Chapter 2

Sophie's POV

By the time I finally managed to hail a cab, I was soaked to the bone. The sudden downpour had plastered my dress to my skin, and I had never looked more depressed.

As the cab rolled past the beverage shop, I glanced out the window.

Through the curtain of rain, I saw Flynn casually take a sip from Juniper's drink. She immediately reached over to snatch his cup in return. Before long, they were laughing and wrestling over their drinks.

On the other side of the class, they looked like the leads in a rom-com. On my side, I looked like a refugee who had just stumbled out of a disaster zone.

I stared for two seconds before quietly looking away. Then I dropped the milk candies I had been clutching the entire way into the trash bag hanging behind the driver's seat.

That morning, before we had left, Flynn had absentmindedly slipped a few candies into my pocket and flicked the hair tie around my wrist with a smile.

"Sophie, you little airhead. You forgot you have severe hypoglycemia again. Just make do with these for today. When we get back, make me a list of your favorite candies. I'll keep every flavor stocked for you whenever we go out."

Unfortunately, I would never get those candies. There would never be a "we" again.

After I got out of the cab, I straightened my clothes, only to realize that covering one mess simply exposed another. Dejected, I pushed open the front door.

The first thing that greeted me wasn't just the warmth of a home-cooked meal, but also my parents, who had been waiting by the entrance.

"Oh, sweetheart, what's wrong?" Dad asked. "Didn't you and Flynn already get into the same college?"

"Honey, you have no reason to be anxious," Mom said gently. "I've looked into it. With your grades, getting into either of the top colleges with Flynn should be a breeze. You've worked so hard all these years. You finally got what you wanted."

They shouldn't have said anything. The moment they did, the tears I had barely managed to hold back came pouring out again.

"Mom, Dad, Flynn isn't going to either of those colleges. And neither will I attend the same college as him."

Mom and Dad froze.

"W-What do you mean? That boy's always been miles ahead of everyone else. He's been the top student since he was little. Every year, he'd go on and on about getting into those top colleges. The whole neighborhood knows that's been his dream."

Right? At every family gathering, Flynn only ever had two wishes. The first was to get into the top two colleges in the country. The second was to marry me.

As for me, I only had one. I would work hard until I became worthy of standing beside him. It was all because he had once smiled at me and said, "Sophie, promise me you'll keep up with me. Stay by my side forever, okay?"

From that day on, I buried the one thing I truly loved and excelled at—art. I threw myself into academic subjects. I struggled every step of the way, but I kept pushing forward with determination.

The day our exam results came out, I called Flynn, bursting with excitement. I hadn't even finished my sentence before he cut me off.

"I know you can be clueless sometimes, but have a little empathy, Sophie. Juniper didn't do well on the exam. Did you really have to call right now just to show off your score and make her feel worse?"

Then, after I finally submitted my college application, I called him, hoping to surprise him.

Instead, all I heard was "I left the last question on the math exam blank, so when someone changed my college applications, they wouldn't have to feel so sorry for me."

At that moment, I finally understood Flynn's dreams were something he could throw away with ease. And so was I.

He didn't need anyone to struggle to keep up with him. For the right person, he would stop and wait on his own. Too bad that person was just never me.