Chapter 2

He patted me on the shoulder. "Go ahead and eat. It'll taste better while it's still fresh."

After saying that, he went back into the kitchen.

I looked at the steaming dish and pressed my lips together.

Lucas and I hadn't spoken for a month. At this point, no matter what either of us said, things would never be the same again.

Sometimes I wondered when we had become like this.

It probably started with our last fight.

I couldn't remember exactly what we had argued about anymore.

I only remembered sending him long messages and calling him repeatedly.

I said some hurtful things, but Lucas stayed silent the whole time.

I couldn't even remember why we ended up hanging up on each other.

But two hours later, he sent me a message. "Clara, Hilary didn't do it on purpose. Don't be so petty. I'm going to help her print her lab data first. I'll bring you some cake when I get back."

He did bring the cake to my dorm.

But I didn't reply to his message, and I didn't go downstairs.

My roommate told me that he waited downstairs for about ten minutes before getting a phone call and leaving.

And the only person who would have called him at that time was Hilary.

I lay on my dorm bed and cried until I couldn't make a sound. I didn't know when I finally fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning and checked my phone, I had three new messages.

Two were from my professor. The other was from Hazel.

There was nothing from Lucas.

For some reason, I clicked on Hilary's story.

She had posted a picture from the lab the night before.

In one corner of the photo, I could see an arm helping her record the data.

There was a bracelet around that wrist. It was the same bracelet I had personally put on Lucas.

I stared at the picture for a long time. Then I got so angry that I blocked Lucas.

But I soon became afraid that he might try to contact me and be unable to reach me.

So, I kept checking his name and taking him off my blocked list.

In the end, I realized he hadn't tried to contact me again.

It felt like that was when we started drifting out of each other's lives.

Until, without either of us noticing, we had completely disappeared from each other's world.

I had thought about reaching out to Lucas and talking things through.

One day, I deliberately bought some of his favorite snacks and went to his dorm with an umbrella.

It was pouring that day, but I recognized Lucas's back at once.

He wasn't carrying an umbrella. Instead, he quickly took off his jacket and held it over Hilary's head.

When they reached the dorm entrance, they looked at how soaked and messy they both were and laughed at the same time.

I had been about to text him and ask if he could come downstairs to talk.

But when I saw the smile on his face, I couldn't send it.

That was when I finally realized that I had been the only one truly trying in this relationship from the very beginning.

I had been nothing but a fool.

I deleted the message I had already typed.

Then I removed Lucas from the top of my WhatsApp chats, turned around, and walked away with my umbrella.

After that, I forced myself to focus on my studies.

I started asking my professors for more assignments and lab work.

I also began studying hard for the language test because I wanted to escape this place that had caused me so much pain.

I kept living like that until now.

Then, out of nowhere, my phone received a message from Lucas. "What was the name of that barbecue place you said was really good?"

Hazel noticed my expression and asked, "Is it him?"

I nodded. "Yes."

Hazel frowned, looking completely confused.