Chapter 3

Bradley had forgotten to buy me the bracelet, and he no longer cared about my feelings.

Now he had even forgotten that I couldn't be out in the sun without covering my skin because of my photosensitivity.

However, it didn't matter anymore. We were breaking up soon anyway. It made no difference whether he remembered or not.

I hid away in my room before the party was even over.

My three-foot-wide desk was buried under a mountain of study materials.

I had worked so hard to get into the same college as Bradley that the pages of every book were worn and curled at the corners.

The walls were covered in sticky notes, each one filled with a message I had written to myself.

The note in the center held no encouragement, only four words.

"Do it for Bradley."

A small diary was tucked beneath the pile of books. Every page was filled with feelings I never dared to share.

When I was seven years old, I wrote about Bradley picking me up after school with a whole bag of my favorite milk candy.

At 12 years old, I wrote about getting lost and Bradley finding me. He had pulled me into his arms and said, "I'm here, Sabrina. Don't be scared."

When I was 15 years old, Bradley had called me stupid. But then he patted my head and said, "Sabrina, study hard. If you do that, we can go to the same college."

At 18 years old, I wrote, "Bradley, we've finally gotten into the same college. But I don't want to love you anymore."

When I finished reading, I closed the diary and tossed it into the trash with all my study materials from the past three years.

Just then, the door to my room opened.

I hadn't expected Bradley to show up.

He leaned against the doorway with a brand-new jacket draped over his arm.

"Why didn't you call me to help you clean up? Those books are heavy."

He sounded amused.

For a moment, it felt like old times, when he'd pat my head and say, "I'm here, Sabrina."

Briefly lost in thought, I reached for the jacket, my voice softening despite myself. "You still remember that I like the color blue—"

"Don't touch it!"

Before I could finish speaking, he snatched the jacket away and frowned deeply.

"Nicole doesn't like wearing secondhand clothes, so I bought her a new jacket. I came to see if you wanted to join us. We're going to fly kites on the lawn."

I glanced out the window. A group of people had gathered in the sunshine, laughing and fooling around.

Nicole wasn't wearing my jacket after all. She had Bradley's jacket draped over her shoulders instead.

I had given it to him for his birthday last year.

When he received it, Bradley was thrilled. He promised to take good care of it and never let anyone else wear it.

I looked away and shook my head. "I'm not going."

Bradley frowned and reprimanded me. "You weren't there when we cut the cake earlier. Nicole thinks she did something to upset you, and she's been blaming herself ever since. What's your problem? Why can't you just join in like everyone else?"

"I can't be out in the sun because of my allergy."

Bradley paused. His gaze fell on my bare arms.

"I forgot," he said.

"Yeah. I know."

For a moment, neither of us said a word.

After a long silence, Bradley finally spoke. "In that case, get some rest, then."

He was about to leave when something caught his eye, and his expression fell.

"Why did you throw away your diary, too?"

He hurried to pick it up, looking alarmed. "Sabrina, didn't you use this diary to write about us? Why would you throw it away?"

I was about to answer when a shout suddenly came from outside.

"Bradley, are you coming or what? Nicole's going to catch a cold if we leave her waiting down here!"