Chapter 5

I gave a small laugh.

So to him, I was only worth a cup of drink to keep Sophie happy.

Suddenly, the wind picked up, making me squint.

My phone started buzzing in my pocket. I took it out. It was an incoming call from an unknown number.

I answered.

"Lily." Ethan's voice came through the line. "Where are you?"

I didn't say a word.

Ethan asked, "Are you okay?"

I felt a laugh bubbling up inside me.

"I'm fine," I said. "What's up?"

There were a few seconds of silence on the other end.

"About what happened..." Ethan paused. "I didn't mean it like that. It was an April Fool's joke, you know? Don't take it seriously."

I stared at the lights in the distance, staying silent.

"Sophie wasn't trying to be mean. She was joking around. You..." He paused again. "Why'd you have to kneel like that? It looks like we're the bad guys or something."

"Didn't you guys tell me to?" I said.

"It was a joke." Ethan sounded flustered. "Who actually expected you to go through with it? You made things weird for everyone."

"Oh," I replied, my voice flat. "I'll make sure not to do it again."

There was another silence on the other end.

"Lily," he called my name.

"Yeah?"

"You don't really like me, do you?" Ethan asked.

The wind whipped my hair into my eyes. it kind of hurt.

I didn't answer.

He waited a few seconds and then let out a laugh. "Alright, pretend I never asked. Anyway, head home soon, okay? Don't hang around outside."

With that, he hung up.

I stood there, holding my phone tight, listening to the wind whip around me.

Somewhere off in the distance, a song was playing. Snippets of music floated over, broken and scattered.

"I'm standing in line, holding my ticket for love..."

I lowered my gaze and tapped open Ethan's chat on WhatsApp.

It was pinned right at the top.

It'd been pinned there for three years.

The message he sent me today was still sitting there.

I pressed and held on it.

A menu popped up: Delete, Star, Forward, Select Multiple.

I tapped Delete.

[Are you sure you want to delete this message?]

I chose Confirm.

The chat window was now empty. Nothing left. Just a clean slate.

Then I tapped on his profile picture and unpinned him.

His chat got buried somewhere way down the list, lost in the feed.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket, turned around, and headed down from the rooftop.

The next day, I went to class like nothing had happened.

The moment I walked into the classroom, all the chatter instantly dropped by half.

Some people were sneaking glances at me, their eyes darting away whenever I looked over.

Others were pretending to read, but their books were upside down.

Sophie was sitting at her desk, chatting with a few girls.

When she saw me walk in, her expression shifted for a split second, but she quickly put on a smile.

"Lily, you're here." she said, her voice sweet as honey. "Did you sleep well last night?"

I ignored her and walked straight to my seat.

Coco's eyes welled up with tears the moment she saw me.

She shot Sophie a death glare. If looks could kill, Sophie would've been dead a hundred times over.

I sat down and opened my book.

"Lily," Coco whispered.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Are you okay?" she whispered.

"I'm fine," I said.

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but the bell rang before she could.

The class began, and the teacher was practically spraying spit as he lectured. But I totally zoned out and didn't hear a thing he said.

I knew someone in the back row was watching me.

Ethan was sitting right there, a few rows behind me.

I could feel his piercing gaze stabbing into the back of my head, like a pair of daggers.

I didn't turn around.

The bell rang, and right after our teacher walked out, a bunch of girls closed in around me.

It was Sophie's clique.

"Lily," Chloe, Sophie's number one sidekick, said, "don't be mad at Sophie about yesterday. She was joking. Who knew you'd take it so seriously?"

I turned the page of my book, not even bothering to look up.

"Yeah, it was April Fools' Day. Everyone was messing around," another girl chimed in. "Why'd you have to kneel? It made it look like Sophie was picking on you."

"Exactly. People think Sophie is mean," another girl added.

"Sophie's been upset all night. She says you must've misunderstood her," Chloe said.