The Pink Envelope

Alex’s desk was overflowing with love letters again. He pulled out his phone and sent me twenty dollars, just like he always did. “Hey, do me a favor and toss these?” I nodded quietly. That evening, I stood in the dim stairwell, gathering the envelopes to throw into the recycling bin. Right at the bottom of the pile, my eyes caught a soft pink envelope. The signature belonged to the girl Alex secretly liked. 1 The lighting in the stairwell was weak and flickering. I held the letter tightly, hesitating for a long time before tucking it into my bag instead of throwing it away. Sabrina had transferred to the school two weeks ago, placed in the class right next to ours. On her very first day, someone posted her photo on the student forum, and she effortlessly claimed the title of school beauty. Even a guy as proud and sought-after as Alex could not help admiring her. “She’s impressive,” he had remarked once while glancing out the window. A few days ago, I heard his friends teasing him in the hallway. “You’re so hard to get. What kind of girl actually catches your eye?” Alex leaned against the balcony railing, letting out a lazy, careless laugh. “Someone like Sabrina, I guess.” He was far too proud to ever make the first move, even when he genuinely liked someone. And now, Sabrina had written him a love letter. The next morning, I arrived at the classroom early. Alex was not there yet. We had been desk mates for two years. He was the one who had requested the seat arrangement. He liked that I was quiet, kept to myself, and never caused trouble. He also knew my family struggled financially. Once he realized that, he began asking me to handle small errands for him, using it as an excuse to hand me pocket money. Deep down, I always knew we belonged to entirely different worlds. He was born into privilege, effortlessly sparkling wherever he went. I was the dull stone sitting beside gold, destined never to shine. I waited a short while before Alex walked into the room. He did not look at me, heading straight to his seat and pulling out a practice test. My hand hovered inside my backpack. After a long internal struggle, I called his name softly. “Alex.” The pen in his hand paused. He lifted his eyelids lazily. “Stuck on a math problem?” I shook my head. “No.” I pulled out the pink envelope and slid it across the desk. “I missed this one when I threw them out yesterday. Do you want to read it?” In the past, Alex would have shaken his head without a second thought and told me to trash it. This time, his eyes fell on the name written across the front. His eyebrows lifted in surprise. He took the envelope, a subtle, rare spark of joy surfacing in his eyes. “Thanks,” he murmured. 2 A couple of days later, I noticed a bright blue hair tie wrapped around Alex’s wrist. Out of nowhere, he turned to me and asked, “What kind of gifts do girls actually like?” I froze, caught off guard. Before I could formulate an answer, a guy from the back row strolled over to our desks. “Dude, your desk mate is a total nerd. Asking her about romance is useless. You’re better off asking me.” Alex’s brow furrowed, his voice instantly turning cold. “Mind your own business.” I remained quiet for a moment before asking in a low voice, “Who are you buying it for?” He looked at me, pausing briefly before uttering a single word. “My girlfriend.” In that split second, all the strength drained from my body. He and Sabrina were already together. I stared down at the frayed hem of my sweater sleeve, swallowing the lump in my throat. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” From that day on, I stopped initiating conversations with Alex. Guilt weighed heavily on my chest, telling me I had no right to stand so close to him anymore. Later that week, I hit a wall while working through a difficult geometry problem. Beside me, Alex spun his pen between his fingers and casually tilted his shoulder toward my desk. He was ready to explain the solution to me. It was a unspoken rhythm we had built over the past two years. He was always remarkably quick to spot my quiet moments of distress. Instead of sliding my paper over to him as I usually did, I turned around and whispered to the girl sitting behind me, “Do you mind helping me with this question?” