Chapter 2

I was dead tired.

When we were dismissed for a break, I heard some playful yelling coming from nearby.

"Boyd! Who's the girl? She's so pretty!"

I looked over lazily and saw Jolene bringing Boyd a bottle of water. When she heard everyone teasing them, she lowered her head shyly. Even someone as dense as me finally realized something was off this time.

Boyd impatiently waved the crowd away. "Alright, enough. Stop with the nonsense. It's not what you think."

But even as he said that, Boyd took Jolene's hand.

Before they had gone far, I followed after them subconsciously. "Boyd, where are you two going?"

Boyd froze when he heard my voice. He let go of Jolene's hand on instinct and spoke to me as if nothing had happened. "Eleanor! Jolene came to see me. We were just going to go somewhere to talk."

My smile did not change. "Take me with you."

Boyd frowned, unable to hide his irritation. "Can you stop being like this? Can't I have any personal space? Jolene is just a friend, so stop being so suspicious."

A friend?

Since when had Boyd and Jolene gotten this close?

As far as I knew, they had only been classmates in high school, and they had barely spoken.

They were suddenly friends after the summer vacation.

Jolene's eyes reddened as she said, "Don't get mad at Boyd because of me, Eleanor. This is all my fault. I won't come see him again. But I only came to thank him because he has helped my family pay off our debts. There really isn't anything between us. If I've caused you trouble, I'm sorry."

My expression eased slightly. Was that really all there was to it?

Most of the irritation on Boyd's face faded. "Fine. If you're worried, you can come with us."

Before I could speak, the orientation leader's whistle sounded. "It's fine. You two can go have your talk."

-

Later that evening, I was distracted while eating my dinner. This time, I finally managed to get the grilled sausages I had been craving. I thought I would miss them again, but unexpectedly, there was still plenty left.

I could finally eat as much as I wanted.

It was as if the grilled sausages had suddenly fallen out of favor. This was the only happy moment of the entire day.

Unfortunately, Fate had other plans, and the annoying Camden sat down in front of me. "Wow, how come nobody's eating with you?"

I looked at his smug face and clicked my tongue in annoyance. He then asked, "Do you have time to take a walk around the field?"

I was speechless. "Wait, no… Are you insane?"

Camden propped his chin on his hand. "Don't you want to know what Boyd and Jolene are doing right now?"

I understood what he meant and was about to ask. Suddenly, a young woman walked over and handed Camden a love letter.

Camden forced a smile. "Sorry, I have a girlfriend."

When the young woman heard that, she could only leave in disappointment.

I gave him a strange look. "Since when did you get a girlfriend?"

"I lied. Otherwise, it would never end." Camden's tone was casual.

Because of how annoying Camden was all the time, I had always managed to ignore his face. That face really could fool a lot of other people.

Camden grabbed my wrist. "Are you coming or not?"

I could not win, and so I let him drag me to the field as my doubts about Boyd were still eating at me.

The lights around the field were extremely dim, and there were still people walking along the path.

Camden and I followed closely behind Boyd and Jolene.

Camden leaned in and said, "Eleanor, someone might be cheating on you."

I met his gaze, which was both sympathetic and gleeful. I stubbornly said, "They're just friends."

A relationship between someone who had lent money and someone who owed the other person money.

But the next second, the joke was on me.

Jolene suddenly hugged Boyd and kept on sobbing. Boyd gently held her head in heartache, and the corner of his mouth even brushed her forehead.

He probably had not meant to kiss her, right...

Camden chose that exact moment to scoff.

I narrowed my eyes. Camden really had a death wish.