Among the many people who would come to love Eden Anderson in the future, Lucas Powell would surely never be one of them.

After the start of senior year, Eden went about her studies and life as usual, though she would occasionally catch snippets of news about Lucas from those around her. She learned that Lucas was attending London Academy, that his stepfather was a shareholder in several major real estate firms in London, and that he had already decided to stay there for university.

Eden still made it a habit to take the stairs on the far right when heading to the STEM wing to turn in her math assignments, and she still instinctively glanced inside whenever she passed by the back door of Class 7. Lucas’s seat remained perpetually empty; his desk was used by the boy in front of him to stack random items, sometimes cluttered with stray, unorganized workbooks. In her mind, she could still see him, carelessly spinning a pen as he solved a problem, or slouching back in his chair while playing an online game, or laughing and chatting with the guys after a basketball game, wiping sweat away with a paper towel.

As the college entrance exams drew near, news of early admissions at various top-tier universities caused quite a stir in the classroom.

"Here, this is the most comprehensive guide." Shelby Rivera dropped a thick admissions handbook onto Eden’s desk.

Eden flipped through the pages casually, landing immediately on the section for London universities. The University of London, Imperial College, LSE… She froze, her gaze lingering on a photo of the dazzling London skyline at night.

"Are you thinking of applying to schools in London?" Shelby asked, sounding puzzled.

Eden shook her head, pulled her eyes away from the page, and flipped to the next one, pretending as if nothing mattered.

"Honestly, I wonder how Lucas is doing over there. I heard his stepfather is loaded; he probably doesn’t have to struggle through these exams like we do. It must be nice to just coast as a trust fund kid."

Eden offered a faint smile, her expression unchanging as she continued to leaf through the manual, choosing not to engage.

In the silence of the midnight hours, when Eden was bone-weary, she would open her laptop and search for information about schools in London. Almost as if possessed, she would find herself typing "Lucas Powell, London Academy" into the Google search bar, hitting enter again and again. She knew she wouldn't find anything, yet she insisted on the search with a stubborn, late-night obsession. She would even dig through old posts on the City Academy forums, downloading stolen photos of Lucas that younger students had posted, tucking them away in a folder she had renamed "Senior Year Prep Materials."

Sometimes, she truly wanted to surrender to herself, to tell herself that she would go find him the moment the exams were over. She would apply to London universities, track him down in that city, and confess every hidden feeling she had ever harbored. Since she had already missed the early application window, she would just have to work harder, raise her exam scores, and shoot for the University of London.

Eden didn’t know how she had managed to drag herself through that entire year. It felt as if time had been yanked back to her freshman year, every longing and every torment identical to three years ago, as if the reunion they had shared over the last two years had never happened at all.

Eden even wondered: if she tried to run toward him just one more time, even if she couldn't change their final outcome, at least she would be able to see him again, to keep him in her life.

She couldn't stop herself from wanting to see him.

She simply couldn't control herself.

The final exams came and went like a hurried, short-lived dream. It rained for both days of the tests. When she finished the English exam, the downpour suddenly intensified, washing the glass windows beside her desk until they were crystal clear. On the City Academy campus, the raucous cheers and shouts of the students blended into one. Eden stared at the gray sky and the drizzling rain outside, wondering if it was raining in London, too.

She wanted so badly to be like the other girls, who were bounding out of the exam hall with their backpacks, free of their burdens, wanting to run toward him without a second thought and say, "Lucas, we’re finally free."

*We’ll watch movies together all summer. We’ll travel to places we’ve never been. When September comes, we’ll register for college together. We’ll take the train to New York together.*

*Let’s go together, won’t we?*

As the hall gradually emptied, Eden blinked her sore, weary eyes. She looked down, gathering her stationery from the desk.

Outside the school gate, her father’s car was idling across the street. She opened her umbrella, hurried across, and climbed in. Inside the car, her mother was staring at her phone in the passenger seat. Without looking up, she asked in a cold, sharp tone, "How was the English exam?"

"It was fine," Eden said softly.

"It’s always 'fine' with you." Her mother sounded dissatisfied, then turned to warn her, "When we go to dinner, if they ask, you tell them you did great. Tell them you’re getting into Columbia, understand?"

