Chapter 3

At 7 a.m., I went back to school to retrieve the last file.

I had just walked into the school when I heard someone chuckling behind me.

"Hey, it's our top student.

"I heard that he wanted to stay in North City with Lily, but the rest of his friends all went to North University, and he was the only one attending West University."

"What do you mean, he was sent away? He made a fool of himself chasing after Lily, and now he's slinking off after being rejected."

A few classmates stood at the top of the stairs.

The guy that stood at the front of the group was Julian's new friend, Chad Stone.

Chad sized me up and suddenly grabbed the camera hanging around my neck.

"Is this the camera that you're unwilling to lend to Julian?"

I grabbed his wrist.

"Let it go."

"Why are you acting tough?"

He raised his voice.

"Julian was right. Just because you grew up with four girl best friends, you think you're some kind of privileged young master."

Someone immediately added, "That's too bad, all four of them have chosen Julian now.

"But someone still confessed his feelings shamelessly, and he was dumped in just a day. What a joke!"

More students started to gather.

I looked at the other end of the hallway.

Lily and the rest were standing there.

Maddie had Julian's files with her, and Silvia was helping him to verify his information. April was holding his breakfast.

Lily saw me too.

However, she simply frowned. She did not walk over.

In the past, someone at school said that I was nothing without my four best friends. Lily had forced that student to the broadcasting room to apologize to me in front of the whole school.

However, as I was surrounded by bullies with my camera taken from me, she pretended not to see me.

Julian ran over.

"Stop, Luca's just in a bad mood."

Chad snorted as he grabbed my camera.

"Julian, you're too kind.

"He's jealous that his friends are accompanying you, so he's not even willing to let you have a few videos of his childhood. Why are you still helping him?"

Julian immediately teared up.

Lily finally walked over, yet she was protecting Julian.

"Luca, if you're unhappy, you can talk to us about it. You don't have to give Julian those dirty looks."

Before I could talk, someone behind me suddenly tore my camera strap away.

My camera smashed onto the ground.

Another person pretended like it was an accident as he spilled the water bucket over. The dirty water splashed on me.

They burst out in laughter.

"Sorry. My hand slipped."

I wiped the water off my face and bent down to pick up my camera.

Lily glanced at me and sounded impatient.

"Go back and change out of your wet clothes. Don't make a scene in school."

It turned out that they could just claim that it was an accident when they humiliated me in public.

If I demanded an explanation, it was deemed unreasonable.

I did not spare a glance at them. I took my file and left the school.

Half an hour later, I had just changed into a fresh set of clothes when someone was slamming on my door.

My four friends barged in alongside Julian.

"Where's the keychain?"

Maddie asked directly.

"Julian was still wearing it earlier, but it suddenly disappeared."

I leaned against the door frame.

"So?"

Maddie's expression turned cold.

"You're the one who got into physical contact with him at school. If it's not you, who else would take it from him?"

After she said that, she barged into my bedroom and opened my drawer.

The others also started to rummage through my closet and desk.

In the past eighteen years, they had never knocked on my bedroom door when they entered.

In the past, I thought it was because we were very close.

However, I finally realized that it was because they were certain that they had full control over me and everything I owned.

Maddie opened my closet and only saw a few pieces of clothing hanging inside.

"Why are you packing your bags?"

My heart sank a little.

Silvia glanced at my luggage and answered, "He's doing that to scare us."

April snorted.

"Luca, you're no longer a child. Why are you threatening to leave?"

They were chuckling.

No one thought that I was truly leaving.

Lily had found my early acceptance letter. However, she had only glanced at the envelope before simply stuffing it under my desk.

"College only starts in September. I don't think you'd disappear today."

Right at the same time, Julian pulled out the keychain from behind my desk.

"I found it!"

He was the one who had dropped it there.

Julian looked at me with flushed cheeks.

"Luca, I'm sorry. I've misunderstood you."

Lily patted his head.

"It's great that you found it. Don't cry anymore."

No one thought that he should apologize to me.

Very quickly, Julian noticed the videos saved on my laptop.

Those were the videos we had taken when we were younger. The memory capsules that we buried when we were ten, the beach trip we took when we were fifteen, as well as every single one of our past birthdays.

"The full videos are here."

His eyes lit up.

"Can I use these for my video?"

"No."

I shut my laptop off.

The light dimmed in Julian's eyes.

Maddie immediately stepped forward.

"So what if he's just taking a look? Didn't you already agree to edit the video for him?"

"I've changed my mind."

Julian immediately started crying.

"Do you really think that I don't deserve to be your friend?"

Lily's face fell and she grabbed my mouse.

"He wants the videos. If you're not willing to be shown in his video, you can cut yourself out."

"Lily, don't touch my videos."

She ignored me. She selected all the files with my name on it.

I reached out to stop her, but April grabbed my arms.

"It's just a few videos. It won't kill you."

The next second, Lily clicked on the delete button.

The progress bar moved very quickly.

The videos of me riding the bike for the first time, winning my first medal, as well as Lily saying that she would marry me when we were sixteen, were all deleted by Lily personally.

"This will do."

She let go of my mouse and said coldly, "You will not appear in any of our videos anymore."

She wanted to annoy me.

However, she did not know what she said was about to come true.

Professor Luther sent me a text message.

[The car will be arriving in two hours.]

I shut my laptop and zipped my suitcase.

It turned out the past eighteen years could fit entirely within a single twenty-eight-inch suitcase.