Luke and I walked out of the school building side by side. His teammates rushed up to him. “Where the hell were you? Both you and Ethan are jerks! Coach was so pissed, he rescheduled the game for the day after tomorrow!”
I was relieved. It wasn’t over. There was still a
chance.
Luke grinned at them. “Then the day after
tomorrow it is. With me in, we’ll win.”
Their gazes flickered to me. I felt self-
conscious and tugged at Luke’s sleeve. He
looked down and took my hand. “Hungry? Let’s
grab some food.”
TI
<
The gesture was a clear declaration. His
teammates winked at me and gave Luke a
thumbs–up. My cheeks burned. I tried to pull my
hand away, but his grip tightened.
As we walked off the field, he leaned down, a
smug grin on his face. “What? Am I
embarrassing you?”
I punched his arm playfully. “Don’t push your
luck!”
We turned and unexpectedly locked eyes with
someone else. Ethan stared at our intertwined
hands, a cold smile playing on his lips. “So, you
found someone to take you already?”
- 42.
Ethan didn’t linger. He just said that and left.
Luke sighed in relief, gently squeezing my hand.
“Don’t worry. If he tries anything now,
I’ll be
there.”
<
But I felt a lingering unease. “I just feel like… I
don’t even know him anymore.”
When we were younger, Ethan and I were true
childhood friends. Then, maybe it was his
family, maybe he just went down a bad path,
and he became this.
Luke ruffled my hair. “I won’t let him bully you
again.”
“Was I… weak before? And I dragged you into
this…”
He shook his head, smiling. “If I were you, I’d
have a hard time too. Sometimes people
change, but you remember how they used to
- be. That can be harder than if they were just
bad all along.”
“What about you?” I looked at Luke. “Will you
change?”
|
Luke’s smilo faded Ho linked his pinky fingor
Luke’s smile faded. He linked his pinky finger
with mine. “If that day ever comes, you slap me,
call me a jerk, and kick me to the curb. Don’t
put up with it.”
- 43.
I stayed home studying for the city–wide
exams. My parents were much nicer now, a
bowl of fruit from my mom on my desk.
Just when everything seemed to be getting
better, with only one day left until the exams,
Luke didn’t show up to school. I called him a
dozen times; no answer.
I was intercepted in the hallway.
“Where are you going?”
Ethan. He had a bruise on his lip and a small
cut near his eye. My unease intensified.
“Where’s Luke?”
faint smile played on his lips, but he looked
xhausted. He took my hand, his fingers slowly,
leliberately intertwining with mine. His eyes
lickered to a tiny, almost invisible mark on my
collarbone, a hickey so faint it was barely there.
The mark Luke had left, hesitant, exploratory,
almost invisible.
Ethan saw it. His breathing grew heavier. He
gripped my shoulder. “Where are you going?”
“None of your business.”
“It is my business.” Ethan lowered his head and
adjusted my collar, his voice strangely subdued.
“Forget him, Sarah. Let’s start over.”
- 44.
Ethan had beaten Luke so badly he was
hospitalized. When I walked into his room and
saw him lying pale on the bed, I almost stopped
breathing.
- 66.
33
く
He opened his eyes, saw me, and chuckled
weakly. “How’d you find me? Sorry you had to
worry.”
Luke was from out of state, attending school
alone. He hadn’t told his parents; his older
brother brought him to the hospital.
“This is my fault,” he said, struggling to sit up. “I was being a jerk yesterday, trying to provoke
him. And the bastard went ballistic. Clearly, I
lost. But he’s pretty messed up too. Don’t
worry, it’s nothing serious.”
I gently touched the small cut on his eyebrow.
Remembering Ethan’s strange submissiveness
earlier, I felt no satisfaction, only a deep ache
for Luke.
“This can’t just go away,” I said, my voice firm.
“Luke, I’ll make him apologize.”
<
He laughed. “How are you going to do that?
He’s still obsessed with you. I don’t want to
trade a beating for losing the girl of my
dreams.”
I didn’t laugh. I pulled a USB drive from my bag
and handed it to him. “Luke, letting him get
away with this is hurting him too.”
- 45.
“Sarah.”
I saw Ethan downstairs in the hospital lobby.
He’d followed me, but hadn’t stopped me or
come upstairs. He started walking towards me,
but I took a few steps back. “Ethan.”
He stopped, his eyes fixed on me. “Sarah, I
messed up. Will you help me fix it?”
