Chapter 1

Gabriella's POV

"Aren't you going to buy your supplies too, miss?" the cashier asked while holding a barcode scanner.

Mom was busy handing the cashier the latest laptop model on the market that cost 4,000 dollars. She paused for a moment upon hearing the cashier's words before turning to look at me.

"Your things are still working, right?" she asked, frowning. "They're fine as long as you can use them during university. It's not as if you're joining a competition to see who has the best-looking supplies."

My brother, Christopher Lowine, tossed a pair of noise-cancelling headphones on the counter. He didn't even bother lifting his head when he sneered, "Can you stop giving Mom attitude when we're outside, Gabriella Lowine? Those things would be wasted on you."

I quietly stood in place and didn't make a retort. Instead, I looked past them at my childhood friend, Jasper Greeson. He kept his head down as he paid for the items, carefully cradling a desk lamp.

Ten minutes ago, Jasper was crouching in front of a shelf while earnestly comparing the color temperatures of the different lamps.

"Gabby has bad eyes. This lamp's brightness is perfect for her."

I had assumed that Jasper was going to give the lamp to me.

During my entire senior year of high school, I had spent every night practicing questions in the dim hallway, which resulted in my nearsightedness worsening significantly.

But in the next second, Jasper turned around and placed the desk lamp in my sister, Scarlett Lowine's shopping cart.

"The total is 4,860 dollars," the cashier said.

Jasper scanned the QR code before Mom could. "Let me pay, Mrs. Lowine. Just treat it as my gift to Scarlett for starting university," he said, his smile gentle.

There was a reassuring glint in his eyes when he turned to look at me. "The desk lamp's really heavy, Gabby. I'm going to bring it back home for Scarlett first. I'll take you to eat your favorite honey-glazed ribs once the weekend rolls around."

I looked down and tapped on the notes app on my phone.

For the past year, I had written down a list of things that I wanted to buy for university, including a laptop, bed drapes, a desk lamp, a luggage bag, and a pair of sneakers.

I brought my finger close to the screen and lightly crossed out "desk lamp" from the list.

"There's no need for that," I said softly as I locked my phone.

Jasper was briefly stunned. He probably never expected me to reject his offer of honey-glazed ribs. In the past, whenever I got upset, he just had to comfort me to convince me to keep trailing after him.

"Why are you throwing a tantrum?" he asked with a frown, reaching his hand out to ruffle my hair. "Scarlett's eyes are sensitive to strong light. You should stop fighting with her all the time."

I turned my head to the side and avoided his hand.

"Gabriella Lowine!" Dad snapped.

He had a dark look on his face as he approached us, carrying a newly bought pink luggage bag.

"Why are you being difficult when Jasper's treating you to a meal out of the goodness of his heart?"

"Exactly," Christopher said, scoffing. "She's been like this since she was a child, always fighting Scarlett for her things. Why do you have to be so petty over a desk lamp? All of them work the same way anyway since your nearsightedness is so bad."

I looked at them—at my blood-related family and my childhood friend, who once promised to protect me for the rest of my life.

The throbbing ache in my heart suddenly disappeared.

"Let's go," I said, turning around and pushing the shopping cart to its original spot.

As the shopping mall's air conditioning blew across my arms, I felt a sense of relief that I had never experienced before.

…

Dad drove us back home. Mom and Scarlett sat in the back, putting their heads together as they looked through the new laptop's manual. Christopher was in the passenger seat, playing songs on the radio via Bluetooth.

I walked over to the car and was just about to open the backseat door when Jasper suddenly slipped inside, cradling the shopping bag in his arms protectively.

"Make some room, Gabby," he said as he placed the desk lamp on the seat in the middle. "Don't want to accidentally crush Scarlett's laptop."

There wasn't much space in the backseat to begin with.

I quietly retracted my hand and squeezed myself into the cramped space between the door and the seat.

The streetlights beyond the car window zoomed past.

I had crossed out every item on my list in my notes app.

I didn't need to buy anything anymore.