Chapter 2
Alayna looked at me with earnest determination. "Nicole, don't worry. Once I figure this out, I'll help you win Chaim back."
Her right pant leg was rolled high, revealing a pale calf.
On her knee was a fresh bloodstain, about the size of a lens, raw and unsettling.
Under Chaim's cold stare, she quickly lowered her leg again.
I smiled and teased, "Chaim, do you feel sorry for her?"
His expression softened. He pinched my cheek slightly harder than usual.
"What, are you jealous?" he teased.
I turned my head away.
He smiled faintly and didn't even spare Alayna a glance. "Her injury has nothing to do with me. I only care about being in your group."
He took my hand and led me back to the field.
There was still half an hour before military training started.
My stomach felt unsettled, and I hadn't eaten yet. Chaim had prepared pumpkin oatmeal for me in a thermos, still steaming.
I sipped slowly, but my arm soon grew tired, and I had barely finished half.
He pinched my nose playfully, scolding me for being so delicate, then took the bowl and fed me himself, spoon by spoon.
He must have hugged her earlier. The heavy rose scent clinging to his sleeve made my stomach churn.
I took another bite, but the moment it touched my tongue, I spat it out.
I pushed his hand aside, my tone indifferent. "I don't want any more."
Chaim quietly cleaned the spilled oatmeal, his expression gentle.
"Alright. I'll get you some water," he said.
He rushed off.
He was gone far longer than expected.
Something urged me to return to the grove.
It was the same spot as before.
Alayna was curled up on the ground, hugging her knees, shoulders trembling with sobs.
Chaim crouched in front of her, his face distant, holding gauze and ointment borrowed from the instructor.
"Lift your leg," he said calmly.
When Alayna saw Chaim, her eyes, still glistening with tears, suddenly brightened with surprise.
She mumbled nervously, "I thought you wouldn't talk to me anymore."
He frowned slightly. "Just don't appear so often when Nicole is around, and I won't ignore you."
Alayna lowered her head. After a long pause, she whispered, "Okay," though her tears continued to fall.
After he finished treating her wound, she suddenly gathered her courage and hugged him tightly, her arms barely reaching around his tall body.
Standing on tiptoe like a timid rabbit seeking affection, she quickly kissed him.
"Is it okay if I come to you when Nicole isn't around?" she asked softly.
Chaim stood there with his hands in his pockets, looking cool and distant, his posture straight and unbothered.
He didn't say anything, but he didn't stop her either.
He just stood there and let her kiss him.
It was nothing like the sweet, thoughtful side he showed me.
But maybe this was who he really was.
Cold, arrogant, and he just thrived on girls depending on him and trying to win his favor.
I hid behind a tree, my stomach twisting painfully.
I bent over, and everything I'd just managed to swallow, the pumpkin oatmeal, came up all over the muddy ground.
If I looked closely, there were faint streaks of red in it.
I had always been frail since I was little, and once school started, all the stress just wrecked my stomach even more. I was constantly dealing with bouts of diarrhea and nausea.
But when my stomach was empty, that was the worst. It felt like there was a fire burning inside me.
It made me shove whatever I could find into my mouth, just to make it stop.
At class get-togethers, I was always the one who ate the most. The other girls just nibbled at their plates, barely tasting anything.
Me? I'd end up cleaning up all the leftovers, making sure nothing went to waste.
But no matter how much I stuffed myself, it never stuck. I was still just skin and bones, pale as a ghost, like a skeleton.
The guys in my class gave me all kinds of cruel nicknames, calling me "witch" or "pig" because I ate so much but still looked like a walking skeleton.
Chaim was usually laid-back and gentle, but when it came to me, he was stubborn as hell, never let anyone mess with me.
He'd been training in taekwondo since he was a kid, and after he found out I was getting bullied, he switched schools just to be in my class. If anyone talked trash about me, he'd throw hands, no questions asked.
Since my body couldn't absorb nutrients properly, he did everything he could to make sure I got the nutrition I needed.
He'd spend hours cooking rice porridge and studying all sorts of nutritious meal plans for me.
It took him ages, but he finally helped me get this far.
But now, here I was, doubled over and sick, while he was off kissing another girl.
And there he was, kissing someone else right before my eyes.
After getting permission from the drill instructor, I made my way to the nurse's office alone.
The doctor wasn't there. Instead, there was a guy dressed all in black, slouched in a chair with his legs spread wide, looking totally unconcerned.
He had pale skin, messy white hair, and three or four colorful earrings in his right ear, so flashy they caught your eye instantly. There was an IV drip hanging next to him.
His cheeks were flushed, probably running a fever.
I'd seen his picture on the school forum before.
It was Freddie Wallace.
He was a third-year, and word around campus was that he was bad news, mean as hell, and not afraid of anyone. Rumor had it he'd even punched a teacher once. Pretty much everyone in school was terrified of him.