I shook my head. “Remember? I tried. That time
at the arcade. You told me to mind my own
business, told me to get lost.”
He faltered, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He
seemed to want to say something, but couldn’t.
smiled faintly. “Ethan, apologize to Luke.”
The humor in his eyes vanished. He took two
quick steps and grabbed my shoulders, his
voice trembling. “You really… do you really like
him?”
“Ethan, this isn’t about liking someone.” I
pushed his hands away. “You need to see a
therapist.”
“Even you think I’m crazy, don’t you?”
“Ethan, I know about your family. This is just… .
a suggestion. You beat Luke that badly, he
could press charges.”
Ethan’s hands dropped. “Sarah, don’t be with
him, please. Teach me, teach me how to be
better.”
く
“It’s too late.” I looked at him, at the boy who
was a shadow of his former self. “I realize
now… I didn’t like you. I liked the stubborn, soft–hearted, cocky little boy you used to be. That’s why I put up with you for so long. But all I got in return was you getting worse.”
“I think I understand now. After your family fell apart, you started resenting me. You hated that I had a happy family, that I was carefree, that I had people who liked me, but I was always out of your reach, never giving you what you wanted.
“Ethan, I saw it. You taped that torn–up love letter back together. You carefully braided my hair into that red string. But you still hated me. I couldn’t understand why, until I heard your mom talking to my mom. She said you’d been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.”
Ethan’s breath hitched. I stepped back and
waved to his mom, who was hurrying towards
<
.
T༦༥
yuu
And I, after all the hurt you’ve caused, won’t
waste another drop of pity on you.
- 46.
Ethan was suspended from school. The USB
drive, with the evidence of his cheating, was
submitted as well. The truth was out. Everyone
knew about his bipolar disorder. I received
apologies from many people, including Jessica.
And some congratulations. Like from Vanessa.
Vanessa had figured out about Ethan’s bipolar
disorder around the same time I did. That’s why
she came to me, wanting to see him get help.
“There were times, when he was drunk, he’d
call out your name,” she’d said, smiling as she
handed me the USB drive. “He’d say he loved
you, then call you stuck–up. That’s when I
realized, he’s really sick.”
Besides being suspended, I heard Ethan’s
arents finally divorced. Years of torment, pain,
and drama, finally ending with his diagnosis. His
nother quit her job to take care of him.
She called me while I was reading to Luke in
the hospital.
“Sarah, about what happened… I want to
apologize on his behalf. Could you… could you
come see him sometime?”
I gently refused.
Luke had missed the exams, but he was
recovering quickly. He was furious, but he
ruffled my hair. “You took him down without
me? Didn’t even tell me. Makes me look
useless!”
I smiled. “Isn’t it enough that I’m useful?”
Like was being discharged soon I suddenly
9:21
<
Luke was being discharged soon. I suddenly
asked him, “Back at the nurse’s office… were
you about to confess your feelings?”
He froze, shifting uncomfortably. “…Why are
you asking that now?”
The answer was obvious.
“Superficial rich kid,” I rolled my eyes. “Weren’t
you worried I was some lovesick fool,
hopelessly devoted to Ethan, no matter how
badly he treated me? That I’d run back and tell
on you for having feelings for me?”
“No, no,” Luke denied vehemently. “Impossible.
You seem way too smart for that. I didn’t
believe it.”
“Besides… who said it was superficial?”
- 47.
:
<
I transferred.
He and his friends were hanging around, looking like a bunch of delinquents. Someone joked, “Luke, with your charm, you must have
girls falling at your feet here.”
He grinned cockily. “You flatter me. My charm
is a rare sight indeed. ‘A bunch‘ is an
understatement.”
That’s when I walked past. I wasn’t being
ostracized yet, and Ethan’s condition wasn’t as
severe.
“There’s a film crew outside. Maybe you should audition for the role of the spoiled rich kid,” I
said, clutching my books, my mouth faster than
my brain, without even looking up as I passed
him.
Luke’s gaze lingered on me. I walked into the
school building, not sparing him a glance.
“Whoa, Luke, she’s immune!” his friends roared
with laughter.
He turned and saw the school’s display board.
My picture and name, prominently displayed.
Sarah Miller.
Luke stared at the picture for a full ten
seconds. Finally, he concluded, “Alright, I’m
beat.”
Everyone laughed. But a seed had been planted
in the young man’s heart.
Two new lines appeared in Luke’s diary that
day:
Stop being a spoiled rich kid.
Want my name next to hers.