"Where are we going to dinner? Are we not going home?" Eden asked.

"Your grandfather booked a private room at a hotel. He wants to celebrate you finishing the exams and, while we're at it, discuss your college applications."

Eden went silent.

The car sped down the road. Eden leaned her head against the window, watching the rain blur the streetlights, the passing cityscape distorting into hazy, unrecognizable streaks.

Upon reaching the hotel, Eden followed her parents into the private room to find the family already seated around a round table.

"Eden’s home!" her aunt greeted her warmly.

Eden offered her aunt a polite smile and greeted the other elders in turn. During the meal, she kept her head down, eating as the elders’ voices rose and fell over the clinking of glasses, arguing over which school she should apply to and what major she should pick.

It was her future, yet the one person who had no say in the conversation was her.

"She’s going to New York, to Columbia or NYU," her mother declared. "If her scores are high enough, I want her to study finance."

"I think we should listen to the girl," her uncle interjected. "Going to the south would be nice, too. She’s been in the north for over a decade; it’s time to strike out further."

"True," her aunt agreed. "We already told Bryce that next year when he applies, he can go wherever he wants. We’re actually hoping he goes south to branch out, but it’s strange—he’s a STEM kid, but he’s dead set on Columbia."

"Bryce is a boy, so you don’t have to worry about how far he goes. Eden is different. If she’s too far from home, we won't be able to rest easy."

Eden sat in silence, eating her meal without saying a word.

The dinner lasted until nearly 10:00 PM. Once she finally got home and washed up, Eden climbed into bed, heavy with exhaustion. Yet, the moment her long-taut nerves finally slackened, sleep vanished.

She wanted to go to London. But London was too far from New York. His life was too far from hers.

A week after the exams, the period for estimating scores and submitting applications began. Eden suffered from insomnia for seven straight days. Her performance had been steady, and her estimated score was well above the minimum threshold for Columbia for the last several years.

In the living room, her parents were excitedly debating her major. Eden sat to the side in silence until she suddenly spoke up, "I don’t want to go to Columbia."

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting?" her mother shouted.

"Didn't you always want to go to Columbia? What is this sudden change of heart? If it’s not Columbia, then go to NYU. New York is so close to home; it’s convenient for visits."

"Don't tell me you’re actually thinking of flying south? Are you thinking about London?" her mother challenged.

"Is there something wrong with London?" she asked, finally looking up.

Both parents froze.

With only a week left to submit the applications, Eden barely spoke a word at home. Her parents ignored her, continuing to talk about majors as if she didn't exist. Feeling stifled at home, she took a few books and started spending her days at "The Hideaway" tea shop, sometimes sitting there from morning till night.

She never expected to run into Molly Lee there.

"What day is your flight to London?" a girl was asking, arm-in-arm with Molly as they pushed through the door.

"The day after tomorrow."

"I can't believe you. You'll be seeing him in September anyway; you can't even wait for a single summer break?"

"I've already waited for him for a year!" Molly cried. "I’m dying to see him! If I don't get to go to London for college, I’ll actually go crazy."

"Alright, alright, get a grip!"

The two of them ordered at the counter and left with their drinks, never noticing Eden sitting in the corner.

Eden sat there, staring blankly at the space where Molly had just been. For Molly, going to London seemed like the easiest thing in the world. But for her, it had become an impossibility.

*Why should I even go?*

*Since Molly is going, and since Lucas liked Molly to begin with, why should I force my way into their reunion?*

*It was always just my own unrequited dream.*

*Lucas never liked me. Never.*

Eden didn't stay long after that and headed home. As soon as she walked in, she heard her mother say, "Your cousin is here, I let him play in your room!"

A deep sense of dread washed over her. She rushed into her room and found her cousin sprawled on her bed, fiddling with the small box she kept hidden underneath. Inside, the two sketches Lucas had given her were torn to shreds, the paper scarred with aggressive, messy black marker lines.

"Who told you to touch my things!" Eden lunged forward, snatching the box from his hands. Seeing the ruin inside, tears erupted from her eyes.

Her cousin began to scream, his shrieks filling the room.

"Eden!" Her mother burst in, hearing the commotion. She glared at her cousin wailing on the floor and then barked at Eden, "What is going on?"

