Chapter 2 I'm the Third Wheel

The two exchanged a glance.

Then, two smiles broke out on their faces, and their eyes curled in amusement.

Finally, they let out a sigh of relief.

Malcolm wrapped his arm around my shoulder and shook his head. "Don't be silly, Elliot. You always pull the same stunt when you crave attention. Here you go again."

Salome nodded in agreement.

I clenched my fists, pressing my lips into a taut line as fury took over me. Little did they know, I was never kidding. It was just that they had never taken my words seriously.

I caved in every single time only because I couldn't afford to lose them. However, they took it for granted and continued to mock me.

Finally, I turned around and walked away in the opposite direction.

…

Behind me, Malcolm had the guts to bet on my anger.

"How long will it take him to crawl back to us this time?"

She giggled. "Not longer than three days. He can never hold grudges against us for too long."

I stumbled into the darker street ahead toward the pickup location.

The driver had been waiting for a long time.

His patience was bottoming out as he flicked the cigarette ash out the window. However, his demeanor softened when he spotted the dejected look on my face.

I took the backseat, staring at the scenery flashing past the car.

Suddenly, it hit me.

My initial plan was to look for them and see if we could hang out tonight.

If they couldn't make time for me, I would just wait until they could spare me a moment.

Ever since youth, I had been considered the third wheel among us.

They were placed in the same class during the first semester of our senior year in high school.

…

A classmate stopped me when I tried to visit them during recess and mocked me.

"Elliot, quit fitting in where you don't belong. What do you know about the top students? Can you even understand them? Don't you feel out of place?"

Back then, I was briefly stunned before I jumped to their defense and argued that they wouldn't sideline me.

After graduating from university, I struggled to land a job, while their competitive streaks had led them to work in the same company.

They had never gotten along.

Therefore, I was constantly forced to choose between them. I put in a good word for one to the other.

Never had I expected them to cast aside their prejudice, along with my place in their hearts.

The lights in the stairwell were broken. I couldn't see it clearly in the dark.

When I turned on the flashlight on my phone, I noticed a notification of Malcolm's new Facebook story. He'd taken a photo of Salome's side profile. The dazzling glow had softened her usually clenched jaw, and there was a tender smile on her face.

Before today, he had always kept his profile private, but now, he had opened it to public view.

I scrolled down his Facebook page.

There was an endless stream of photos they had taken together.

They had gone to many places and left footprints there: mountains, streets, seaside, under the blue sky…

The sight of the smiling faces took me aback.

…

When I snapped out of my trance, I removed the photo from the frame hanging on the living room wall and tore it into tiny pieces.

I had taken it when they weren't paying attention.

They hated being photographed, so I snapped a photo of them, photoshopped it next to my headshot, and framed it.

I even felt proud that none of them suspected me.

It turned out they had already taken countless photos together without me.