The rich kid, Lucas Czuchry, faked bankruptcy, stealing my much-needed scholarship spot. Desperate for the money, I went to confront him, only to overhear his conversation with Jess Thorne. “Thanks to you, Jess, I managed to secure that scholarship. Couldn’t have done it without you.” Jess’s eyes, usually so bright, cast downwards, her tone cool and detached. “Liam is good in every way, but he’s too materialistic and shrewd. Letting him take a hit this time will help temper his character.” So, in her eyes, my poverty was merely “materialistic and shrewd.” We’d known each other for eight years, dated for two. This time, I decided to let go. 1 The private room pulsed with flashing lights and loud music, a blur of red and green. My heart throbbed as I listened to Lucas’s gushing words of gratitude. Someone, feigning a joke, quipped, “Jess, your boyfriend’s family is so poor, are you really letting him suffer?” Jess took a moment, then exhaled a long plume of smoke. “Liam is my boyfriend. If no one else sponsors him, I’ll support him myself.” Lucas, with a smug tilt of his chin, challenged, “Jess, you’re so good to Liam, we’re all jealous. But Liam’s not like us. What if he’s just after your money?” Jess leaned back into the sofa, her tone languid and tinged with condescension. “Liam is good in every way, but he’s too materialistic and shrewd. Letting him take a hit this time will help temper his character.” “You guys never saw it, but he once argued over ten bucks with someone. It was so embarrassing.” “But, if he really likes money, I have plenty. After all, keeping a little bird doesn’t cost much.” The room erupted in laughter, everyone praising Jess’s wisdom. Lucas snorted, “Are you really that fond of Liam?” Jess chuckled lightly, “Yes.” Ha. Is that so? My fists clenched. I couldn’t help but feel a little ridiculous. For two years, while dating Jess, I truly believed she loved me. Even she thought so. But what she loved was Liam—the ambitious, brilliant student who shone brightly at school. She ignored my poverty, the hardship of my struggle to survive, my faded clothes, and my worn-out shoes. A dismissive remark about me being “materialistic and shrewd” branded my very soul. Little did I know this wasn’t love, but a gaze. A condescending gaze from above. So, I pushed open the private room door and walked straight up to Jess, correcting her with a solemn voice: “No. Jess. “You don’t love me.” 2 A deathly silence fell over the private room. Jess had introduced me to her closest friends, so I was somewhat familiar with these faces today. People really are diverse, aren’t they? To my face, they’d call me “brother-in-law,” but behind my back, they reveled in my humiliation, using it for their entertainment. “Liam, you heard all that?” Jess’s eyes flickered. She tried to reach for my hand, but I pulled away. I’d never publicly embarrassed her before, and her face immediately darkened. I offered a slight smile, slipping off the couple’s ring from my finger. “In two years, I only ever asked you for one gift: a two-hundred-dollar matching ring.” My palm turned down, the silver band gleaming under the dim lights. Then, with a soft thud, I tossed it casually onto the floor. I met Jess’s furious gaze, speaking each word clearly and forcefully: “Consider us even. It’s yours now.” “CRASH!” Everyone flinched. Jess slammed her wine glass onto the floor, her eyes burning red. “Liam, are you serious? Over just one scholarship, you’re making such a scene!” Making a scene. The words stung coming from her lips. Jess had forgotten: in high school, to save money, I walked home every day. Some boys publicly called me a hypocrite, claiming a lean, good-looking guy like me was just playing innocent. All along the way, countless girls stared at me. My face flushed, my fists clenched, unsure how to retort. It was Jess who had stepped forward, kicking over the boy’s desk and shielding me. “Liam is mine. If I hear any of you say another bad word about him, try me.” The feeling of falling in love then was real. But the pain now was just as real. Oh, and that boy? That was Lucas. 3 I slowly pulled my thoughts back, my chest rising and falling, finally expelling a sigh of frustration. I figured it must have been Jess’s possessiveness, hearing Lucas mention girls staring at me, that made her so angry. So, it wasn’t entirely for me. It was purely about her pride. Lucas, with a taunting tilt of his chin, cackled incessantly. “Jess, what are you saying? Liam’s angry, go sweet-talk him!” Jess’s eyes were deep and dark, fixed on me like a snake finding its prey. Damp, sticky, and utterly unnerving. That’s how she got when she was angry—not saying a word, but forcing me to appease her. A classic diva tantrum, some would call it. But didn’t poor people deserve to have tempers too? I coldly averted my gaze, turning to Lucas. I asked, with what I considered utmost politeness: “I heard your family went bankrupt?” Lucas froze, then wrinkled his nose, his face openly hostile. “Liam, why do you smell like trash? My family isn’t bankrupt, and don’t come near me, I’m afraid I’ll catch something from you!” I smiled faintly. “Oh? Then why are you on the scholarship list? Could it be that young master Lucas wants to experience life as a scavenger too?” Lucas crossed his arms, rather imperiously. “Liam, Liam, I just wanted to experience how you lower-class people live. But you? You’re destined to pick scraps, always destined to pick scraps. I’ll tell you, it was Jess who deliberately let you use her smartphone so you’d be photographed, and that’s how I got your spot!” Oh, so that’s how it was. I lowered my lashes, a faint pang in my heart. Jess was a germaphobe; she never allowed me to touch her things. I remembered one time, it was raining, and she had a stomachache. I ran to buy her food, and in my haste, I fell and scraped my knee, covered in mud. She frowned at my wound, silent. I urged her to eat, but she simply tossed the food into the trash. She said, “Liam, don’t get hurt for me; it worries me. And also, I don’t like touching things others have touched. It’s dirty.” But her germophobia was fake, and her affection was fake too. She just found me