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Alex’s body go rigid. A second later, he shoved his chair back and walked straight out of the classroom. That evening, rain poured heavily over the campus. When I reached the ground floor, I ran into Alex standing by the main entrance. He stared at me for a moment. “Want to walk together?” It would not have been the first time we shared an umbrella. I shook my head politely. “No thanks. I left my umbrella in the classroom. I’ll just go back up and grab it.” Through the curtain of rain, Alex looked down at me, his voice heavy. “Is that so?” “I watched you pack your bag today,” he added coldly. “I didn’t see an umbrella in there.” “You missed it,” I lied quietly. He tightened his grip on the umbrella handle, nodding with an indifferent expression. “Right. Whatever you want.” We did not speak a single word to each other for the next few days. The silence did not last long, however. One afternoon as the final bell rang, I packed my books and stood up to leave, only to be blocked. Alex extended one long arm against the doorframe, effortlessly trapping me at my desk. I watched as the rest of the class trickled out until the room was completely empty. Only then did he lean down slightly, staring intently at my face. “Willow.” He rarely called me by my full name in such a serious tone. My heart skipped a beat. “Did I do something wrong?” his voice was quiet, almost dangerous. “What made you so unhappy with me?” 3 Alex had done nothing wrong. In fact, he had always taken exceptional care of me. Whenever someone gossiped about me behind my back, he was the first to shut them down. Whenever someone else asked him for help at the same time I did, he always prioritized me. To put it simply, I had always been his exception in this classroom. A girl from another class had even pulled me aside once to whisper, “Willow, why is Alex so protective of you? Does he have feelings for you or something?” I had shaken my head instantly. “No. Not at all.” She had smiled gently. “You know, if you pulled your hair back and pinned your bangs up, you’d be really pretty. Why don’t you try it? A guy like Alex only comes around once in a lifetime. Besides, you’re right next to him. Don’t you know what an advantage that is?” I had stayed silent back then. Now, sitting under his intense gaze, I pressed my lips together. “I’m not unhappy. I just have things to take care of, so I should go.” Without waiting for his response, I ducked under his arm and walked out of the classroom without looking back. Halfway down the stairs, I remembered I had left an important review sheet under my desk. I had no choice but to turn back. When I reached the hallway, I saw Sabrina standing outside our door. She was tall, striking, and held an exquisitely wrapped gift box in her hands. I had seen that brand online before. Their cheapest items cost at least five figures. “Thank you for the gift,” she said, her voice bright and sweet. Alex lowered his eyes. “Glad you like it.” Sabrina smiled, stepping a little closer. “I told my dad I want to transfer into your class. Can I sit next to you?” The faint moonlight spilled across the corridor. My heart hammered wildly against my ribs. Alex did not answer immediately. He knit his brows slightly, as if weighed down by a troublesome thought. “We’ll see.” Sabrina chuckled softly. “What, are you worried nobody will sit with your current desk mate? I heard she’s a total recluse.” I stood frozen in the shadows, not daring to stay and hear his answer. Turning on my heel, I hurried down the stairs as fast as my feet could carry me. 4 Two days later, Sabrina officially transferred into Class One. Our homeroom teacher had left for an administrative meeting, so Sabrina stood alone at the podium to introduce herself. She spoke with effortless confidence, describing her background with poise. A few guys in the back row immediately started whistling and teasing. “Hey Alex! The school beauty came all the way here for you! You taking her out for dinner tonight?” “Yeah, man, should we start calling her our sister-in-law now?” Alex let out a quiet, warning scoff. “Keep it down. Don’t freak her out.” Just then, the homeroom teacher walked back in. He scanned the room before turning to Sabrina. “There’s an empty desk in the front row. How about you sit next to Wyatt?” The entire classroom fell dead silent. Everyone in school knew about Wyatt. He was a wealthy, rebellious slacker who did not care about grades or rules. He spent his days causing trouble or sleeping face-down on his desk. Nobody dared to mess with him, and nobody ever voluntarily sat next to him. Yet he could be surprisingly unpredictable. A while back, after driving the teacher crazy, he was ordered to move his desk to the front row, and he had casually complied without a word of protest. A cool breeze swept through the window. I glanced at Alex beside me. He lifted his eyes, looking as though he was about to raise his hand and speak to the teacher. Before he could say a word, I stood up. “Mr. Davis,” I spoke up, my voice steady despite the racing pulse in my chest. “I’ve been struggling to see the whiteboard clearly from here. Can I swap seats with Sabrina?” I was usually the quietest student in the room. This was the very first time I had ever volunteered to speak in front of everyone. Rather than waiting for Alex to gently push me away for her sake, I preferred to take the initiative and step aside first. The teacher pondered for a moment. “Alright, that works.” At that exact moment, the pen in Alex’s hand slipped, clattering loudly against the floor. He made no move to pick it up. Instead, he turned his head to look at me, his eyes dark, carrying an unmistakable trace of mockery. In a voice so low only the two of us could hear, he whispered, “You’ve been acting so weird lately. Is all of this really because of Wyatt?” 