While video chatting with my boyfriend, his roommates started teasing him, clamoring to see me. I was smiling demurely when suddenly the phone was snatched away. A magnetic voice laced with laughter rang out: "Don't be stingy, let the bros see what our sister-in-law looks like." The next second, I was face to face with my ex-boyfriend, with whom I had an extremely messy breakup. The smile on his face gradually disappeared. After a long while, the corner of his mouth twitched: "Fuck." 1 The moment that person bent down, the silver chain with a star pendant hanging from his collarbone brushed past the camera. And my breath stopped the second I clearly saw his brows and eyes. Sweat rolled down Caleb Vance's sharp jawline into the open collar of his jersey. He stared at the screen, stunned for two seconds, pupils dilating violently! "...Fuck." The next second, the phone was thrown somewhere unknown. The screen went black for a moment before being hurriedly picked up. Ethan Wells held the phone, dissatisfied: "What's wrong with you all of a sudden?!" Caleb paused for a moment, then scoffed: "You have terrible taste." Ethan, usually so gentle, rarely lost his temper, but now he said coldly: "My girlfriend is wonderful, don't talk nonsense." "Yeah, sister-in-law is so pretty. I think she's even prettier than the beauty queen of the foreign language department. Caleb, what's wrong with your eyes?" "If I could date someone like this, I'd be willing to eat instant noodles for three years!" "Get lost, I'd be willing to eat them for ten years—" His roommates started making noise, and Caleb didn't speak again. Ethan picked up the phone: "Sorry Stella, he might have lost a basketball game today and is in a bad mood." A gritted-teeth voice came from over there: "I won, won by 20 points!" Ethan didn't change his expression: "Then he's just brain-dead. Stella, I'll pick you up for dinner tonight." ... After hanging up the video call, I lay back quietly on the bed. The midsummer sunlight was a bit dazzling, so I covered my eyes with my arm. It seems like I haven't seen Caleb for three years. I didn't expect him to still be wearing the star necklace I gave him. Such a cheap thing. I still remember the price tag was only $19.99, and the couple's set was 50% off, so it was only ten bucks. Mine was thrown away somewhere by me long ago. He didn't seem to have changed much, yet seemed to have changed a lot. Clearly still that face, but after maturing, his edge seemed sharper. Like a gem cut with angles, the unruly nature between his brows couldn't be suppressed. I suddenly remembered three years ago, before we took the college entrance exam (SATs). Caleb was also wearing a jersey like this, standing downstairs at my place, begging me with red eyes. "From now on, I'll listen to whatever you say. If you don't like me contacting her, I'll never interact with her again. "We agreed to go to the same university—" His voice became hoarse, a glint flashing in his eyes in the night: "As long as we don't break up, I'll agree to anything you say, okay?" He looked so pitiful, almost about to kneel and beg me. But I just looked at him expressionlessly for a while and whispered: "Caleb Vance, I changed my college application. "I'm not going to Tech U anymore." 2 My romance with Caleb began with childhood sweethearts losing to a destined encounter, and ended with the destined encounter losing to childhood sweethearts. In my sophomore year of high school, I transferred and immediately became first in the grade. At that time, teachers liked to seat a good student with a poor student to help them improve, so I was arranged to sit next to Caleb. But Caleb had absolutely no interest in studying; instead, he was very interested in me. Either pulling my hair or taking my pen and holding it high, then looking down with a wicked smile. "Stella Cheng, you're so short." He passed me notes in class. I opened one to see a stick figure of me. Just as I wanted to scold him for being bored, the teacher saw the note, displayed it publicly, and then made us both stand outside as punishment. I was a standard good student back then and had never suffered such grievance. I pushed Caleb with red eyes. "Caleb Vance, are you sick!" He knew he was in the wrong and didn't speak. After a while, he folded that note with the stick figure into a star and quietly stuffed it into my hand. I looked at that star and couldn't help but smile through my tears. My relationship with Caleb gradually improved. I would force him to listen to my explanations until he understood, check his homework, and forbid him from copying answers. He would also wait downstairs every day to go to school and back home