Chapter 3

Whenever Lauren finished one of her lectures and I tried to explain myself, Carson would cut in coldly, "Jessica, just say less. It won't kill you."

So Lauren grew accustomed to looking down on me, passing judgment as if she were above it all.

She assumed I'd keep swallowing it, just like before.

Too bad for her, she was wrong.

I wasn't that person anymore.

I slowly set my spoon down. A faint, icy smile curved my lips as I looked at her.

There was no warmth left in my eyes.

"Miss Gallagher," I asked calmly, "are you unhappy with the food in my home?"

Lauren pressed her lips together. "No. I'm just pointing out your habit of being wasteful. I'm saying this for your own good."

"Oh?" I let out a soft laugh. "Since you find me so unbearable, Miss Gallagher, perhaps you shouldn't eat here at all. Wouldn't want you to choke."

My gaze flicked pointedly to the abalone she'd just placed on her plate.

Her eyes instantly filled with tears.

She turned to Carson, voice trembling. "Carson, she..."

Carson said nothing. That made me laugh even harder.

"He can't say a word for you, Miss Gallagher," I said coolly. "It won't help. Please leave. And don't let the door hit you on the way out."

After that, there was no way Lauren dared stay.

She cried as she walked out, turning back again and again to look at Carson.

When he still didn't react, she finally stormed off, resentment written all over her face.

I felt fantastic. I poured myself a full bowl of soup and drank it down without hesitation.

After a moment, Carson sighed softly.

"I'll let you vent this once," he said. "Feeling better now? Jessica, you're still so childish."

His tone was smug, self-assured, like he thought I'd just thrown a jealous tantrum.

He scooped some corn kernels onto my plate.

Carson said, "You don't like Lauren, so I'm letting you pay her back. If you want to blow off steam, I'm letting you act out however you want."

"I know I messed up before, Jessica. You can take it out on me as much as you want, as long as it makes you happy."

After a pause, he continued, "But Lauren's family isn't well-off. She lived on welfare until high school. Seeing your family waste food probably upsets her. Her words were harsh, sure, but that's just human nature. Don't take it personally."

His so-called reasonableness made my mother's expression darken.

Carson didn't notice at all. He kept going. "Alright, finish eating. I'm heading out."

Then, as if delivering a verdict, "You went a bit too far just now. Lauren's still an old classmate. No need to make things so ugly. I'll go smooth things over with her for you."

He hurried out, my mom hot on his heels, and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

All that admiration she used to have for him was gone. Now she was just annoyed, like she was dealing with a fool.

"Has Carson always been this nuts? What the hell is wrong with him?" my mom snapped.

Back in my room, I kept replaying my mom's words in my head.

When did Carson start acting crazy? Hell if I know.

Ever since we were little, Carson and I always walked to school and back together, since we lived just down the street from each other.

At first, I thought of him like an elder brother I could rely on. But at the beginning of high school, when some girl confessed her feelings to him and I was standing off to the side, watching it all go down, my heart twisted with jealousy.

That was when it hit me that I was catching feelings for Carson.

Back in high school, Carson was the kind of guy everyone liked, handsome, smart, and always had this cool, distant vibe that kept people at a distance.

He was polite, but never tried to suck up to anyone. If I talked to him, he really paid attention. And if I you ran into trouble, he'd help out without making a fuss, like it was just something he did.

Day in and day out, we walked to and from school together. Carson always noticed the little things and took care of me in ways no one else did.

It made me believe we were destined to be together, like the classic childhood friends-to-lovers story.

So I started making moves on him, both obvious and subtle—giving him birthday presents I made myself, heading over to his place to cook whenever I had free time, and always doing homework together.

Carson never really reacted one way or the other. He wasn't exactly friendly, but he didn't push me away either.

I always figured he just had that aloof vibe, and that one day, I'd finally get through to him.

But then, halfway through senior year, a welfare student transferred into our class.

At first, I barely noticed her. Lauren looked sickly and underfed, definitely not cute, and with those two braids, she was totally forgettable.

The teacher paired Carson up with Lauren, told him to look after her. I didn't think twice about it.

But then Lauren started invading the time I had with Carson, little by little.

Whenever I tried to ask Carson about homework, she'd nervously chime in with her own questions, so Carson would turn his attention to her instead of me.

And whenever I wanted to hang out with Carson, she'd play the sick card, saying she wasn't feeling well, and Carson would drop everything to take her to the hospital.

Carson's car used to be all cool and spotless, but as time went on, it started filling up with girly stuff, pink blankets, pink slippers, his playlist loaded with songs only girls listen to, and even a basket of cute piggy snacks tucked away in the corner.