Chapter 1
After college started, I broke up with my childhood friend, Samuel Carter.
He smiled, "Is it because I picked her up for registration and didn't pick you up?"
"Yes," I replied.
He smiled again, a little helpless but clearly doting on me. "Alright, how many days are we breaking up this time?"
Before I could answer, the girl he was sponsoring, Lily Mason, called him.
Sam said, "Don't be scared, I'm coming."
He hurried off after saying goodbye.
He didn't realize I meant forever.
After ten years of running after him, I finally decided to move on.
I went back to my dorm alone, staring at the department transfer form on my desk.
I thought back to the registration day a couple of days ago.
Before I got on the train, Samuel had promised to pick me up at the station and take me to Metropolitan School of Arts for registration.
I waited at that unfamiliar station for hours, missing bus after bus, until I finally got a message from him.
Samuel: [Julia, something came up, and I can't make it. Take the bus to school for registration, okay?]
I instinctively tried to make excuses for him, thinking maybe he was busy.
But when I finally made it to the dorm entrance, sweating and clutching the oil painting that I'd spent the whole summer making for him, dragging my luggage behind me.
I saw him helping another girl carry her box.
She stood on her tiptoes, gently dabbing the sweat from his forehead with a tissue, her voice as sweet as honey.
"Sam, you've worked hard today. Picking me up, helping with my paperwork, and carrying my box. I don't know how to thank you," she said.
I let out a sarcastic laugh. "Why not marry him then?"
The girl's face flushed bright red, and she ducked behind Samuel.
Samuel's eyes lit up when he saw me, full of surprise. "Julia, you're here.
"My Julia is amazing today, showing up all on her own for registration."
He reached out to ruffle my hair.
I brushed his hand away. "So you didn't come pick me up because you were busy helping her out?"
He let out a sigh, as if he were trying to pacify a moody child. "Jealous again?"
As he spoke, he took my hand and led me over to the girl.
He said, "This is the girl I told you about, Lily. I'm sponsoring her through a scholarship.
"It's her first time in Metropolis City, and she is new here and doesn't know her way around, so I'm giving her a hand. Go ahead, introduce yourself."
Lily looked at me shyly. "You must be Julia, right? Nice to meet you. Sam is always mentioning you."
I knew who she was.
Every time Sam called me, he'd end up mentioning her without meaning to.
He was always saying how gifted she was with a brush, how rough things were for her family, and how she managed to make it out of a poor rural area and get into college all on her own.
We'd gotten into fights over her more than once.
All the hurt and frustration inside me suddenly flared up, making my words come out sharp and bitter.
"We're not close, so don't pretend we're friends. And you're three months older than me. How do you have the nerve to act so innocent?" I snapped.
Lily immediately lowered her head, tears falling onto her faded canvas shoes.
Samuel grabbed my wrist, his tone turning serious. "Julia, what's with that attitude? Apologize right now."
I jerked my hand away. "Apologize? Not a chance."
I stormed into the dorm building.
Bowing my head to the pack, my tears landed on the still-wrapped painting.
It was a portrait of Samuel at eighteen, standing beneath a sycamore tree, his hand outstretched toward me.
I'd spent the entire summer painting it.
My roommates, who'd arrived early, were chatting on the balcony, completely oblivious to my mess.
"That new girl downstairs is something. She showed up and already landed the art department's heartthrob."
"Landed? Come on, they were basically wrapped around each other now. And Samuel was wiping her tears for her."
I wiped away my tears and stepped out onto the balcony.
Down below, Lily was crying in Samuel's arms.
Samuel was gently patting her back, as if he'd done it a thousand times, calm and patient.
Suddenly, I realized how much it drained me to keep holding onto this relationship.
Maybe it was time to let go.
On registration day, I went to the academic office and asked to transfer to another department.
The teacher handed me an application form and told me to submit it within three days.
I waited anxiously, hoping Samuel would come and admit that he was wrong.
If he did, I'd forgive him.
But he never did.
He was busy showing Lily around campus, helping her buy art supplies, taking her roommates out to eat, and helping her land a part-time job.
Pics of the two of them were posted all over the campus bulletin boards.
He was carrying her art board, and she stood right beside him, smiling. They looked so perfect together, as if they were meant to be a pair in some perfect painting.
Suddenly, I remembered when we were kids, playing house in the old courtyard.
One of the neighbor ladies teased him, "Sam, is this your little wife?"
Samuel pulled me behind him, looking all serious, and said, "She's not my little wife. Julia is the one I'm going to marry someday."
Everyone said we were childhood sweethearts, destined to be together.
Thirteen years of love left me hurting for three days straight.
By the end, all that was left was a numb, dull throb.