My childhood best friend, Luke, got caught sneaking around with the school's prom queen, Tiffany. To protect Tiffany’s reputation, he lied and said I was his girlfriend. I got suspended for it. Tiffany looked at me with mock sympathy, her eyes red. "Are you happy now?" "It's just a few days of suspension," she said. "Now the whole school thinks you two are together, so what am I?" Luke, trying to comfort her, forbade me from returning to school. "Be good," he told me. "It's exam season, she'll get upset if she sees you." "You're smart anyway. You can study from home." I didn't listen. I went back to school. Luke scoffed when he saw me. "Miss me that much?" He didn't know I was there to pick up my transfer papers. A month later, Luke called, demanding to know why I transferred. What he heard instead was a lazy, affectionate boy's voice on the other end: "Babe, how can you be distracted right now? Answering other people's calls?" "I'm enough for you. Be good, hang up the phone." 1 Holding the thin transfer application form, I finally breathed a sigh of relief. The principal looked reluctant, still trying to keep me. "Miss Wen, the school apologizes for misunderstanding you. Suspending you without investigation was wrong. Please reconsider transferring..." I shook my head gently, but my resolve was firm. Saying goodbye to my favorite teachers, I couldn't help but tear up. My favorite teacher wiped away my tears. "I hate to see you go, but your potential is wasted here." Just as I reached the classroom door, I heard Luke's lazy laughter. "I waited in line for four hours for this. Will the princess honor me with a bite?" Luke was leaning intimately against Tiffany's desk. He held a spoon of tiramisu, coaxing it toward her lips. It was hard to imagine someone like Luke having the patience to wait in line for anything. Tiffany still looked a bit grumpy, but the corners of her mouth were already turning up. "Tsk, finally smiling for me?" Tiffany huffed. "Who told you to call someone else your girlfriend? I just wanted to teach you a lesson!" Luke smiled, pleading for mercy. "I did it for you! Wen is top of the class, she just gets a suspension. You're... average. You would have been expelled." Tiffany looked at me standing at the door with a triumphant smirk. "Aren't you worried Wen will get expelled?" Luke pressed a finger to her lips, his eyes playful. "Wouldn't that be better? Save you the trouble of seeing her." "As long as you're mad, I won't let her come back to school. Forgive me now?" Tiffany slapped his hand away and lifted her chin. "Then who's that standing at the door? Are you blind?" Luke froze. He turned to me, his smile vanishing instantly. He strode over, grabbed my arm, and dragged me out of the classroom, frowning. "Why are you here?" "Didn't I tell you to study at home? It's crunch time for exams, what if you distract her?" "I just got her to calm down, you ruined it!" Maybe because my heart had finally died, I didn't cry like before. I shook off his hand and moved to pack my things. Luke saw my red eyes and paused. "Miss me that much?" He sighed, helpless. "Fine. Go home now, I'll come back early to keep you company tonight, okay?" He hooked his pinky around mine and shook it. For a second, I was dazed. 2 Luke and I were inseparable since birth. Our parents were classmates, then neighbors. We were even born on the same day. Luke was older by a few minutes, so he was told to protect his "little sister." In kindergarten, the first word he learned to write was my name. I had a stutter growing up. Luke fought anyone who laughed at me. When I was ten, my mom died. I locked myself in my room, refusing to eat. Luke climbed through the third-story window when I wouldn't open the door. He held my pinky and comforted me all night. I cried until I broke, asking, "Will you leave me?" He hugged me tight. "Never." When Luke bombed his high school entrance exams, I gave up my spot at the elite magnet school to stay with him at the local public school. I believed we would be together forever. But in high school, Luke changed. He started finding me clingy and annoying. He distanced himself at school. His attention shifted to Tiffany, the school beauty. He chased her loudly and proudly. Two weeks ago, someone snapped a photo of them kissing in the woods and posted it on the school forum. Luke's tall frame hid the girl, showing only messy hair and a pale neck. The Dean was furious. He demanded to know who the girl was. Luke put his arm around me, kissed my forehead in front of everyone, and smirked. "Do you even have to ask? It's obviously my childhood sweetheart!" I had imagined Luke confessing to me many times. I never imagined he would use me as a human shield for another girl. "I won't leave you." That promise still echoed in my ears. But Luke was no longer the boy from my memories. 