Chapter 3
For the final SAT exam, I flew through the questions, even filling in answers for the questions I was uncertain about.
When I walked out of the exam hall, I saw that the dark clouds had already dispersed.
The sun was shining gloriously in the open sky.
My mood instantly felt much lighter.
I hadn't walked far from the exam building when I ran into Arian and his group.
They were still talking, but their eyes turned towards me.
I walked straight past them as if I hadn't seen them.
"Hannah, why are you ignoring us? Are you in a bad mood? Did your exam not go well?" Arian strode forward and grabbed my shoulder.
He added, "Let's go for a big meal. Choose whatever you want; it's my treat."
It used to make my heart race whenever he touched me, but now it disgusted me.
I turned and shot him an indifferent look. "I'm going home. You all have fun."
Arian frowned. "Why? Didn't we already agree to hang out tonight after the exam? Are you acting this way because you're angry that I called you ugly at noon?
"I already explained it was just a game, and it pained me to say that. Why can't you put yourself in my shoes and feel for me?"
I pretended to look troubled. "My head hurts a bit; I want to go home and rest."
His friends at the back started shouting at me, "Are you sure you want to go home? Josie is going tonight. If you don't keep a close eye on Arian, he might get a new girlfriend."
Arian moved closer to me, lowering his voice.
He whispered, "Your stomach ached at noon, and now you have a headache. You better not be making excuses to back out.
"I'm gonna explain one last time: I'm only close with you out of all the girls here. I barely know the others. I couldn't possibly call a stranger ugly, could I?
"Since you're the closest person to me, I approached you. I didn't mean it at all. How could you be ugly? I'm going to marry you someday.
"Now, why don't you reconsider whether you want to join us tonight?"
Just then, Josie arrived.
She waved excitedly at Arian. "Arian, I'm here. Sorry to have kept you waiting."
I suppressed a snort. What good timing.
If being close to Arian meant I'd become a joke among his friends, I didn't want it. Josie could have Arian if she wanted.
Without any hesitation, I shook my head. "I really have a headache. I'm leaving."
He remarked coldly, "You better not regret it. If I get drunk tonight and make out with someone else, it's because you didn't watch over me."
Afterward, Arian never contacted me.
He didn't even care about my headache, even though I had lied about it.
He was probably having a great time, and things were going well between him and Josie.
Still, I missed the boy who would get nervous whenever I sneezed.
Now, I'd just assume the boy I liked had been possessed and was as good as dead.
*****
The next day, when I returned to school to move my luggage, I ran into Arian again.
My parents and I were outside the school gate, carrying my luggage into the car's trunk.
My mother muttered, "What is Arian busy with? He came to our house earlier and offered to help you move back home, but now he's nowhere to be found."
My father looked into the distance, his face darkening. "Isn't that Arian over there? Why don't you see what he's busy with?"
I followed my father's gaze.
Under a tree, Arian was carrying two large boxes labelled "Grade 12 Class 33-Josie Bennett".
A girl was standing beside him. She wiped the sweat from his forehead, her smile radiant.
It was impossible to miss the girl with her striking appearance .
It was Josie.
Arian moved his lips, but I couldn't tell what he said.
Then, Josie stood on tiptoe and pecked him on the cheek.
Arian's eyes lit up, and the boxes tipped in his arms. Several notebooks at the top fell to the ground.
The notebooks had plaid covers in various colors. I recognized them at a glance as the notes I had painstakingly organized with key points.
Arian had a relapse of illness this year, developing a persistent high fever, and had to take a week off.
From then on, I started writing a copy of my key notes for him as well, until the SAT.
Now, all my notes were in Josie's boxes.
Clearly, Arian had used my sincerity and hard work as a tool to curry favor with Josie.
Arian looked at the notebooks on the ground, paused, and bent to put the boxes down.
Josie stopped him, saying, "Are you dumb? Why pick them up? We aren't going to use them anymore. Let's just throw them away. It'll lighten your load too."
Arian hesitated for a moment before nodding.
He tacitly allowed Josie to throw my hard work into the trash.
My parents naturally recognized my notebooks too.
I could usually go to bed before midnight, but to write out a copy of the notes for Arian, I often stayed up an extra half hour.
I would write out his notes first, then make a copy for myself.
My parents had witnessed how much I'd done for Arian.
I hadn't told them about what happened yesterday afternoon because I still considered our past friendship.
But now, without me telling them, my parents probably already realized it was over between Arian and me.
My father quickly moved my luggage into the car, his face grim.
He said, "Don't look anymore. Let's go home."
Just as I got into the car, I saw Arian rushing over and knocking on the car window beside me.
He had a rare look of panic as he greeted my parents, "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Watson."
He turned to me next. "Hannah, when did you arrive?"
My mother rolled down the car window and answered, "We were here quite a while. We've been watching you."