Chapter 2

"Avery ruined your happiness. Today, I'm getting to the bottom of this. Avery, answer me—do you support Luke and Sarah being together or not?" The bride glared at me aggressively as the whole room fell silent.

Under the stares of countless eyes, I opened my mouth.

My voice came out almost at the exact same time as Luke's.

"Enough. Don't put her on the spot."

"I support them being together."

The private room went quiet for a moment.

Luke looked at me in surprise, then fell silent.

The bride frowned and studied me for a long time before letting out a dismissive laugh.

"I hope you mean that."

Someone forced an awkward chuckle, trying to smooth things over.

"All right, all right. We're all former classmates here. No need to make things so tense."

"Tina got married today, and Luke and Sarah found their way back to each other. That's two reasons to celebrate. Let's drop the unpleasant stuff and drink."

Everyone chimed in, eager to move on.

But the bride refused to let it go.

"It's not that I'm trying to bully her. Avery was the one who bullied Sarah back then. I just couldn't stand by and watch. Don't you all remember that love letter?"

It happened during our sophomore year of high school, not long after Luke gave me the bracelet.

I had been helping Luke turn in homework when a handwritten love letter slipped out from between his papers.

It was pink stationery, with Sarah's name written on it.

Without thinking, I immediately tried to hide the letter, but it was already too late.

The teacher saw it and called Sarah into the office.

Ten minutes later, Sarah came running out in tears and collapsed over her desk, sobbing.

Everyone rushed to comfort her.

Panicked, I tried to get Luke to explain for me. I really hadn't known Sarah's letter was hidden in his homework.

But he never even looked at me. Instead, he moved his desk right next to Sarah's.

That was when the isolation started.

No one spoke to me anymore. The class president always skipped over my seat when collecting homework.

During morning runs and evening study sessions, whenever I showed up, everyone would suddenly go quiet.

Throughout my entire sophomore year, I became an island in that classroom. I never understood what I had done wrong. I didn't understand why no one would listen to my side of the story.

And I especially didn't understand why, after I'd been isolated to the point of depression and called Luke in tears late one night to tell him how miserable I felt—

After listening to me cry for a long time, he finally said in that exhausted, helpless voice,

"Avery, have you ever thought that maybe you're just being too sensitive? Sarah was the one who got hurt here. Everyone else just feels bad for her. They never actually did anything to you.

"We're about to be seniors. I want to put all my energy into studying. Tomorrow, I'll ask our homeroom teacher to switch our seats. You can sit by yourself.

"But after graduation, my promise to you still stands."

I held my phone and sat there in silence for a very, very long time.

Remembering that night now, my hand holding the wine glass trembled slightly.

Then Sarah spoke.

"Tina, forget it." Leaning against Luke's chest, she smiled graciously. "I know you feel bad for me, but that was ten years ago. I've already forgiven Avery. And besides…"

She paused, glancing shyly at Luke.

"It's not like I ended up with nothing. If Avery hadn't exposed that love letter I gave Luke back then, Luke never would've personally asked the homeroom teacher to switch seats just to comfort me. He also wouldn't have given me a bracelet he braided himself."

She held up a braided bracelet around her wrist. It was identical to the one Luke had given me ten years ago.

Everyone's attention immediately locked onto Sarah's wrist.

"No way! No wonder Luke asked me for bracelet-braiding tutorials back in sophomore year. It was for Sarah."

"You have to admit, his handiwork is pretty good."

"Just what you'd expect from the couple our whole class thought were meant to be. This is so sweet."

Listening to their words, I only felt my wrist burning.

A sudden wave of anger, resentment, and bitterness I could no longer hide crashed over me all at once. I looked at Luke. He had his head down, absently scrolling through his phone as if all the chaos around him had nothing to do with him.

My eyes started to sting. Just as I was about to speak, suddenly, someone grabbed my hand and thrust it high into the air.