… wait!”
I ran back to my bed, almost tripping over a broom.
In a fluster, I lifted the pillow and retrieved the certificate I had hidden beneath it.
It still bore the footprints. I tried to wipe it on my clothes several times, but some stains wouldn’t come off.
All I could do was clutch it and rush downstairs.
In my mind, I told myself that I would just say I accidentally dropped it and got it dirty.
I hurried to the big tree outside the dorm and ran up to Ethan.
I hadn’t seen him this close in a long time. He had grown taller, and the look in his eyes reminded me even more of Mom.
Looking at him felt almost like seeing Mom again, and a wave of happiness washed over me.
The ground was cold beneath my feet in the deep winter.
I only then noticed that I had somehow lost a shoe, but I didn’t stop o look for it.
Carefully, trying to hide my anxious excitement, I handed him the certificate. “F–for you…”
Then I noticed that several older boys were standing beside Ethan. Probably his classmates.
Chloe was there too. There was a smile in her eyes that was full of contempt and scorn.
Ethan smiled too. Then, with one hand, he took the certificate from me.
With the other, he slowly raised it, holding the other edge.
In the blink of an eye, there was a soft “rip,” and the certificate was torn in two. It felt as though my own heart had been torn in two.
I reached out desperately, trying to snatch back the first certificate I had ever earned.
I had heard in class that if you studied well and got good grades, you could earn a lot of money in the future, and you could even buy yourself a big house.
Then, even if no one liked me, even if my family didn’t want me, I could still buy a home for myself. So grades and certificates were very important.
But Ethan casually raised his hand. I stood on my tiptoes, my face flushed with anxiety, jumping up and down.
Still, I couldn’t reach the certificate in his hand. I was a year older than the other kids in my class, yet I was almost the shortest.
And Ethan was tall–much taller than me.
I jumped several times but even brush his fingertips. The group of boys burst into uproarious laughter.
Chloe covered her mouth and giggled as well.
Ethan looked down at me from above. He slowly tore the certificate into pieces with his raised hand.
Chapter 12
52.17%
W
WebNovel
4.3 FREE
Google Play
OPEN
You think I’m gonna fall for an illusion?
Then he let go, and the fragments fell over my head. The boys‘ laughter grew louder.
I crouched down, frantically trying to pick up the pieces.
But the fragments were too small, too many, and I couldn’t piece them back together.
My eyes filled with tears, and I couldn’t see the ground clearly.
A sudden, overwhelming sadness and a sense of injustice–which I felt I had no right to–washed over me.
My hands shook, and I could no longer pick up the fragments. Bitearsstreamed down my face.
I stood up, squinting through the blur, staring fiercely at Ethan.
“hy! I’ve moved out! I told you I would never go back to your Millers! Why did you tear my certificate apart!”
Chapter 12
