“Oh, so it’s jealousy?” Ethan looked like he’d
just solved a puzzle. He ripped up the letter. Then he grabbed me.
I struggled. “I didn’t tell anyone.”
36
He raised an eyebrow. “There’s something more important right now.”
Ethan grabbed scissors from my desk and
snipped a lock of my hair. “Sarah, I’d date a dog.before I’d date you.”
- 10.
Ethan presented my hair to Jessica as a trophy. It didn’t change the fact that his father was transferring him to another school.
The day Ethan left, Jessica cried for hours. I
thought they’d last forever. But within days,
Jessica received pictures of Ethan with other
girls. My lock of hair, and the uneven patch it
left behind, became a forgotten footnote.
<
Jessica’s grades continued to fall. She begged
me to set up a meeting with Ethan, just once. She wanted to see him. I couldn’t refuse.
I didn’t expect Ethan to be drunk at the bar. He recognized me and insisted I stay. “Sarah, isn’t this what you wanted all along?” His smile was chilling.
The next day, Jessica received pictures of
Ethan kissing me, pinning me against the door
of a private room.
- 12.
Jessica cut me off. The story spread. I was the
villain.
“I knew she ratted them out! She’s just bitter
because she’s in love with Ethan!”
“Yeah, and she totally used the opportunity to
get with him. She was supposed to help them
get back together, and she sleeps with him?
I was ostracized. Ironically, everyone seemed to
forget Ethan’s own infidelity and cruelty.
- 13.
The day I transferred, Ethan came to see the
show. “What, couldn’t take the heat?” His voice
dripped with sarcasm. “Serves you right,
Sarah.”
I numbly nodded. “Serves you right too.”
Ethan burst out laughing. He leaned in and
whispered, “But hey, at least in their eyes, we’re
both heartless bastards. Perfect match, right?”
Really? Suddenly, I realized, I was starting to
hate you.
- 14.
Ethan was popular everywhere he went. Two
months into the new school, he’d already dated
every pretty girl. Each time, he was the one to
break things off, leaving the girls heartbroken.
<
I overheard someone point at me and ask him,
“What about her? She’s pretty.”
Ethan just chuckled dismissively. “I’d date a dog
before I’d date her. Besides, she’s already my
dog.”
Then, I heard someone else speak up. “Ethan,
there’s no need to talk about a girl like that.”
- 15.
Luke was Ethan’s roommate and best friend. I
knew him, but not through Ethan. We were
sheltering from a downpour in the school
building a few days after I arrived. Except for
the drumming rain, neither of us spoke. As the
rain subsided, he suddenly said, “So… you’re
Ethan’s childhood friend?”
- 16.
I ended up in Luke’s class. Ethan was next
door; his current girlfriend was my assigned
desk partner. To avoid a repeat of the Jessica
<
incident, I switched seats and ended up next to
Luke. I felt strangely awkward.
Luke didn’t. He scrambled to organize his
books, then helped me move my desk, smiling
shyly. “I’ve never had a desk partner before.
Hope you don’t mind me?”
Luke’s smile revealed two cute canine teeth. I
didn’t reciprocate his enthusiasm, just nodded,
looking down.
- 17.
Ethan’s hatred didn’t fade with the change of
schools. It intensified. The more I avoided him,
the more persistent he became.
The basketball court was on the way to the
cafeteria. A group of girls cheered Ethan on. I
heard the dribbling and instinctively raised my
arms to protect my head, ready to run.
Too late.
く
The expected pain never came. I turned,
stunned. Luke had appeared out of nowhere,
shielding me with his body. The basketball
slammed into his shoulder. It bounced to the
ground.
Ethan rushed over. “Luke, are you crazy?”
- 18.
After the game, Ethan intercepted Luke and me.
I was trying to gauge whether Luke needed to
go to the nurse’s office.
Luke just grinned. “No biggie, I’m tough. I can
take it.”
“What the hell were you doing?” Ethan
demanded of Luke.
Luke’s smile faded. “What the hell were you
doing?” he countered.
“Why’d you throw the ball at her?”
<
“I’m her desk partner.”
Ethan gave Luke a complex look, then smirked at me. “Popular, aren’t you?”
Luke stepped in front of me. “Ethan, don’t be a jerk.”
After a moment, Ethan laughed. “What, you got a thing for her?”
- 19.
Ethan always looked at me with that smug,
possessive gaze. Like I wasn’t his childhood
friend, or the person he supposedly hated most, but something he owned.
Luke remained in front of me. “Your families
have known each other for years, don’t…”
“We’re more than just family friends,” Ethan interrupted, a chilling amusement in his voice. “Want to hear about it?”
<
I had a terrible premonition. It was too late to
stop him.
Ethan nudged Luke’s shoulder. “I took her first
kiss. She transferred schools for me. She even
wrote me a love letter, telling me how much she
liked me… So, what are you?”
- 20.
I went with Luke to the nurse’s office. A nasty
bruise was forming on his shoulder; Ethan
hadn’t held back. I shuddered to think what
would have happened if the ball had hit me.
“Were you playing basketball or street fighting?
So reckless,” the school nurse scolded. “A big
guy like you, and you can’t even take care of
yourself. Here, you, help me put some ointment
on this.”
I nodded and stepped forward. The bruise on
his back was alarming.
