Chapter 3

I opened my mouth, but not a single word came out. My heart felt like it was being crushed, the pain so sharp that it made everything go dark. Ethan was always like this. He never cared about the details, just pinned everything on me.

"Ethan, don't blame Charlotte," Sarah said, tugging at Ethan's sleeve. "It's my fault."

"No, it's my fault," I said, taking a deep breath. "I shouldn't have quit the Astronomy Club. I shouldn't have walked down this hallway. And I definitely shouldn't have shown up here in front of you. Are you happy now?"

With that, I turned and walked away, afraid that if I stayed even a second longer, I'd start crying. Behind me, I could hear Sarah's apologies and Ethan's comforting words, every word feeling like a needle in my back.

At the cafeteria, Julian listened to my story, his frown just kept getting deeper.

"There's something off about Sarah," he said, putting down his fork. "She's totally copying you."

"Copying me?" I blinked, confused. "Why would she do that?"

"To get close to Ethan," Julian said, his gaze turning sharp. "She knows Ethan's got a thing for you, so she's been deliberately copying your style just to catch his eye."

I gave a bitter smile. "He's got a thing for me? But he can't stand me."

Julian gave me a knowing look. "Guys know guys. Trust me. The way he looked at you was definitely not the way he looked at someone he hated."

I shook my head, not wanting to get into it any further. I had a design class in the afternoon, and I had to focus on my final piece.

In the Design Studio, I was painting my model when, out of nowhere, a cup of coffee spilled all over it. The brown liquid soaked into the cardboard in seconds, ruining three days of hard work.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry, Charlotte." Sarah stood in front of me, looking all flustered, holding an empty coffee cup. "I didn't mean to..."

I stared at my ruined model, my fingers gripping the edge of the table hard. This was a huge part of my final grade, and it was due tomorrow.

"What happened?" The design professor rushed over.

"I-I just knocked over my coffee by accident." Sarah started sniffling, tears welling up in her eyes. "Let me help you fix it, Charlotte."

"Charlotte, why weren't you more careful with your model?" The professor frowned at the ruined project. "The deadline's tomorrow, you know."

"Sarah dumped coffee all over my project," I said, trying hard not to lose it.

"Charlotte, I swear I didn't mean to..." Sarah started crying even harder. "I'll apologize."

"Enough." Ethan's voice rang out from the doorway. He strode over, putting himself between me and Sarah. "Charlotte, it's just a small thing. Do you have to be so harsh?"

I looked at the way he was shielding her, and suddenly I just felt so tired. "Ethan, this is my final project. She ruined it."

"She said it was an accident," Ethan said coldly. "Isn't your family loaded? Just buy some new stuff and redo it."

His words completely broke me. In his eyes, I was always just the rich girl who threw her weight around, and all the effort I put in was never even worth mentioning.

"You're right," I said, slowly rising to my feet. "The Williamson family has money. We can buy almost anything. But apparently, we can't buy respect or even a shred of basic decency from certain people."

Ethan's face darkened. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What I mean is," I said, pronouncing each word clearly, "take your precious little girl and get out of my sight."

The silence in the classroom was suffocating. I caught a flash of something in Ethan's eyes, but that look quickly vanished.

"Let's go," Ethan said, pulling Sarah along as they left, leaving me and the wreckage of my project.

The class ended, and I stayed behind in the empty classroom, working on my project alone. The door quietly opened, and Julian walked in, carrying a box of fresh paint and tools.

"I heard someone's project got wrecked." He set the supplies down in front of me.

My nose stung. "How did you hear about it?"

"Everyone's talking about it," Julian said, pulling up a chair next to me. "They're saying Miss Williamson bullied a freshman and even gave her a hard time."

I bit my lip, fighting back tears. Julian let out a sigh, pulled out his laptop, and queued up a video.

"Check this out," he said.

The video clearly showed Sarah standing in front of my project. She glanced around and then dumped her coffee all over my model. She even used her hand to spread the mess, making sure every inch was trashed.

"What is this?" I asked.

"The surveillance video from the Design Studio," Julian said, shutting his laptop. "Should I send it to the professor?"

I let out a sigh and shook my head. "Don't bother. Even if we prove she did it on purpose, Ethan's still going to take her side."

Julian watched me in silence. "Do you really care that much about what he thinks?"

I didn't answer, just focused on cutting new pieces of cardboard. Julian didn't press me. He simply helped out, quietly working by my side.

It was late, and the studio was completely empty by the time we finally finished the new model. It was rougher than my first one, but at least I had something to hand in.

"Let me walk you home," Julian said, packing up the tools.

As we walked out of the school gate, I spotted Ethan standing under a streetlight, looking like he was waiting for someone. When he saw me with Julian, his expression darkened, and he turned and walked away.

"What's his deal?" Julian frowned.

"Who knows?" I said, exhausted. "Maybe he's waiting for Sarah."

The next day, the design professor unexpectedly gave me an extension for my project. But what really caught me off guard was the set of professional model-making tools sitting on my desk. There was a simple note with no name that read, "Sorry."

The handwriting was crisp and bold. I instantly knew it was Ethan's.