After my online relationship finally became real,I happened to see a post on our school's anonymous confession wall. "If you could go back six months,what would you change?" Some people in the comments said they would retake the SAT. Some said they would break up with their ex sooner. Some said they would stop their parents from getting divorced. Only one comment was pushed all the way to the top. "I'd ask for her contact myself." "Then my friend wouldn't have given me the wrong account,and I wouldn't have spent half a year talking to another girl." "Now we've already met in person.I guess I can only keep going with the mistake." I was about to scroll past. Then I realized the avatar,the ID,even the profile bio,were exactly the same as my boyfriend Ethan Hale's. The boyfriend I had just met in person. Everything suddenly made sense. I finally understood why,after we met in person,he was still gentle with me but clearly distant,nowhere near as sweet as he had been online. And why,when he saw me in person for the first time,he had frozen so obviously for a second. Because,the affection he had given me had been meant for someone else all along. ... The next afternoon,I met Ethan at the school cafe. He was sitting by the window,still wearing his deep-blue team jacket.Ethan Hale was one of the most popular boys at Westbridge Prep,the son of a board member,and the football captain. And I was just an ordinary scholarship student. If it had not been for that online relationship that began with a mistake,he and I probably never would have crossed paths at all. "You're here?" When Ethan saw me,he pushed the hot chocolate in front of him toward me. "Less sugar,no whipped cream,extra cinnamon.You didn't eat much dinner yesterday.Is your stomach still bothering you?" He had always been thoughtful. Even before we met in person,he had never missed a holiday gift or a birthday surprise. He knew I worked at the cafe after school and often forgot dinner,so he would order a sandwich ahead of time for me.Yesterday,when we had pasta together for the first time,he had naturally picked the mushrooms out for me. Mia had once said with envy that I must have been blessed by the goddess of love. But now I knew. None of that kindness had really been meant for me. Ethan waved a hand in front of my face and smiled. "What's wrong?Now that we've met,you're suddenly afraid to look at me?You'll have plenty of time to stare later.Drink something first before your stomach starts hurting again." Under the table,my hand clenched tight. In the end,I pushed my phone toward him. On the screen was that answer from the anonymous wall. The smile slowly faded from Ethan's face. "Six months ago,did Noah give you the wrong account?" Ethan was silent for a while. People moved in and out of the cafe.Someone nearby was talking about a weekend party,and someone else was rushing through a college application essay.Only at our table was the atmosphere somber. After a long time,he finally said,"At first,I really did think you were Ava." I had already guessed it. But hearing him say it out loud still made me feel humiliated. Ava Whitmore. Student council vice president,cheer captain,daughter of a board member,and the girl everyone at Westbridge Prep thought was the perfect match for Ethan. Six months ago,at the fall dance,she had been standing right beside me. She had been wearing a silver slip dress,beautiful in a cool,untouchable way. I had been wearing a white server's shirt for my part-time shift,carrying a tray as I walked through them. That day,Noah said a friend of his wanted to know me. Later,Ethan followed me on Instagram. He said he remembered the way I had stood under the lights.He said I looked pretty when I smiled.He said the first time he saw me,he thought I was different from everyone else. So he had mistaken me for someone else from the very beginning. I put the note I had prepared in front of him.Ava's Instagram was written on it. "This is her contact.You don't have to keep settling for me just because your friend gave you the wrong account." "If she's the person you wanted to know,you can go know her now." Ethan frowned. "Lily,I never said I was settling." I looked at him. "I don't want to be the idiot pretending she doesn't know anything." His expression turned a little ugly. "That answer was just something I wrote casually.I didn't think you'd see it." "So if I hadn't seen it,were you planning to keep pretending nothing happened and keep dating me?" Ethan said nothing. His silence gave me my answer. For the past six months,I had really thought I had something good. During the six months we dated online,every planned video call fell apart because something always came up.That was why he didn't realize I wasn't the girl he wanted until we finally met in person. But he would order food for me before my late shifts,stay on the phone while I revised my college application essays,and remember which days I had exams and which nights I worked until closing. I had thought all of that was love. Now I realized maybe he had only kept going because he found out he had the wrong person and did not know how to end it. "Don't worry." I picked up my bag and stood. "I won't tell anyone we talked for six months,and I won't let Ava know you mistook me for her at first." "When we see each other at school,we'll just be regular classmates." Ethan looked up at me,his expression complicated. "You really don't have to do this." "I do." I cut him off. I did not want to be the mistake in anyone's story. And I did not want this to be dug up later and twisted into me stealing Ava's boyfriend. Ethan was silent for a long time before he said quietly,"As compensation,I can promise you one thing,as long as it's something I can do." He looked serious. As if he would not feel at ease unless I agreed. I did not want anything from him.But I did not want to keep arguing with him either,so I nodded. Only then did he seem to let out a breath. "Drink something first.This hot chocolate's gone cold.I'll buy you another one." I glanced at the hot chocolate on the table. Then I picked up my bag and turned to leave. "No thanks.I have class this afternoon."