dirty. The earthy smell of rain was exactly like the small shack where my grandfather and I lived. A shack piled high with scrap metal. Lucas was right. I made a living by selling salvaged goods. But I never felt ashamed because of it. 4 “Enough!” Jess suddenly roared. She seemed very tired, rubbing her temples. “Liam, it’s just a scholarship, twenty thousand dollars. Do you really need to fight with Lucas over it? If you need money, I can transfer you five hundred thousand right now.” Jess’s friends immediately chimed in. “Exactly, Liam, Jess still cares for you a lot.” “Liam, I’ll speak fairly. Jess even fell out with Lucas because of you before. She truly loves you.” “It’s just twenty thousand dollars, that’s barely the cost of a pair of shoes. Liam, just forgive Jess this time.” I felt a cold detachment. Twenty thousand dollars might not be much to them, but it was my grandfather’s and my food money for an entire year. Twenty thousand dollars might buy only one pair of shoes on Jess’s feet, but it was the hope I desperately clung to for survival. Last year, when the class representative announced the scholarship selection in the group chat, these spoiled rich kids were laughing and joking. “Who would go for that? Three thousand dollars for one meal?” “Exactly, exactly, I’d look down on anyone who applied for that. Are they really that poor?” Their lives revolved around money, money, and more money. Mine was different; it was filled with poverty, vulnerability, and helplessness. Yes, I was that poor. I needed that money. I couldn’t forget Lucas’s sneering expression when I submitted my application. Nor could I forget the fleeting look of embarrassment on Jess’s face. That day, I broke up with her. Jess refused, pulling me tightly into her arms, apologizing repeatedly. But her way of compensation was to have Lucas take my spot the following year. How ridiculous. Twenty thousand dollars might not be much. But as Jess said, I am materialistic, shrewd, and calculative. So, this was my last shred of dignity. 5 “Jess, you still don’t understand. I said we should break up last year, and you disagreed. So, I’ll say it again.” My voice was soft, yet it carried clearly to everyone in the room. All their faces darkened. I simply smiled and left the private room. Behind me, I faintly heard the sound of things smashing and voices trying to mediate. “Liam is so petty, Jess shouldn’t be with him anymore.” “He really went too far this time. I don’t get what twenty thousand dollars can even do.” … “Pauper,” “excessive,” “disgusting”—these words pierced my ears, but I didn’t care. Outside, it was raining, the sky a gloomy, hazy gray, obscuring my view. Sigh, a little sadness. But when I picked up my phone and listened to the entire recording, I felt much better. Not a single word was missed. It completely documented the truth of how I was wronged, and the fact that Lucas had deliberately taken my spot. I needed that money. I really, really needed it. Just as I finished deleting all of Jess and her friends’ contact information, my phone rang. It was Mr. Peterson, our neighbor. His anxious voice came through: “Liam, where are you? Come home quickly, someone’s here to collect money from your grandfather!” My heart lurched. My mind went blank for nearly three seconds, then I ran home as fast as I could. My grandfather was getting old, his health deteriorating. Not long ago, he’d been hospitalized due to illness. The scholarship money was precisely what I intended to use to pay off the debt. I had set a date with them, and they had agreed, but I never expected them to show up today to collect! My thoughts were a mess, growing more jumbled with every rapid step. Suddenly, I stumbled forward, falling straight into someone’s arms. “Liam? What are you running so fast for? Be careful you don’t fall.” I looked up. It was Iris, a senior from the lab. 6 I didn't have time to explain to Iris. I quickly thanked her, intending to leave immediately. But Iris held onto me. “Are you in a hurry? If you are, I can drive you.” Without a second thought, I nodded. Iris’s eyes curved slightly, and she led me to her car. Because I was worried about my grandfather, I had chosen a local university when applying. Iris knew this; she had helped me submit my documents when I first joined the lab. The drive was silent. It was Iris who broke it first. “Liam, did something happen at home? Why were you running so fast?” “Yes, my grandfather is in trouble. Someone came to collect a debt.” Iris stopped asking questions. She floored the accelerator, keeping to the fastest possible speed all the way home. As soon as I arrived, I pushed open the car door, only to see my grandfather truly surrounded by those men! “Well, well, the young Mr. Davies is back.” “Don’t blame us for breaking our word. Someone insisted you pay today, so we couldn’t help it, could we?” My grandfather, his back stooped, was trembling. “It’s all my fault, an old man like me, burdening our Liam. I’ll kneel here for you, please don’t make trouble for a young man like him.” “Our Liam still has school, please don’t make things difficult for him! We will pay back this money!” Seeing my grandfather about to kneel, I quickly rushed forward to help him up. A bitter taste filled my mouth, and I clenched my fists before I could compose myself. I forced a calm tone. “Gentlemen, you just said someone demanded I pay today. Could you tell me, who made this demand?” The men exchanged glances. Finally, a burly man with a scar across his face spoke. “Young man, that’s none of your business. Just think about who you’ve had a beef with lately, won’t you?” Inexplicably, Lucas’s name flashed through my mind. The only reason I knew where their gathering was today was because Lucas had sent me a location. It seemed everything was his carefully orchestrated plan! “Can you give me one more month? I’ve applied for a student aid grant, and it should be disbursed in a month. I’ll also work odd jobs this month. Please, just one more month.” The burly man chuckled. “That’s not up to us to decide.” Suddenly, a voice rang out from outside the house: “I’ll pay it for him.”
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