Chapter 4 What About Me?

"Are you happy now, Caleb?"

I was completely bewildered.

Nicole's voice turned cold as she mocked me. "If you hadn't thrown a tantrum and switched to the night shift, Ivan wouldn't have stayed behind because he was worried about you. And he wouldn't have gotten hurt trying to save you from that man!"

Panic seized me.

So Ivan was behind the police siren. The dark figure had not caught up with me because he had spotted Ivan hiding nearby and turned around to go after him instead. That was how I had managed to escape.

Guilt and self-blame nearly drowned me. "I didn't know…"

I had genuinely thought a police car had happened to pass by and scared the attacker away.

Nicole sneered coldly. "You didn't know? Aside from throwing tantrums and expecting everyone to cater to you and accommodate you constantly, what do you know, Caleb?"

My face went pale, and my entire body trembled. I could not hear anything she said after that. Only one thought remained in my mind—I just wanted Ivan to be okay.

…

Fortunately, half an hour later, the doctor came out and delivered the good news. "The patient is fine. He just needed more than a dozen stitches in his hand. He'll be fine as long as he gets plenty of rest."

Nicole visibly relaxed.

Perhaps realizing she had overreacted earlier, she softened her tone when she spoke to me. "Don't be so willful anymore, okay?"

She reached out as though she wanted to hug me, but I instinctively stepped aside and avoided her. "I'm sorry, but we've already broken up. Please respect that."

At that, I hurried to check on Ivan without giving her another glance.

Nicole's hand froze in midair. She stared at my retreating back and laughed in anger. "Fine! You'd better never come crawling back to me and beg me to take you back, Caleb!"

…

Over the next few days, Ivan and I both quit our part-time jobs at the ice cream shop because of what had happened. The police also came by several times to question us and take our statements.

Before long, rumors began spreading throughout the neighborhood. Every time I stepped outside, the neighbors pointed and whispered.

"If he didn't do anything wrong, why would the police keep coming to see him? Maybe he's connected to those recent sexual assault cases!"

"He's so young, and he always seemed like such a well-behaved kid. Who would've thought his mind was full of filthy thoughts? No wonder he did so badly in school and had to retake the exam!"

"Kids these days grow up so fast! I heard it was a group of them working together this time. Who knows how many girls they've already hurt!"

Every word burrowed into my ears. My chest heaved violently with anger as I shouted at them. "Don't you know spreading false rumors and defaming someone is against the law?"

The neighbors exchanged uneasy glances and fell silent.

Then, amid the silence, someone muttered, "Who's spreading rumors? Your friend told the media that himself!"

I froze in disbelief. It took several seconds for me to process what I had just heard before I turned around and rushed to the hospital.

"Why would you paint me like that to the media?" I demanded when I found Ivan.

Ivan's eyes darted away. He reached out as though he wanted to grab my arm.

"Caleb, I'm sorry. Everyone online was saying I was just accusing someone else to take the attention off myself… The rumors were terrifying. And a girl happened to be attacked that same night, and the perpetrator still hadn't been caught. People just wanted to believe what they thought was true. Nobody believed that I was a victim too…"

Before he could finish, Nicole suddenly appeared and stepped between us, clearly annoyed. "We all know it's not real. Why are you so bothered by it? If Ivan hadn't said that, those people would've just started speculating about him instead."

It felt as though countless needles had pierced straight through my heart.

"What about me?"

It seemed my reputation was really that unimportant to them.

Nicole immediately turned cold. "If it weren't for you, Ivan wouldn't have gotten involved in any of this. He saved you. Can't you at least take some of the rumors for his sake? Caleb, after everything that's happened, why can't you just grow up and learn to keep your emotions under control?"

I stared at her numbly. Then I laughed, too speechless to say anything else. What was I expecting? I should have known that she would not put me before Ivan.

In the end, I said nothing. I simply turned around and went home.

To protect me, Mom had me stay with my aunt for the rest of the summer.

Nicole sent me message after message.

'Caleb, the person who hurt you and Ivan has been arrested. The rumors have all been cleared up too.'

'The holiday is almost over. Do you want to meet up? Don't regret not seeing me after I really leave.'

But I did not reply to any of them.

…

Then came the day we were supposed to report to campus.

Nicole arrived at my house early that morning with her suitcase. She had promised she would accompany me to my high school first and then head to the station afterward.

However, she knocked for a long time, and no one answered.

Eventually, the neighbor across the hall heard the commotion and came outside. "Don't bother knocking. Their whole family left for the train station a long time ago."

Nicole froze. "The train station? Why would they be going there? Caleb was supposed to retake the exam. Wasn't he reporting to high school today?"

"They said he wasn't going to retake it anymore. He enrolled at a university in the south…"

The color drained from Nicole's face.