When I got back to class that afternoon,Mia could tell something was wrong with one look. She dragged her chair closer and asked in a low voice,"Weren't you meeting your online boyfriend?" "Why do you look like that?" For my meeting with Ethan yesterday,I had changed into a dress and even swapped my evening shift at the cafe with someone else. In the end,it had only been a wrong-person mess. I spread my textbook open and pretended to look for a pen. "It's nothing.We met offline and realized it wasn't a fit." Mia frowned. "Was he ugly?" "No." "Then his personality sucked?" I paused. "Something like that." She was about to keep asking when someone in the front row suddenly shouted excitedly. "Check the anonymous wall!Ethan and Ava got photographed!" The classroom instantly came alive. I lowered my head,but I still could not stop myself from opening my phone. In the photo,Ethan stood by the parking lot with a cup of coffee in his hand,and Ava stood in front of him,smiling as she took it. The comments were full of people screaming over them. "Finally together?" "The perfect Westbridge couple." "I knew they would end up together.No one else is good enough." I stared at the last comment and suddenly found it funny.They were right.Someone like Ethan should have chosen Ava. Not me. Before school ended,Ava came over to my desk. She was wearing a white knit top today,her hair loosely tied back,looking pretty and harmless. "Lily,right?" I nodded. "Ethan said you helped us."She put a gift bag on my desk."Just a little thank-you." I glanced at the logo on the bag.It was a brand I usually did not even dare to look at for too long when I passed by. "No,it's okay." "Take it."Ava smiled."If you hadn't given him my account,we might never have had the chance to get to know each other." She did not speak loudly,but everyone around us heard. Some people looked over with envy. Someone whispered that Ava was so generous,giving a gift just because I had passed along an account. I pushed the gift bag back."Really,I don't need it." Ava's smile faded a little. "Do you not like me?" As soon as she said that,the people nearby went quiet. I could only take the bag back. "Thank you." Only then did Ava smile with satisfaction."Good.By the way,are you close with Ethan?" My heart tightened. "No.I just know Noah.That day,he asked me for your account,so I helped pass it to Ethan." Ava stared at me for a while,as if she was trying to decide whether I was telling the truth.At last,she smiled. "So that's what happened." As soon as she left,Mia leaned in. "Since when do you know Noah Brooks?" "The fall dance.I was working there."I stuffed the gift bag into my backpack."We only said a few words.We're not close." Mia clicked her tongue. "Your luck is insane.Your own online relationship failed,and you still somehow set up Ethan and Ava." I pulled at the corner of my mouth. "If I were really lucky,my online relationship wouldn't have failed."