"She bullied me! She hit me!" the boy yelled.

"Why are you hitting him?" her mother demanded.

Eden swallowed the lump in her throat, looking up at her mother with icy eyes. "By what right did you let him into my room?"

"By what right? By the fact that I’m your mother!"

Eden stared her down, eyes red, tears streaming down her face.

"Who are you glaring at?" Her mother, livid, reached out to grab the box from her. "I’m going to see exactly what kind of 'treasure' this is that makes you defy me like this!"

"Don't touch it!" Eden hugged the box to her chest, screaming at her mother.

Her mother, pushed to her breaking point, swung her arm and slapped Eden hard across the face.

The force was immense. Eden’s cheek went numb, a sharp, throbbing pain radiating as it began to swell. Her mother froze, startled by her own violence. Eden scrambled up, clutching the box, grabbed her backpack from the wall hook, stuffed the box inside, and ran out the door.

She had nowhere to go. Where was she even going?

Her life, she realized, had always left her with nowhere to go.

She walked the streets, sobbing as she went, losing track of time. As she crossed a road, a motorcycle surged around the corner. She didn't have time to react, but someone suddenly yanked her hard by the arm.

Eden turned, dazed, to see Julian Smith standing there. Because he had blocked for her, he had a nasty scrape on his arm.

"Are you okay?" Eden asked, panicked. Then, remembering her tear-streaked, disheveled face, she quickly hung her head.

"I’m fine, are you—"

Several classmates appeared behind Julian, along with Bryce.

"I finally found you!" Bryce ran up to her. "Seriously? You’re how old, and you’re still playing the 'run away from home' card? I don't believe—"

Before Bryce could finish, Eden reached out and grabbed his arm, her grip tight. She stayed silent, her broken appearance a silent cry for help.

Bryce understood immediately. He turned to Julian and said, "It’s fine. You guys head back, I’ll stay here with her."

Julian exchanged a glance with Bryce and nodded. "Let’s go."

"What on earth happened?" Bryce asked urgently once they were alone.

Eden released his arm and wiped her nose and tears with the back of her hand. Bryce fished a pack of tissues from his pocket and handed them over.

Eden wiped her face, explaining only that she had fought with her mother over her college applications. She didn't mention the box, and she certainly didn't mention Lucas.

She sat on a park bench as she watched Bryce frowning while he called his mother.

"Mom, can’t you and Aunt Linda just talk like normal people? Why does she have to keep putting her hands on her? …Fine, my sister is staying at our place tonight. Yeah, I know, I have money on me."

Bryce hung up and said, "You’re not going home tonight. You’re staying at my place. We’ll stop by a pharmacy on the way and get an ice pack for your face. It’s so swollen, I have no idea how hard she hit you. Does that cousin of yours always bully you? One of these days, I’m going to teach him a lesson he won't forget."

"Bryce," Eden said suddenly, "I really envy you."

"Envy me for what?"

*I envy that you’re always so simple and direct. You say what you think, and you never suppress your emotions deep inside. That’s why you’ll never know how much it hurts to be in love with someone for so, so long.*

Eden only pulled at the corners of her lips, offering no response.

In the quiet of the midsummer night, the cicadas sang incessantly, and the humid breeze carried the scent of the coming rain through the window. Eden lay on a cot in the guest study at her aunt’s house. There was no AC, and her aunt sat by the bed, waving a fan to keep her cool while they talked.

"Actually, your mother loves you. She just uses the wrong methods, and she’ll never change that personality of hers."

"She doesn't like me. She can’t stand anything about me," Eden said. "Auntie, no one is ever going to truly like the real Eden."

"How can you say that? There are plenty of people who love you. Look at your brother—no matter how much you two bicker, when it really matters, he’s the one looking out for you. He’s the one who called me to handle your mother and made sure you had a place to stay tonight. I love you, too. There will be many more people who will love you in the future. Once you’re in university, you’ll meet a boy who likes you just as much as you like him," her aunt said gently, patting her shoulder to help her drift off.

Eden slowly closed her eyes, her nose stinging as tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, soaking into the pillowcase.

Among the many people who would come to love her in the future, Lucas Powell would surely never be one of them.

And who would she ever meet? Whoever she met next, it would never, ever be him.