3 I snapped out of the memory and pulled away from Luke again. Seeing me packing, Luke's frown relaxed. "Just tell me what books you need, I would have brought them. Why come all this way?" "Do you know what day it is..." He stopped himself. "Whatever, now Tiffany's upset again. I have to go fix this." I've never been much of a talker. And I didn't tell him I was transferring. Packing was quick. Senior year textbooks were heavy. My arms were getting sore. Luke naturally reached out and took the bag, walking out. "Come on, I'll walk you home." He carried the heavy bag effortlessly with one hand. With the other, he tossed me a bag of pastries. "Bought your favorite chestnut cakes. Eat them later." I trotted to keep up, reaching for my bag. Luke switched hands, using his free hand to pinch the back of my neck, laughing. "Stop it. With your tiny arms, you'll break something carrying this." Suddenly, Tiffany spoke up. "Luke..." She bit her lip, looking pitiful. "My stomach hurts..." Luke spun around. The next second, the heavy bag was shoved into my arms. I stumbled back, hip slamming into a desk corner. "Take a taxi home." Luke didn't even look at me as he ran to Tiffany. Pain radiated from my hip. I picked up the bag and limped out. Behind me, Tiffany's voice floated over: "Your little friend looks hurt. Poor thing." "Is it cramps? Your period?" "But she really got hit hard." "Stay there," Luke said, impatient but not at her. "I'll get heat packs and brown sugar water." The hallway was noisy. Their voices faded. The last thing I heard was Tiffany's sweet voice: "You're so good to me." I threw the chestnut cakes in the trash and walked away. 4 Back home, I got a call from Magnet High. "Miss Wen, your dorm and supplies are ready. Just come whenever." The admissions officer sounded cheerful. "When will you be joining us? Your new classmates can't wait to meet you." I thought for a moment. "Tomorrow." After hanging up, my dad knocked and entered with a plate of fruit. When I suddenly asked to transfer, I thought he'd ask why. But he just nodded. "Where do you want to go? I'll handle the paperwork." I wanted to tell him everything. But the words stuck in my throat, and I just cried. "It's okay not to say." He patted my back like when I was little. "I know you don't make decisions lightly. Transferring is good. A fresh start." "You're my daughter. Whatever you want to do, Dad supports you." I begged him not to tell Luke's parents. He was surprised but agreed. This time, I wouldn't sacrifice my future. 5 I started packing everything Luke had ever given me. Gift boxes piled up in the corner. Paper stars he folded when I was sad scattered on the floor. A giant teddy bear taking up half my bed. Expensive dresses. Handmade gloves. The polaroid camera and the stack of photos he insisted on taking. Two huge boxes. Taping them shut, I realized it was already night. I struggled to carry the boxes downstairs. The dumpster was at the corner. Just as I was about to throw them in, laughter drifted on the wind. Luke, holding a beer, smiling brightly. Tiffany leaning on his arm, holding sparklers. Someone yelled "Make a wish, Tiffany!", someone sang Happy Birthday. So it was her birthday. They were chatting and laughing. Somehow the topic turned to transfers. "Heard someone in our grade is transferring? Is it... Wen?" "No way." Luke was fixing Tiffany's hair, scoffing. "She's obsessed with me. She can't leave me." "True, she listened to you and stayed home. You're ruthless, Luke. Aren't you worried her grades will drop?" Luke sounded casual but certain: "Doesn't matter. She's going to the same college as me anyway. Higher scores won't help." Tiffany stomped her foot. "Luke! Do you have to talk about her on my birthday?" Luke pinched her nose lovingly. "Princess, how many times do I have to say it? She's just a sister to me. You jealous of her?" I finished dumping the trash and turned to leave. But then I saw Tiffany playfully hit Luke's arm. On her wrist was a familiar red string bracelet. I rushed over. "That... that's mine!" Luke spun around, shocked. "Wen? Why are you here?" I couldn't mistake it. The bracelet had little silver stars. My mom got it from a temple when she was sick. She climbed thousands of steps for it. One for me, one for Luke. She said it would protect us, that it would be like she was always with us. The string was frayed. Luke had worn it for five years. And now he gave my mom's last gift to Tiffany! How dare he! Tiffany shrank behind Luke. "What's wrong with her? Scary..." Smack. The sound of the slap cut through the night air. My hand wouldn't stop shaking. Luke's face turned to the side. He froze, shock and anger in his eyes. My eyes burned. I ripped the bracelet off my own wrist. "Who wants your trash!" I threw it over the bridge railing. "Keep it!" "Luke treats you so well, and you hit him!" Tiffany cried. Luke grabbed my wrist, face dark. "Why did you throw it?" I watched the red string disappear into the river below. Without hesitation, I climbed over the railing. "Wen!" "Luke!" Two panicked voices. Tiffany held Luke back. "Don't go! She's doing it on purpose! She hit you! She doesn't care about you!" Luke's hand froze in mid-air. Conflict raged in his eyes. Anger, worry, and the sting of humiliation. "The bridge isn't high, the water isn't deep. She's just scaring you!" "You're bleeding. We need to go to the hospital!" After a long silence, Luke's voice was ice cold. "Let's go." The river water hit my knees, bone-chillingly cold. We crossed this bridge every day for school. I remembered Luke always holding my hand, keeping me in the middle, away from the edge. "Stay away. What if you fall? I'm scared." I'd tease him. "What if you fall?" He'd grip tighter. "I'd be fine. But you can't fall." The bridge that seemed so high back then was just a small jump now. I found the bracelet in the rocks. Walking home, I realized something. The bridge didn't get shorter. The person who used to be afraid I'd fall just stopped caring if I got hurt. But it's okay. I don't need him anymore.
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