Chapter 1

Once I got home, I followed our usual routine and sent the receipt for a hundred and fifty dollars to our three-person group chat.

My boyfriend, Corbin, was very quick to text in the group chat.

[@Mabel_Marigold, let me get this one. Don’t worry about your share.]

[I know money’s tight at home for you. Save it for when school starts.]

My best friend, Mabel, refused.

The two of them went back and forth in the group chat.

None of them even asked where I had gone or why I had not waited for them.

Ten minutes later, Corbin messaged me privately.

[Next time, don’t pick such a pricey restaurant. You know how Mabel is doing financially.]

I replied flatly, [She’s the one who picked it.]

At the time, I had even hinted that this trendy place was not cheap and suggested switching to another one.

Corbin had even patted my head and teased me, saying, “You only scored five hundred and twenty on your PSAT Math, but you sure know how to do the math on this.”

Corbin replied after a few seconds.

[But you always eat the most out of all of us.]

As if sensing he had said something wrong, he quickly added, [You need to be more aware of these things.]

[She’s got a lot of pride. You should at least try to be mindful of that.]

However, Mabel was the one who brought up splitting the bill first.

I stared at the screen for a long time.

Every time we got together, they would dive into everything from quantum physics to ancient history, and from deep philosophy to their grand life plans.

I was always left out on the sidelines.

I could only choose to eat in silence.

He could see I was eating a lot, but he did not notice how embarrassed and awkward I felt.

I held back my tears and replied to him, [Okay.]

Ten minutes later, Mabel posted a photo of her meal at the restaurant earlier on Instagram.

She also added a screenshot of a comment where Corbin had tagged her.

[Thanks to a certain someone, I got to enjoy a free meal today. It was delicious!]

Corbin was the first to like the post.

At 5 p.m., Corbin came to find me.

When he noticed my eyes, which were red and swollen from crying, he let out a sigh and gently flicked my nose.

“You disappear out of nowhere, and now you’re the one acting all hurt?”

I wanted to dodge his touch, but my body instinctively leaned into his arms.

Liking Corbin had been the bravest decision I ever made.

Even though none of my classmates approved of it.

His family lived right above mine.

He was always top of his grade, whether in elementary or middle school.

Everyone praised him whenever they saw him.

I, on the other hand, was the neighbors’ cautionary tale.

Even getting into the same high school as him was a stretch. If Mabel had not tutored me to bring up my GPA, I probably would not have made the cut.

My voice came out a little nasally as I said, “What do you want?”

“Here, this is for you.”

He handed me a Perler bead keychain shaped like Bart Simpson.

“I made this for you. It’s your favorite character.”

I did not take it.

My gaze fell on the pink rose bead keychain dangling from his phone

For his last birthday, I spent a week piecing together a cartoon version of us as a bead keychain and asked him to put it on his phone.

He said it was childish and casually tossed it into a drawer.

I never saw him take it out again after that.

Corbin noticed my stare and picked up his phone, waving it in the air.

“Mabel said she gave it to me because I bought her dinner.”

“It’s pretty cute, actually.”

He then shoved the Bart Simpson keychain into my palm and said, “Anyway, I need to go.

“Mabel gave me another challenge today. I don’t want to be outdone by her.”

I reached out my hand, wanting to pull him back and talk about breaking up.

However, I could not reach him.

Corbin had already disappeared down the stairs.

All I could hear was the echo of him answering Mabel’s phone call.

“Bet. If I lose, I’ll carry you while doing squats.”

I stood frozen in place.

The silence was heavy.

Then, my mother came home and asked me what was wrong.

I opened my mouth, but the words would not come.

When I finally managed to speak, my voice came out hoarse as I said, “Mom, I don’t want to repeat my senior year anymore.”