5 Alex was normally distant, cold, and utterly indifferent to the world around him. He rarely showed strong emotions. It was the first time I had ever heard him speak to me in such a sharp, sarcastic tone. I stared at him for a brief second before answering quietly, “This has nothing to do with him. Thank you for everything you’ve done for me these past two years.” Hearing those words, Alex let out a faint, cold laugh. He turned his head away and stopped looking at me. I packed my books and moved straight to the front row. Wyatt glanced up at me, lifting a lazy eyebrow with an amused expression. “Willow?” I pressed my lips together, slightly startled. Wyatt almost never interacted with the girls in our class, nor did he add anyone on social media. I distinctly remembered a gorgeous girl asking him if she could watch him play basketball a few weeks ago. He had stared at her blankly for a long time before asking, “Sorry, who are you again?” Yet he remembered my name. I gave a small nod. “Yeah.” He withdrew his gaze without saying anything else. For the rest of the day, I forced myself not to glance back toward my old seat. But Alex and Sabrina were not sitting far from me. I could constantly hear her light, pleasant laughter, and even Alex seemed to talk far more than usual. I could not make out the details of their conversation, nor did I want to. When the final bell rang, I let out a long breath of relief. I gathered my things and headed downstairs. Halfway down the stairwell, someone slammed into my shoulder from behind. I lost my balance and tumbled forward, my forehead cracking hard against the iron railing. Pain shot through my head. I reached up to touch the spot, feeling warm, sticky blood on my fingers. I hissed softly from the stinging pain. The very next second, Sabrina’s sweet voice drifted down from above. “You fell on your own! Don’t you dare try to pin this on me!” Her voice was melodious, but the words carried a sharp, nasty edge. I wiped the blood from my brow and looked up at her. “You pushed me.” I held out my right hand, pronouncing every word clearly. “Pay for my medical bill.” 6 Sabrina froze, staring at me in utter disbelief. “Are you insane? You’re actually trying to extort money from me?” I cupped my bleeding forehead and stood up, preparing to confront her, when a familiar, crisp voice echoed from the top of the stairs. “What’s going on here?” I turned around and saw Alex standing a few steps away. He was holding a paper bag from a high-end bakery in one hand and a pink backpack in the other. I recognized that backpack. It belonged to Sabrina. The sight stung my eyes like acid. I forced myself to avert my gaze immediately. Beside me, Sabrina immediately put on a pained, spoiled expression, whining to Alex, “It’s all your fault for taking so long to buy pastries! Now I’m getting shaken down by your former desk mate.” Alex frowned. He looked at the blood running down my forehead, his eyes tightening slightly. He reached his hand out, instinctively moving to brush back my bangs to check the wound. Halfway there, his hand froze in mid-air. He pulled it back. Then I heard him speak in a quiet, measured tone. “Really? She’s not the kind of person who makes up lies for money.” He was defending me. Yet for some reason, the defense only made my chest ache with an overwhelming sense of humiliation. Sabrina pouted, thoroughly displeased. “Why are you taking her side? She literally just demanded money from me! I saw your phone messages with her, Alex. You’ve been sending her money constantly. Someone as desperate for cash as her wouldn’t hesitate to pull a scam like this!” Hearing those words, Alex’s eyes shifted. He looked at me, his gaze growing dark and distant. I shook my head, squeezing out a faint whisper. “It wasn’t like that…” He did not intend to listen to my explanation. Instead, he took a step back, putting distance between us. When he looked at me again, his eyes were completely stripped of warmth. “Was this really necessary, Willow?” Five short words. I understood exactly what he meant. He was asking me why I had sunk so low for money. He was telling me that even if I was facing a sudden financial crisis, as long as I asked him, he would have helped me out of pity for our past connection. I opened my mouth, desperate to explain myself. Opposite us, Sabrina casually took the bakery bag from his hand, pulled out a pastry, and took a small bite. “Mmm, so sweet,” she purred. Yes, she was perfect. Her entire life was sweet and easy. I came from poverty, and I had accepted so much of Alex’s charity over the years that it was only natural for people to look down on me. Whatever I did, it would always look pathetic in their eyes. So I said nothing. I gave Alex one final, quiet look, turned around, and walked away without looking