with me, and we would browse the accessory shop at the gate together. Ghost led me to buy two star chains and give him one. ... Caleb was a popular figure in school—handsome, rich family, good at basketball. Who knows how many girls liked him. One of them blocked me and asked if I liked Caleb. Teenage pride and inexplicable annoyance made me subconsciously speak: "I won't like someone whose grades are worse than mine." The girl looked behind me. I turned around abruptly, only to find Caleb behind me. I don't know how long he had been listening. He walked past me expressionlessly. After that, Caleb never actively sought me out again. He no longer talked to me in class, nor asked me to go to school together. We sat at the same desk, not saying an extra word every day. I wanted to explain to him, but he never gave me a chance. Until a year later, Caleb tied with me for first place with astonishing progress. That night he stopped me and said seriously: "Stella Cheng, my grades are no worse than yours now. Can you like me now?" To this day, the memories of that time are very blurry. I only remember the jacaranda flowers blooming like a sea in the school that day. When the petals were blown up by the wind, the boy's eyes were brighter than a star explosion. The light crossed the vast universe of light years and fell straight into my heart. In that moment, I heard my own voice. "Okay." We got together just like that. Young love was uncontrollable like a prairie fire. We stuck together every day. Caleb introduced me to all his brothers and even tattooed my name on his body. I said I wanted to test into Tech U, and he said he wanted to go to the same university as me. His mom was overjoyed at his sudden motivation. Fortunately, my grades didn't drop either, so parents and teachers simply turned a blind eye. We became the only openly dating couple in the school. At that time, I really thought we would go on forever. Until I discovered there was always a girl more important than me in his heart. 3 Caleb had a childhood friend who grew up with him, named Gigi. Gigi's father was a driver for Caleb's father in the early years. In a car accident where the car fell into the sea, he risked his death to save Caleb's dad but didn't have the strength to get ashore himself and passed away just like that. Caleb's dad was a very kind person. He immediately waved his hand and took in Gigi and her mother, saying he would treat Gigi as his own daughter and support them for life. Gigi and Caleb were inseparable since childhood. Even when we were dating, she didn't restrain herself and followed us to and from school. Caleb and I fought a lot over this. Finally, Gigi stopped following us, but within two days, she suddenly appeared in front of me again, leaning on Caleb. "Sorry Stella, I know you don't want to walk with me, but I sprained my ankle, and Caleb insisted on walking me home." Caleb's eyes were all on her, frowning and scolding her: "You didn't tell me your foot was hurt. If I didn't come to find you, did you plan to hop home on one foot?! Get on!" I still remember that day, Caleb carried Gigi on his back walking in front of me the whole time. Gigi lay on his back talking about funny things from their childhood, and I couldn't interject a word. She acted coquettishly: "Caleb, my foot hurts so much!" I had never heard Caleb's voice so gentle: "Foot hurts so much, what should we do?" "I want to eat the cake from the shop on the corner, the most expensive kind!" "Okay, I'll take you home first and then go buy it for you." "Caleb, can I walk with you in the future? When I walk alone, hooligans outside the school always stare at me, I'm so scared." Caleb frowned: "Why didn't you say so earlier? "I'll pick you up tomorrow morning. In the future, if I'm not with you, you're not allowed to walk alone." Gigi laughed and looked back at me. "Okay." ... The setting sun stretched their shadows so long, inseparable. I fell further and further behind alone, but Caleb never looked back at me once. It wasn't until he dropped Gigi home that he turned to me and said: "I have to go buy cake for Gigi, so I won't walk you home today. "Stella, go home by yourself." I looked at him for a long time, turned around, and left. 4 After that time, Caleb and I were in a cold war for a whole week. Caleb didn't think he was wrong at first: "I always treat Gigi as a sister. How could I pretend not to see when her foot was injured?" I was expressionless: "Her foot was injured, she could call her mom to pick her up, she could call your family's driver to pick her up. Why did she have to wait for you there?! "You treat her as a sister, does she treat you as a brother?! Dare you