Chapter 3

Emily's pajamas hung on the back of the guest room door, her skincare products lined up along the bathroom counter. Even the fridge was stocked with her favorite orange soda.

As for the lemonade I always drank, it hadn't been in the fridge for a long time. Julian made dinner that evening.

When Emily sat down at the table, she mentioned her stomach was acting up, so he slid the mildest dish right in front of her.

Francis removed the peppers from her plate, whereas Henry pushed a glass of warm water toward her. "Eat slowly. You wouldn't want your stomach acting up again."

I kept my head down and ate. After dinner, I brought the plates into the kitchen.

No one asked me to do it or even reminded me. As long as Emily was around, washing dishes was just my job.

She always said her hands were for drafting and she had just gotten her nails done. And Julian would say cold water didn't agree with her because her stomach was weak.

They'd said those things so many times that even I had gotten used to hearing them. As I turned on the tap, laughter from the living room slipped in through the narrow gap in the door.

After I'd washed the last dish, dried my hands, and walked back out, I realized the living room lights were off.

The TV cast a pale white glow across the room as the horror movie on the screen had just reached a scene in the hallway of an abandoned hospital.

Emily patted the spot beside Julian. "Anna, come here! We saved you a spot."

Only when I walked over did I notice the two drinks on the coffee table.

Mine was a buy-one-get-one-free mango smoothie. I was allergic to mangoes. They all knew that.

The cup in front of Emily, on the other hand, was her favorite strawberry smoothie.

Julian glanced at me. "Why haven't you touched yours?"

"I'm allergic."

"Then don't drink it. Just leave it there."

Emily quickly said, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know. How about I give you mine instead?"

Julian slid the smoothie to the side. "Just drink yours. If she doesn't want hers, then so be it."

A shrill scream from the movie suddenly pierced the room. Emily grabbed Julian's wrist in fright, and he immediately took her hand. "Let's stop watching. The next part's probably even scarier."

The three of them gathered around her, talking over each other to comfort her. Nobody noticed me perched on the far edge of the couch.

As I stared at that mango smoothie, I suddenly thought back to our early college days.

Back then, there were only four of us. Julian, Francis, Henry, and I. We went to class together, ate together, and even went on weekend drives out to the countryside.

When Emily transferred into our program, she and I were the first to become close. She'd loop her arm through mine and say, "From now on, there'll be five of us!"

I was so happy then. I even thought of her as my best friend. But later, whenever we went on trips, I was always the one stuck in the middle seat in the back of the five-seater.

They'd give the front passenger seat to Emily because she said she got carsick easily. Once, when we were short one movie ticket, Julian waved me off, telling me to wait for the next showing.

Another time, we all went to a craft shop in a mall to make our own jewelry. But by the time I'd finished paying and looked up, everyone had disappeared. I searched the mall for ages before finally finding them at a restaurant.

When Henry saw me, all he said was, "Emmie was getting hungry, so we went ahead and ordered."

It hadn't even occurred to them to send me a text. Another scream came from the movie.

Emily curled up in Julian's arms, with Francis and Henry both laughing as they tried to make her feel better.

I looked away and went back to my room. I packed my clothes, documents, laptop charger, and everything else into my suitcase.

My laptop was still on the desk. I picked up my phone to message Rose. "I've already booked my flight. I'll leave tomorrow once I've taken care of everything."

Rose's reply came quickly. "Okay. I'll be waiting for you at the airport."

After putting my phone away, I zipped my suitcase shut.