back. 7 I went to the clinic alone. By the time the nurse finished cleaning and bandaging my forehead, it was already past ten at night. When I reached my small apartment, I pulled my phone from my bag and turned it back on. A notification popped up immediately. A little while ago, Alex had transferred one thousand dollars to my account. Below the transfer, he had left two messages. [Sabrina is a sweet girl. She doesn’t have bad intentions. Let’s just drop what happened today and never bring it up again.] [Even if we aren’t sitting together anymore, you can still handle errands for me. I’ll continue to pay you.] Staring at the screen, a numb chill spread through my chest. Truth be told, I owed him a lot. The tasks he used to assign me were always trivial things, throwing away letters, filling his water bottle, or picking up packages. Yet every single payout was enough to cover a month of my living expenses. I could no longer bring myself to accept his charity in such a humiliating way. After a long pause, I typed out a reply. [There’s no need. If you’re worried your girlfriend will misunderstand, you can delete my contact.] His reply came back almost instantly. [Misunderstand what?] A knot tightened in my throat. Right. To him, I was nothing more than a convenient classmate he pitied. I typed back: [Nothing. I’m going to sleep.] I waited for a few minutes until his final message appeared. [Okay.] I stared at that single word until my eyes burned with tears. The wound on my forehead throbbed with a dull, persistent ache. Just as a tear slipped down my cheek, a new notification popped up at the top of the screen. It was a friend request. [I’m Wyatt.] I blinked in surprise, tapping the accept button. He got straight to the point. [I heard you take cash to handle errands?] I paused, thinking it over. It was true, though I had never done it for anyone other than Alex. But an opportunity to earn money was not something I could afford to turn down. I typed back: [Yes. What do you need me to do?] Instead of texting, he sent an audio message. Through the speaker, his voice sounded lazy, carried with a casual, slightly careless tone. “Cool. Grab me breakfast tomorrow morning.” 8 The next morning, I arrived at the classroom holding two bags of breakfast. Alex happened to be walking through the front door at the exact same time. At first, his expression was distant and cold. But when his eyes landed on the breakfast in my hands, his eyebrows lifted slightly, the corner of his mouth curving into a subtle, satisfied smirk. He reached his hand out toward me. “Thought you said you weren’t doing errands anymore? Why’d you bother buying me break…” Before he could finish his sentence, Wyatt strolled past him. Wyatt reached out and effortlessly snatched the bags right out of my hand. He peeked inside, giving a low nod. “Not bad. Thanks.” Without glancing at either of us, Wyatt headed straight for his desk. Students were trickling into the classroom, chatting and laughing around us. Alex lowered his gaze, staring at me intently, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. His jaw tightened. “So… that was for him?” There was no reason to lie. I met his eyes and nodded. “Yes.” The moment the word left my mouth, Alex let out a sharp, cold laugh. He offered no further explanation, brushing past my shoulder and walking straight to the back row. I stood in the doorway, quietly staring at the floor. A moment later, a loud crash echoed from the back of the room. A chair had been kicked violently to the ground. It was Alex. He seemed to be snapping at someone nearby, his temper flaring dangerously. “The bell’s about to ring. Are you deaf?” I did not turn around to look, but I could hear two girls behind me whispering in hushed tones. “What’s up with Alex today? Why is he in such a terrible mood?” “Oh, I think a guy from Sabrina’s old class was sitting in his seat, chatting with her. Alex probably got jealous.” “Wow, even a guy as composed as Alex gets reckless when he’s in love? Is this what they call a prince falling off his pedestal?” I tuned out their voices, walking to my desk and pulling out my notebook. As I lifted my head, a small box of medical tape and a fresh Band-Aid appeared in front of my face. Wyatt leaned back in his chair, his tone offhand. “Hey, the cut on your forehead is bleeding through the old bandage. Change it out.” He did not ask me how I got hurt. He simply offered a solution without prying into my business. A sudden wave of warmth washed over me, making my eyes sting again. I took the Band-Aid from his hand and looked at him earnestly. “You’re a really good person.” Before this, I had been somewhat terrified of him, given his notorious reputation for having a short temper. Morning sunlight streamed through the tall windows, casting golden rays across our desks as the teacher walked in. Amidst the soft rustle of textbooks, Wyatt gave a quiet, amused chuckle. “Right.”

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