The next day after school,it suddenly started raining outside. I had not brought an umbrella,so I could only stand at the entrance of the academic building and wait for the rain to let up. That was when Ava came over,naturally linking her arm through mine. "It's pouring.How are you getting home?Ethan's coming to pick me up.We'll drop you off." I was just about to refuse when a black SUV stopped at the steps. The window rolled down,and Ethan looked at me."Get in.This rain isn't stopping anytime soon." With both of them saying it,refusing again would only make me look deliberate. But when I was about to get in,Ethan suddenly opened the front passenger door for me. "Don't you get carsick in the back?" My hand froze on the rear door handle,and Ava looked at me too. The truth was,I did not get carsick.I had once thrown up on the school bus because I had been exhausted from work and had not eaten breakfast. Later,when Ethan asked about it,I casually said I had felt sick in the car.I had not expected him to remember it for so long. I smiled."You remembered wrong.I don't get carsick." Ethan paused,then quickly corrected himself. "I was asking Ava." Ava's expression eased a little. She got into the passenger seat,and I sat in the back,looking out the window the whole way. Rain slid down the glass,and Ava looked at me through the rearview mirror several times. "Lily,didn't you have an online boyfriend before too?" My fingers tightened. Mia really could not keep anything to herself. "Yeah." "You broke up?" "We met in person.It wasn't right." Ava gave a soft laugh."That's how online relationships are,I guess.Behind a screen,anyone can pretend to be devoted." I did not answer,and Ethan did not say anything either. When the car stopped near my house,I almost immediately opened the door. "Thanks.I'll go now." That night,after I showered,a message from an unfamiliar number popped up on my phone. It was Ethan. "Stay away from Ava at school from now on.She's smart.She'll notice things she shouldn't." I stared at the line,and my chest suddenly felt blocked. Just a few days ago,he had still been my boyfriend.Now,after seeing me in person,he could only remind me not to make his girlfriend suspicious. I replied:"To keep her from misunderstanding,we shouldn't contact each other anymore." After sending it,I blocked that number too. When I went to school the next day,my eyes were a little swollen.Mia handed me a bottle of ice water. "You didn't actually cry all night over that internet guy,did you?" "No."I unscrewed the cap."I just didn't sleep well." She was about to say something else when Ava happened to walk by.I did not know how much she heard.I only saw her steps pause for a second. After the last morning class,my advisor asked me to bring some documents to the reception room.She said a board member's son was there to discuss sponsorship for the spring charity dance. I walked in with the files in my arms,and as soon as I opened the door,I saw Noah Brooks sitting inside. When he looked up and saw me,his eyes lit up. "Lily?We meet again."
The last time I had seen Noah was at the fall dance. That day,he had worn a black suit and smiled like he owned the room,standing by the drink station as he asked for my contact. He said a friend of his wanted to know me,and I thought that friend was Ethan. Thinking about it now,everything had started with that sentence. Noah stood from his chair and held out his hand. "I told you we were meant to run into each other." The teacher beside us looked at me,then at him. "You two know each other?" "We've met once."I set the documents on the table."We're not close." Noah looked wounded. "That's cold." I ignored him. Once the teacher stepped out to answer a call,Noah immediately leaned closer. "I heard about you and Ethan." My heart sank. "What did you hear?" "He said I gave him the wrong account that day,so he mistook you for someone else."Noah frowned."But I never gave him the wrong account." I froze. "What do you mean?" Noah looked at me. "At the fall dance,the person I wanted to know was you." "I saved your account on my phone so I could add you later.Then I went to the bathroom for a few minutes,and he took my phone and added you himself." For a moment,I could not speak. The more Noah talked,the angrier he got. "By the time I found out,the two of you were already together.I asked him what the hell happened,and he said he thought you were Ava.Like I'd believe that." So Noah had not given him the wrong account.Ethan had been lying from the start. He had taken my account,then later pushed the entire mistake onto one sentence:his friend had given him the wrong account. I was about to speak when a voice suddenly came from the door. "Noah." Ethan stood there,his face cold."What are you doing here?" Noah leaned back in his chair,smiling in that obnoxious way of his. "Talking sponsorship.Catching up with Lily.Is that a problem?" Ethan looked at me,his voice clearly holding back anger. "Since when are you two so close?" Before I could answer,Noah cut in first. "Earlier than you think.Closer than you want." Ethan's face darkened. "Lily,stay away from him." That sentence was directed at me. I suddenly almost wanted to laugh. "What right do you have to tell me what to do?" Ethan stopped. "I'm only warning you.Noah doesn't take relationships seriously." The smile on Noah's face faded too. "And you do?You're so serious you have a girlfriend and still run around telling another girl who she can talk to." The air froze. Footsteps sounded outside the door,and Ava walked over with a folder in her arms,just in time to see the three of us standing together. Her gaze landed on Noah first,then shifted to me. "Lily,I didn't realize you and Noah were this close." I explained,"We've only met a few times.I'm just here to deliver documents today." Noah grinned."I'm still working on it.Maybe someday I'll be her boyfriend." Ethan shot him a cold look."Nobody asked about later." Ava's smile became a little strained.She linked her arm through Ethan's. "Let's go." Ethan made a sound of agreement.Before leaving,he looked at me again. There was something complicated in his eyes that made me uncomfortable. I lowered my head and sorted the documents,pretending not to see it.
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