Where My Love Lands

The next morning, the class was filled with the sound of students scribbling notes and eating breakfast. The moment I walked into the room with my backpack, my best friend and deskmate Kevin Lee jumped up like a cat that had smelled a rat. He threw his arm around my neck and leaned most of his body weight on me.“Zachie, buddy! Be honest, have you been up to some secret mischief behind everyone’s backs?” Kevin kept his voice low, his round face filled with curiosity and his eyes gleaming mischievously. “Are you high this early in the morning? Go to the infirmary if your head is screwed on wrong.” I bumped his arm away in contempt and put my bag into my desk drawer, pulling out my vocabulary notes.“You’re still pretending, eh?” Kevin rubbed his stomach as he sniggered, subtly pointing his chin at Mandy, who was sitting at the front of the class. “This morning, Mandy took a blue notebook and asked every boy in class who it belonged to. She was like a detective sniffing out clues!

Two weeks later, the city was engulfed in constant thunderstorms. At ten o’clock at night, after I finished up my self-study and headed to the entrance hall, it was pouring outside. The hall was filled with students who had not brought their umbrellas. Mandy stood alone by the side, holding her bag in one hand and her phone in the other. She had to raise her voice to drown out the rain, so I could clearly hear the trembling sob in her voice.“Are you working overtime again today, Mom? It’s fine, I’ll head home after the rain subsides. No, don’t tell Dad. You’re still in the middle of the divorce, and I don’t want to hear you two argue in the car.”After she ended the call, Mandy crouched down and buried her face in her knees, her shoulders shaking. The other students left with their parents, until only she remained in the corner with the teachers on duty. I stood in the shadows a short distance away, feeling terrible. I took a deep breath and pulled out my large black umbre

It was less than two weeks until the last district-wide mock exam. After that day on the rooftop, Mandy had changed completely. She no longer stared out the window dazedly, and she kept that tear-stained application form safely among the pages of her textbook. Every day during self-study, she would be the first at her desk memorizing vocabulary. Between classes, she would bring that blue notebook full of math questions to my desk right on schedule. “Zach, I still can't figure out how to solve this tough conic‑section bonus question.”Mandy pushed her question paper toward her, her ponytail swaying with the momentum. Her gaze on me was not as helpless as it was two weeks ago, now filled with a hint of resolve. I did not waste my breath saying anything. I simply took the paper from her and traced the diagram, explaining quietly, “Find the intersection between the curve and the straight line. Don't try to brute force it. Use geometric properties to work out the slope relationship

The last bell rang on the final exam, and deafening cheers echoed throughout the school. Countless papers were thrown out of the windows, fluttering down in shards like a late snowstorm. The students rushing out of the building were filled with relief and ecstasy, some hugging their friends and weeping, while others swore they would stay up gaming until dawn tonight. I followed the crowd to the gates mechanically, still holding the pencil I had used for the exams.I did not see my cheering classmates or the parents waiting outside with flowers. From the second I left the exam hall, my gaze was constantly scanning the crowd for a familiar face.Although I knew she had been taken to another state a week ago and would not be here, my feet still took me through the crowd uncontrollably.“Zach! Over here!” Kevin squeezed past the people to hug my shoulder, the fleshy folds on his face trembling with excitement. “We’re free, we’re finally free! For our class party tonight, do you wann

The southern city was still relatively hot in September. Tomorrow was my college orientation day, but I went back to my high school alone. It was summer vacation now, so the school was silent save for the wind rustling through the leaves in the yard.I walked past the trees where Mandy used to chill in the shade. I sat on the benches with their peeling red paint, staring dazedly at my offer letter from that summer college.When I saw my name on the letter, I smiled. I fulfilled my part of our rooftop promise that day, but the person who made me that promise never even got to say goodbye.“Zach.”Suddenly, I heard that familiar voice call my name, softly resounding through the silent shade. My body jolted, and I nearly dropped my offer letter.I raised my head abruptly, following the direction of the voice. The sunlight shone through the green leaves, scattering onto the ground.The girl wore a white dress and a high ponytail, standing a few yards away from me. She held an old