- 5.
Ethan and I both looked up.
Ashton stood there in his basketball uniform, holding his Northwood jacket and a notebook.
He and Ethan were complete opposites.
Ethan exuded youthful arrogance, while Ashton
had a gentle Worm presence Like a friendly
く
had a gentle, warm presence. Like a friendly
older brother.
I pulled away from Ethan and walked towards
Ashton. “How did you find me?”
Southwood’s building layout was a maze. Even I
got lost when I first started here. It was
Ashton’s first time here, and he’d found me.
“Finding you is a simple thing.” Ashton handed
me the notebook.
It took me a long time to truly understand that
sentence.
Finding me was a simple thing for him.
Ethan looked uneasy as he watched us talking
and laughing. He started to step towards me,
but Zach stopped him.
“Ethan, the game’s about to start. Let’s go.”
<
Ethan shot Ashton a cold look, then kicked the
classroom door as he walked out the back.
I hadn’t realized how immature he was.
Ashton looked at Ethan’s outburst with
confusion, then smiled faintly. “Is that…
Ethan?”
I nodded, embarrassedly scratching the back of
my head.
Have you ever felt ashamed of yourself for
having liked someone?
That’s how I felt. I could have dug a hole and buried myself.
“Um… good luck with the game. I’ll be reading,
waiting for you.”
“You’re not coming to watch?” Ashton had
probably heard about my relentless pursuit of
<
“There’s something… unpleasant… at the
court.” I hugged the notebook and shook my head.
39
I used to be the most enthusiastic spectator at
Ethan’s games.
Banners, cheering… I’d given him everything I could, but he never took me to the post–game celebrations.
Even his teammates would say, “Invite Mia, she put in so much effort.”
But Ethan would always reply, “She’s just being clingy. It’d be awkward.”
I’d overheard that conversation once.
I cried for a long time that day. I should have
known then that no matter how hard I tried,
Ethan would never see me. He had room for
everything in his eyes, except for Mia.
<
I was like Ethan’s shadow, always trailing
behind him, even getting stepped on.
Sometimes, I thought I was pretty pathetic.
39
But then I’d remember that Ethan never actually rejected my affections. He was the one who kept giving me hope.
Ashton seemed to understand. He just smiled.
As he left, he said, “Wait for me. We’ll go home together after I win.”
I laughed. “You’re that confident you’ll win?”
Ashton draped his jacket over his shoulder and, standing at the end of the hallway, smiled.
“Don’t worry. This time, I won’t let you down.”
