Chapter 3

Lily's POV

That night, it took me a long time to get home. The moment I opened the door, the house was pitch black. Not even the hallway lights were on.

I didn't sleep a wink that night.

The next morning, Mr. Langford notified everyone in the group chat to come to the school to pick up their academic records. When I arrived at the school, Mr. Langford was tidying up his desk.

When he saw me, he smiled and said, "Lily, you're here. Your sister and Shane just left. They took your records with them."

I nodded and walked back home.

When I opened the front door to my home, Shane and Rose were sitting side by side on the couch.

He was holding a kraft paper envelope, reminding her, "You can't lose these records. You'll need them when you enroll. When the time comes, keep them together with your admission letter. It's best to lock them in a cabinet…"

Rose listened, nodding attentively.

I looked over at the backpacks in front of them. I walked over, opened one, and rummaged through it. After searching for a while, I still couldn't find my envelope.

Rose turned to look at me and asked, "Lily, what are you looking for?"

I said a bit anxiously, "Where are my records?"

Shane looked up at her, looking a little uncomfortable. "Rose and I took our records and left. W-We didn't notice yours."

In an instant, something inside of me snapped.

"Lily, don't worry." She stood up. She said, "The file might still be at the school…"

I couldn't hear anything else. I turned around and ran back to the school as fast as I could. The wind rushed into my throat as I ran, leaving it dry.

Once Mr. Langford understood what had happened, he immediately contacted the security office and asked them to check the surveillance footage. The footage was crystal clear. Rose was clutching two paper envelopes at the time. She had taken two, but somehow, she lost mine.

Just then, Rose and Shane arrived at the school. She ran in and hugged my shoulder tightly. "It's okay, Lily. I'm sure we'll find it. Calm down."

She held me tightly, and I stood there frozen.

I had scored 1580. I could have gone to one of the best universities, but I didn't even have my academic records.

Mr. Langford quickly comforted me, "Lily, calm down. Tell your parents to come to the school as soon as possible. We'll have your records replaced."

But since I had lost my records, replacing them meant running back and forth between the local education bureau, the police station, and my high school's academic affairs office. Miss even one document, and I would have to make another trip. Even if I managed to gather everything, the entire process would take more than a month.

And Rose was the cause of all of this.

She looked like she was about to cry and took out her phone to call Mom and Dad. "Mom, Lily lost her academic records. Come to the school now!"

Almost an hour later, Mom and Dad reluctantly arrived at the school.

When Mom walked in, she snapped, "You can't even keep track of your own records. What have you been doing all these years in school?"

Dad frowned and glanced at me. "So what if you've lost your records? With grades like yours, it doesn't matter whether you have those records or not. Worse comes to worst, you just don't go to college."

I glared up at Rose. "Rose!" I yelled with gritted teeth. "Did you do this on purpose?"

Before she could answer me, Shane stepped in front of her. "Lily, you're being unreasonable! Rose kindly helped you get the files and ran errands for you, and this is how you repay her?"

Mom immediately slapped me. "You can't even deal with your own affairs, so why blame someone else?" She yelled, "Your sister doesn't owe you anything!"