Chapter 25
I smiled and leaned on Aunt Mel’s shoulder like I used to do when I was young. I said playfully, “Aunt Mel, please don’t say things like this again. If my boyfriend finds out, he’ll be unhappy.”
That night, I lay in bed sleeplessly for a long time. The pain in my heart continued to spread, and I gritted my teeth as I endured it.
When it was almost dawn, Felix sent me a message on WhatsApp. “Do you really have a boyfriend? Who
is he?”
I stared at the phone screen unblinkingly for a long time until my eyes began to ache.
No matter who he was, it wasn’t Felix. Why did he still have to ask so much?
I put the phone on silent mode and tossed it at the foot of the bed without replying.
I didn’t have a boyfriend. Whoever he was, it was my business and had nothing to do with Felix. I had no
reason to tell him anything.
The next morning, with huge dark circles under my eyes, I made plans with a few of my high school
friends to go hiking.
After the events of yesterday. I especially did not want to see Felix. But our houses were next to each other, and even bumping into each other was a normal occurrence. The only way to avoid him was to go
outside, and that was the reason I wanted to go hiking.
I was very athletic, and in the past, I loved things like hiking and other outdoor activities.
After Felix cut off ties with me, I suddenly changed. I no longer liked sports that were too extreme, nor did
I like crowds. I just wanted to stay quietly by myself.
Rather than going hiking in a group, I preferred finding a quiet place to read or daydream. But I had no
choice but to do this in order to avoid certain people.
When I had gotten ready and opened the front door, Felix was coincidentally putting on his shoes with
Lilac on his arm.
“Lix, Lilac.” This was really not my year. I couldn’t believe that I had met them again! I greeted them.
briefly, not planning to say much.
“Okay, you’re pretty punctual. Let’s go. I called a cab downstairs.”
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I was startled. “You guys are going, too?”
“Of course. Are we just going to let you gallivant off by yourself?” Felix looked sideways at me, and there was mockery in his eyes.
I only felt the chill of dismay in my heart.
Why on earth were they barging in on this hike? Couldn’t they just let me have some peace and quiet by
myself?
Should I not go? But I was the one who had organized this, and if I were to cancel now, the others would
kill me.
If there hadn’t been others present, I really wanted to slap myself in the face.
I had wanted to go out because I didn’t want to see the two of them, but now, they were right under my nose! I was just punishing myself at this point!
At that moment, I could not have known that this hike would make the rift between Felix and me bigger.
He was shattering my feelings toward him little by little. At the time, I thought that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He was helping me to forget the things that I couldn’t forget by myself. When my feelings for him disappeared completely, I would be free.
Our group gathered at the foot of the mountain. We were all part of the same friend group. This was our first gathering after summer break started. The friendship between girls was always cheerful and full of joy. We hugged and laughed together, filled with delight.
They all knew about Felix and I. In the past, they often teased us and said we were a match made in
heaven.
Although I had once denied it, in my classmates‘ eyes, that was just a one–sided declaration on my part.
In everyone’s eyes, Felix and I were meant to be together.
But when Felix took another girl’s hand right in front of me, they could not understand it. They all looked at me meaningfully, and the fire of gossip burned in their eyes.
What could I say? That it had always been a one–sided love on my part and that he had only ever treated me as a sister? Or that the “perfect” pair was no more, and now I was alone?