Chapter 3

"What? What does he even mean? After not talking to you for a whole month, that's the first thing he asks?"

I was about to answer when the restaurant door opened.

Lucas walked in, with Hilary following excitedly behind him.

I pressed my lips together when I saw Hilary's bag hanging from his shoulder.

So that's why he had texted me. It was all for Hilary.

When our eyes met, I saw both of them stop for a moment.

"Clara, I didn't know you were here."

He quickly explained, "The lab work I did with Hilary went really well, so I decided to take her out to celebrate. That's all. We were actually going to the barbecue place you told me about last time, but you never replied to my message."

I casually said, "Oh, I forgot the name of that place, too."

It was a restaurant Hazel and I had found by chance.

I'd loved the food so much that I had immediately texted Lucas while I was still eating and told him I wanted to come back with him next time.

He had replied pretty quickly. "Is the barbecue really that good?"

His reply had ruined my mood.

But after thinking about it, I still answered. "It's actually just okay."

Hilary leaned over and glanced at our table. "Lucas, that looks so good! Let's order one of those later!"

Lucas smiled. "Sure."

Hilary pointed at our drink. "That drink looks good, too. Let's get one later. I'm afraid I won't be able to finish it by myself."

Lucas agreed without hesitation. "No problem."

They chatted as they walked toward another corner of the restaurant.

Hazel slammed down her utensils and whispered angrily, "You two just broke up, and he's already bringing his new girl here to show off in front of you. That's so cruel! This is the same place where he confessed his feelings to you. He's unbelievable!"

I quietly took another bite of beef.

But then I suddenly remembered the first time I ever heard the name Hilary.

She had called Lucas in a panic, crying because she couldn't get a machine to work.

Lucas and I had been watching a movie at the time.

But he left halfway through. He left me alone in the theater, shaking in fear because of the horror movie.

The second time I heard her name was when she called Lucas late at night because she couldn't find a research paper. She asked him to come over and help her look for it.

At the time, Lucas and I had been playing a game together. The moment he got her call, he logged off and left me alone in the game, completely lost.

The third time... The fourth time... The fifth time...

Later, Lucas even stopped turning off his phone because of her.

No matter what we were doing, the moment Hilary called, he would drop everything and leave me alone.

Because of that, Lucas and I fought many times.

I had told him, "Can you please keep some distance from her? You're just her senior. You don't have to solve every little problem for her."

He rubbed his forehead and asked, "Hilary doesn't have much experience. Am I really supposed to just ignore her? Why are you being so petty?"

"Petty?"

Our fights became more heated. And they happened more and more often.

Our last fight was probably the one a month ago.

He said he would buy me a lcake and apologize.

But the picture he sent me showed a mango cake. Mango was something I was allergic to.

I was lost in my thoughts when a bone-chilling feeling suddenly snapped me back to reality.

I looked down.

Hilary was standing in front of me, looking terrified. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to spill my drink on you..."

The dye from the drink had stained my dress. Several ice cubes had also fallen onto my legs.