Chapter 2

Nate was holding my umbrella, locked in a heated debate with Olivia over those tricky English words in their paper, and the two of them drifted off, getting farther and farther from me.

I shouted their names as loud as I could, but neither of them noticed.

It took a passing student to tap Nate on the shoulder before he finally remembered me and came back.

The path next to the library was narrow, and they walked side by side, totally at ease.

I trailed behind them, struggling to keep up, but the rain still soaked my back.

It was cold as well as my heart right now.

I got up and walked out without saying a word. When I reached the door, I couldn't help but look back, secretly hoping someone would call out to me.

But all I saw was Nate with his hand wrapped around Olivia's, pointing at his phone and showing her how to use the equipment, completely caught up in their own world.

No one even noticed I was gone.

My chest ached with a bitter heaviness. I tried to hold back my tears, took a shaky breath, and turned to leave.

On my way back to my apartment, I got a birthday gift from my mom.

It was about 330 dollars.

I tapped on the 60-second voice message, and my mom's caring voice filled my ears.

Mom said, "Em, happy birthday. Did you celebrate with Nate? Don't be afraid to spend a little. There's only about 67,000 dollars left for your study abroad fund. Your dad and I are almost there. We'll have it ready for you soon.

"Your dad is planning to drive for a ride-sharing app after work. He heard the fares double late at night. I am thinking about setting up a breakfast stall too. Maybe we can make several thousand dollars more each month."

The tears I'd been holding back finally spilled over.

I bit my lip hard, trying to hold back my sobs, returned the birthday money to Mom, and typed out my reply, word by word.

I texted: [Mom, you don't have to work so hard for me anymore. I'm not going abroad, I'll stay here and do grad school at home.]

Back then, Nate would always pull me into his arms and laugh, saying, "Emmy, you're so clueless and clumsy. If you're on your own, people will walk all over you. You have to stick with me, okay? "

So all these years, I've been working my ass off to keep up with him.

When they chose science, I ditched the history and politics I could ace for the tough stuff, physics and chemistry, which I barely understood.

When they got into Westbridge University, I gave up all my other options and gritted my teeth, repeating my senior year three times to get in.

Now, they'd both landed full-ride offers to study abroad at Cardinwood College, so I went ahead and applied for a master's program in the States myself.

But after clumsily trailing behind him for seven whole years, I still can't make sense of what they're talking about.

And now, my parents, already getting old, are still working themselves to the bone for me, someone who can't seem to get it together.

I'm done chasing after him now.

Exhausted, I finally made it back to the apartment I shared with Nate. I had barely closed the door when my phone started ringing. It was him.

"Emmy, where did you go? Why did you not say anything? Olivia went out of her way to get you a birthday cake, and now it has all melted," he said.

I definitely said it twice.

They were the ones who didn't hear me.

His voice was so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. I kept my tone calm. "I am back at the apartment."

Nate let out a loud tsk, sounding totally annoyed. "How could you be so stubborn? We stopped a super important experiment to celebrate your birthday, and now all our data's messed up. And you walked out on us? "

I wondered, 'How does one person leave two people behind?

'Seriously, how was he flipping this on me?'