Chapter 2 A Burden Finally Lifted

"Maybe he wasn't making a profit,' someone tried to smooth things over. "Maybe it was just… an errand fee?"

Zachary replied almost instantly, "I never said Connor was making money. I'm just giving everyone a cheaper option. You guys can order through me from now on. Again, I'm not doing this for profit."

Then, he ended the message with an innocent winking cat sticker.

I stared at the screen without typing a single word.

A moment later, the class representative tagged me. "Connor, I won't be troubling you anymore. I'll start ordering through Zachary."

Madeline chimed in immediately after, "I'm switching to Zachary, too. His offer is so much cheaper."

More and more classmates began tagging me.

I didn't argue but simply replied, "Okay."

If they truly believed that Zachary's proposal was cheaper and more convenient, why should I try to stop them?

My deskmate, Dawn Zobel, lightly nudged my elbow. "Connor… are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I smiled.

And I truly was. I couldn't have been happier to stop buying breakfast for everyone. I'd just never known how to turn everyone down without my guilty conscience screaming at me.

I'd been sacrificing my own time to pick up breakfast for everyone for three years. As a result, it has caused my grades to fall into a steady decline. Heck, I'd fallen from the top 50 in the entire grade in last month's assessment when I first entered high school all the way down to 230th.

My homeroom teacher had summoned me to his office and asked, "Campbell, your grades have dropped a lot. Is something going on at home?"

I told him no.

He sighed before continuing, "You're a senior now. It's time to buckle down. Otherwise, you won't even qualify to take the college recommendation exam.”

I couldn't bear to tell him the truth that helping my classmates with their breakfast orders had eaten away at both my sleep and my study time.

Every morning, I'd find myself exhausted after waking up two hours early while everyone else enjoyed breakfast and came to class refreshed. I spent my lessons fighting to stay awake and barely absorbed anything the teachers said.

When class finally ended, everyone else either put their heads down for a quick nap or worked through practice problems. Meanwhile, I had to pull out my notebook and go from desk to desk, asking what each person wanted for breakfast the next morning.

After I got home at night, I still had to spend at least another 30 minutes organizing everyone's orders and planning which shops I should line up at first to max out on efficiency.

I'd been keeping this song and dance up for three years, and I'd never told anyone that I was keeling over.

That was because I knew it wouldn't have mattered.

They would only have said, "Nobody held a knife to your throat and made you do it. You could've just stopped taking so many orders."

And they would've been right.

I just hadn't known how to refuse without feeling weirdly guilty about it.

Fortunately, Zachary had shown up.

I stopped looking at the group chat and turned my phone face down on my desk.

…

During the break after the first period, our class representative came over and patted me on the shoulder. "Connor, Zachary's delivery might've been a little blunt, so don't take it personally. Still, everyone wants to save money.

"Maybe you could find a group discount too… or lower the amount you're making on the price difference?

"If you can beat his prices, we'll still order from you. You've been buying breakfast for everyone for three years, after all. We trust you."

I looked at her for five full seconds before simply answering, "No thanks."

I'd finally managed to shuck this burden off my shoulders. Why would I waste my energy picking it back up?

She paused for a moment before nodding. "Okay. Oh, and don't you still have everyone's breakfast money that they left with you? You should refund it as soon as possible so they can pay Zachary instead."

I nodded.

I swiftly opened the notes on my phone. Then, I checked each balance one by one and returned every dollar my classmates had left with me in advance.

Finally, I would never have to buy breakfast for them ever again.

I did the math.

From now on, I could sleep at least one extra hour every morning. I no longer had to spend 30 minutes every evening collecting and organizing everyone's breakfast orders.

Instead, I could use that time to review math, or memorize Spanish vocabulary, or do absolutely nothing except get a full night's sleep!

I couldn't help but let out a long, slow breath as I leaned against my chair. The burden I'd been carrying for three years had finally been passed on to someone else.

Meanwhile, the group chat was buzzing with excitement.

"Zachary, you're an angel! I just did the math. Saving two bucks a day adds up to more than 40 dollars a month!"

"I just walked past the school gate. Your uncle's breakfast truck is huge! He's got everything!"