say you don't know she likes you?!" Caleb's eyes dodged, finally sighed and hugged me. "Stella, I really only like you. In the future, I will make it clear to her and keep a distance from her, okay?" I closed my eyes: "Okay." After that, Caleb really went to find Gigi. Don't know what he said to her, I only know Gigi cried out of the classroom and never looked for Caleb again. I thought this matter was resolved. Unexpectedly, one day Caleb suddenly frowned and found me, hesitatingly said: "Gigi said a guy from another school keeps pestering her. She rejected him several times but he still pesters her. Today he found a few of Gigi's friends to hang out. She asked me to pretend to be her boyfriend to persuade that guy to back off." Looking at my expression, he added: "Just one night, just let that guy retreat knowing the difficulty." "Didn't we agree before? Today sprained ankle needs you to carry home, tomorrow pestered needs you to pretend to be boyfriend, what about the day after tomorrow?!" Caleb's temper wasn't good, but when with me he always patiently coaxed me: "If it weren't for saving my dad back then, Gigi's dad wouldn't have died, and she would have a father to protect her now. I really can't ignore her. Just this once, if you're worried, come with me, okay?" Words came to this, I knew arguing with Caleb further wouldn't have any result, could only agree. "Only one day, I'll go with you guys." Caleb smiled, cupped my face and kissed me. "Wifey is really so understanding, love you the most!" 5 That night was my first time going to a bar. Sure enough, a very strong and tall boy was surrounding Gigi. Not ugly, just looked slippery, constantly trying to put his arm on her. Caleb stepped forward, pushed him away, pulled Gigi into his arms, and looked at the boy with pressed brows. "Keep your hands to yourself, she's my girlfriend." Caleb learned kickboxing since elementary school. When he had a cold face, his aura directly suppressed the boy into silence. Others quickly smoothed things over: "Want to play Truth or Dare? Zach is treating tonight, everyone order drinks, don't be polite!" Zach was the boy pestering Gigi. Heard his family was involved in gangs, stores on this street had to pay protection money to his dad. He was a classmate of Gigi's friend's boyfriend, from a vocational high school. Started chasing Gigi after meeting her at a dinner with friends. Gigi rejected him many times but he didn't give up. This gathering of a circle of friends for dinner was also to confirm if Gigi really had a boyfriend as she said. Caleb scoffed lightly, threw a Centurion Black Card on the table. "No need, I'll pay for all expenses tonight." Everyone's eyes were attracted by that black card. A girl's eyes lit up: "Is this the legendary black card? Gigi, you're really not authentic, having such a handsome and rich boyfriend and not telling us!" Gigi smiled and leaned on Caleb. My fingers clenched slightly. Caleb looked at me subconsciously. I turned my head away not to meet his eyes. Zach's face turned dark. His bro's girlfriend might be afraid he and Caleb would fight, so she raised a wine bottle: "Let's play Truth or Dare, whoever the bottle points to is it!" After a few rounds, everyone chose Truth, and no one asked any very outrageous questions. Just as I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking tonight would pass like this, the bottle suddenly stopped in front of Gigi. She smiled and tucked her bangs behind her ear: "I choose Dare." My heart sank fiercely, a bad premonition floated up. Sure enough, the next second the girl beside her excitedly said: "Then choose a boy present to kiss, a French kiss!" Gigi blushed, gaze falling on Caleb. Caleb's expression stiffened slightly, subconsciously frowning. "Then I choose—" Amidst Zach's increasingly ugly face, Gigi pointed at Caleb without hesitation. Caleb kept a straight face. "Change the dare." The girl raised an eyebrow: "Aren't you boyfriend and girlfriend? What's there to be embarrassed about? Kiss, kiss!" Everyone started chanting. Zach's eyes became suspicious: "Are you really Gigi's boyfriend?" Gigi raised a smile: "Of course." Her beautiful eyes carried a trace of pleading, climbing onto Caleb's forearm, red lips slightly parted: "Caleb..." My heart slowly turned cold. Caleb stiffly let Gigi approach him. Just a second before their lips touched, I stood up abruptly! His face turned slightly sideways, and Gigi's kiss landed on the corner of his mouth. He reached out in panic to pull me, but was violently thrown off by me! Ignoring the surprised expressions of everyone present, I walked out the door quickly.
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