That One Summer

The classroom instantly fell silent. Only the principal’s reprimands echoed from the speakers.

A few seconds later, an even louder roar of cheers erupted. Matthew Fox suddenly kicked his desk, stood up, and walked over to Jack Greer with a cold face.

“Jack, you’ve been simping over Lily for so long, yet you can’t even keep her around? A public confession sure is childish.”

However, Jack could clearly see the villainous triumph hidden in Matthew’s eyes. The gloating gossip of their classmates was like sparks, fueling the fire within him.

He clenched his fists and was just about to say something when the principal approached with a stern expression and called Matthew away. For the entirety of the next period, neither Matthew nor Lily returned.

Jack blanked out. When the bell rang, he was the first to rush out of the classroom. He had to find Lily to get an explanation. However, when he ran to the track field, he saw Lily picking up the cones on the floor as punishment while telling Matthew, who was also being punished, a joke.

The young girl lifted her eyes, meeting his gaze without the slightest unease or panic. As if inspired, she even looked back up at Matthew.

“Do you know why Jack is such a funny guy? It’s because he cannot get a proper girlfriend, so he can only act like a joke.”

Matthew chuckled, amused. Jack, however, was crushed.

Three years ago, after Lily witnessed her mother jump to her death, she suffered from severe depression. After stopping her from doing something stupid for the fifth time, Jack had embraced her distraught self and cried bitterly.

“Lily, I will stay by your side. I will make you happy. Trust me, I will help you get better.”

He did it. For three whole years, he forced himself to transform from the quiet, reserved guy he used to be to the funny guy who cracked jokes at every turn.

He racked his brain, telling thousands upon thousands of jokes and even making fun of himself, finally bringing the smile back to Lily’s face. Yet, in Lily’s eyes, he was nothing more than a joke!

That remark about not being able to get a proper girlfriend was a direct nod to the rumors Matthew had been spreading behind his back.

Jack walked over stiffly, his voice raspy. “Are you not going to explain yourself?”

Lily frowned impatiently. “Explain what?”

“I was the one who helped you out of depression. On your eighteenth birthday, we even kissed–”

“Oh, please!” Lily interrupted him angrily, her expression mocking. “You act like a fool all day long. Did you really come to consider yourself a savior? As for that kiss, I was just fooling around. You’re not innocent anyway, so why are you acting so needy?”

Then, she turned toward Matthew and swore, “I swear, Matthew, you’re the only one I have feelings for.”

Jack froze in disbelief, his face deathly pale. Instead of giving him another chance to confront her, Lily reached out to take Matthew’s hand and did not get upset even when he pulled away. Jack stood under the blazing sun as he watched them leave, yet all he felt was cold.

For the remaining classes, he could not take in a word. His gaze kept drifting toward Lily, but Lily’s gaze remained fixed in the direction of Matthew, who was lying on his desk, sleeping. Not once did she lift her head to look at Jack.

By the time lunch break came around, Jack was leaning against his desk from a pain in his stomach, having skipped going to the cafeteria for lunch.

Suddenly, Lily walked over to the front of his desk and sat down facing him. As if nothing had happened, she scooped a spoonful of the packed soup she brought and blew on it gently.

“Does your stomach hurt? Have some soup. It will make you feel better. I’ll feed you.”

Jack was slightly taken aback and stared blankly at the soup offered to his lips.

That was the second time Lily had fed him. The previous time was when he ran out into the heavy rain to perform Michael Jackson’s moonwalk for Lily, and the next day, his fever spiked to one hundred and four degrees, making him delirious.

Lily had skipped class to run to his house, scolding him for bringing it upon himself, yet her eyes were bright red as she fed him more than half a bowl of soup, spoonful by spoonful.

A sudden pang of sadness hit him, and he said in a low voice, “Lily, you–”

“Have the soup first.” Lily interrupted him, her tone remarkably softer.

Jack was about to speak but stopped himself. In the end, he suppressed his emotions and did as he was told. In order not to spoil the mood, he quickly finished a bowl of soup.

Lily finally put down the spoon. “Jack, I added a little something into the soup.”