[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-260322C9288E-194":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},194,7,"Chapter 7: I Threw It Away","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"If you don't talk to me, I'm just going to walk away. And when I go, I’m not coming back.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The final semester vanished in a heartbeat, and suddenly, grade school graduation was upon us. My classmates were buzzing with activity, scribbling in memory books and trading going-away gifts.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I sat at my desk, obsessing over what kind of gift I should get for Lucas Powell. I remembered him complaining once that his mother refused to pay for his membership at the local basketball club. The look on his face had been so desperate—he clearly wanted that card more than anything. I decided right then: I’d be the one to get it for him. Who cared if his mom said no? I’d make it happen.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I scavenged every cent of my allowance, stashing the cash away until I had enough. The day before graduation, I dragged Bryce along to the basketball club to show me how to register the card.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Why are you getting a gym membership? You don't even play,\" Bryce asked, looking completely baffled.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"It's a gift,\" I snapped.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"For who?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Mind your own business!\" I barked back.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Bryce just sighed, rolling his eyes. It was like I was constantly on edge with him, always finding a reason to snap.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"And you,\" I hissed, pointing a finger at him, \"you’re going to keep your mouth shut. Don't you dare tell anyone I bought this.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Fine, fine,\" he muttered, pulling a face.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Once the card was in my pocket, I sealed it inside a bright pink envelope, along with a note I’d spent hours drafting. I’d made a deal with Lucas: he was supposed to wait for me in the classroom after the ceremony ended.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">But when the auditorium cleared out and I rushed back to the room, the seats were empty. My heart hammered against my ribs. I scrambled out into the hallway, frantic, until I saw him.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He was standing at the door of the next classroom, leaning in way too close to Juliet Clark. He had his head bowed, chatting casually while he filled out the memory book she was holding for him.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"You better treasure my gift! See you in September, don't forget!\" Juliet chirped, grinning as she snatched the book back and hugged it to her chest before skipping off to find other friends.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">My jaw tightened. I turned on my heel, cold fury rising in my throat, and stomped back to my own classroom. I was shoving my things into my backpack, ready to bolt, when Lucas sauntered through the door.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Where's my gift? Come on, hand it over,\" he said, walking toward me with a smug, expectant look on his face.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Give you what?\" I replied, my voice sharp.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"My graduation gift. Obviously.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I don't have one.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He pouted, clearly not buying it for a second. \"Even the girl in the next class got me something. You’re really not getting me anything?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Exactly,\" I said, slinging my bag over my shoulder and marching toward the exit. \"If everyone else is already falling over themselves to get you something, you don't need mine.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I left him standing there, stunned. It was the first time I’d ever actually managed to get under his skin.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I quickened my pace, tearing out of the school building and heading for the main gate. The evening air was heavy with the stagnant, humid heat of mid-summer, the kind that stuck to your skin no matter how hard the wind blew.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"What is your problem today?\" Lucas called out, sprinting to catch up with me.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I kept my head down, staring at the pavement, ignoring him entirely.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"If you don't want me taking gifts from them, fine! I'll give them back!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I just walked faster.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Where did you even put my gift?\" he shouted, his voice laced with frustration.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I threw it away,\" I said coldly.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He froze for a second. \"Then what about my gift to you? Where did you put that?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I paused, turning just enough to catch the hurt on his face before I hit him with a lie. \"I threw that out, too.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He was furious. I could tell by the way he stopped dead in his tracks, his silence echoing behind me. My pulse spiked, a mixture of guilt and defiance making my steps feel heavy, but I didn't look back. I just kept walking.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"If you don't turn around right now, I'm leaving!\" he yelled after me.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I didn't stop.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I’m leaving, and I'm not coming back!\" he shrieked, his voice raw.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">His shout carried on the breeze, ringing in my ears. A sudden, sharp ache blossomed in my chest, and my eyes stung. He used to say he’d never leave, that he’d always stick to my side, always find ways to be with me.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I realized then that he was actually, truly angry.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">But so was I. I’d worked so hard to get him that membership—the one thing he’d been dying for—and he’d completely forgotten our plans. He’d ignored me, gone off to flirt with Juliet, and expected me to just wait for him like some obedient shadow.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He was so, so annoying.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">I decided then and there: we were through. I wouldn't speak to him until he crawled back and apologized. I wasn't going to be the one to break first.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">All summer, I haunted \"The Hideaway,\" the cafe near school, clutching that pink envelope in my bag, waiting for a chance encounter that never happened.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Ma'am,\" I asked the owner one day, \"that boy who used to come in with me—has he been by at all this summer?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She shook her head, frowning as she tried to recall. \"I don't think I've seen him.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Whatever. I’d just have to shove the gift into his hands when seventh grade started.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The summer dragged on. That knot in my chest, that suffocating feeling of unfinished business, never went away. But I refused to go to his house. I refused to be the one to apologize when he was clearly the one who had messed up.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">As I sat at home, blasting the air conditioning and staring at the calendar, I felt like I was drowning in the heat. I ticked off the days one by one, crossing them out with a sharp, aggressive stroke of my pen. I was counting the seconds until school started, waiting for the moment I could corner him and force him to admit he was wrong.\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272926191]