Chapter 1

The private room fell silent for a few seconds.

Jeannie Collins' hand was still hanging beside my face.

Marvin Snyder was the first to laugh, like he had just heard some harmless joke. "Yale, come on. It's your birthday."

Jeannie pulled her hand back, her brows drawing together. "Yale Smith, everyone is here. Don't be such a sore loser."

Normally, whenever she called me by my full name, I would lower my head in an instant. I would be afraid of upsetting her and our friends making a scene. Then, everyone would say I was making a big deal out of nothing.

However, this time, I simply reached over and pulled the candles out of the cake one by one.

"I'm not the one making a fool of myself."

Marvin immediately caught Jeannie's sleeve. "Jeannie, maybe just let it go? I won't go for the movie."

That was what he said, but his fingers were still gripping the movie tickets tightly.

Our mutual friends immediately started chiming in.

"The vote's already in. We can't make an exception."

"Come on, Yale. Be a good sport. She'll make it up to you tomorrow."

Jeannie glanced at her watch. There were only 20 minutes left before the movie started. She was silent for a moment, then picked up her jacket.

"I'll take him there. If you still want to celebrate your birthday, wait here. I'm tired of having to keep making peace between you two."

I looked up at her. "I already said there's nothing to make up for."

She acted like she did not hear me and walked straight past. Marvin followed behind her. As he passed me, he let out a quiet sigh. "Yale, you know she hates being forced to choose."

The moment the door closed behind them, the music in the private room started playing again. The poll on the big screen was still open.

[Childhood friend: 17 votes.]

[Boyfriend: 1 vote.]

That single, lonely vote sat at the bottom, like the last scrap of dignity they were willing to leave me.

My phone buzzed.

Another poll had appeared in our mutual friends' group chat. This time, it was not anonymous.

[Guess how many minutes before Yale runs after her to apologize?]

[Ten minutes.]

[Half an hour.]

[Tomorrow morning.]

Marvin voted for ten minutes. Someone else immediately followed his vote.

[Don't overestimate him. Five minutes, tops.]

[He can't stand being without Jeannie.]

Jeannie did not vote. However, she did not stop them either.

Then someone suddenly asked: [Wait, that one vote for 'boyfriend' just now... Yale voted for himself, right?]

Marvin replied with a face-covering-laughter emoji: [Who else would've voted for him?]

I stared at those words until my fingertips slowly went cold.

They did not even believe that the one vote had come from anyone else.

I left the group chat.

My birthday party hat was still sitting on the table. The gold paper had been soaked by spilled drinks, leaving it limp and crumpled where it lay.

I picked up my jacket and walked out. Someone called after me.

"Yale, you're really leaving?"

I did not look back.

The hallway seemed endless as I walked on, my reflection following me along the glass walls. I caught glimpses of myself as I passed—my white shirt, my red-rimmed eyes, and my empty hands. I looked like a clown who had finally run out of energy to keep performing.