My sister’s school was holding a charity sale. She came home clutching a love letter, holding it up like it was a priceless treasure she’d found. “Look, Summer!” she chirped, her eyes wide with excitement. “The name on this letter is just like yours!” I stared at the eight-year-old love letter and fell into a daze. The sender’s name at the bottom was Liam Scott. Wasn’t that my ice-cold deskmate from high school? And now, my ice-cold boss? I was about to ask Lexie for details when a call came through to our home phone. A kid’s frantic sobs erupted from the other end. “My Uncle Alex is going to kill me! I’ll give you a hundred dollars, just please give that love letter back!” Our entire team got chewed out because of an intern’s mistake. As team lead, I bore the brunt of the scolding. When I finally trudged out of the boss’s office, feeling completely deflated, my intern, Chloe, looked like she was about to burst into tears. “Ms. Summer, I’m so sorry. I dragged you down with me.” I saw the dark circles under her eyes. The workload had been intense lately, and our entire team had been working overtime. She hadn’t gotten any rest either. I waved a hand dismissively. “It’s fine. I’m used to getting yelled at. It barely stings anymore…” “Is that so?” A low, deep voice cut through the air. Chloe flinched, startled. My body tensed. I looked up to see Liam Scott pushing open his office door, his brow slightly furrowed as he watched me. Ugh… a stone-cold, unreadable face. Just looking at him made my blood boil. I forced a smile. “…No, it’s not.” Liam stared at me for a few seconds, then closed his office door. Later, when I stepped out to get some water, I overheard a few interns whispering: “The boss is so harsh on Director Summer.” “Director Summer must have a strong heart. If it were me, I couldn’t handle it.” “I heard Director Summer and the boss used to be high school classmates.” “Really? No way! The boss curses out his old classmate without holding back at all. He’s a monster!” I shrugged. Tell me about it. Liam Scott was, indeed, a monster. And he wasn’t just any high school classmate. We’d been deskmates for three whole years! Yet he still showed me zero mercy. I was about to leave when their conversation took a turn. “Oh, right, I heard the boss is engaged.” “I saw his fiancée drop him off at the company a while ago!” “What? The ice-cold Mr. Scott has a fiancée?” My steps faltered. My fingers, gripping my water cup, curled involuntarily. I looked towards the office at the end of the hallway. For some reason, my chest felt heavy and tight.
After a month of grueling work, the project finally made significant progress. The company gave us five days off. The interns were so excited they nearly cried. I politely declined their invitation for a celebratory dinner, packed my bags, and drove straight back to my hometown. I hadn’t been back in half a year. Luckily, my hometown was only about sixty miles from the city where I worked, a four-hour drive. It was late at night when I arrived home. My sudden return startled my mom, who happily went to make up my bed, while my dad hummed a tune as he headed to the kitchen to fix me a late-night snack. I put away my luggage and quietly pushed open the door to a small room. By the light from the living room, I saw a little girl buried under her covers, sleeping peacefully and adorably. Lexie was an unexpected blessing my parents had when I was in high school. Suddenly having such a young sister was a big adjustment at first. But as Lexie grew up, she became more and more adorable, inheriting my mom’s patience and my dad’s intelligence perfectly. And she was so clingy. She always thought of me first whenever she got something good. The next morning, I groggily opened my eyes at the sound of movement and saw Lexie perched by my bed. Her eyes were bright, staring at me without blinking. “Summer, you’re back!” “Yeah.” I closed my eyes again. “Be a good girl, Sis. I need to sleep a little longer.” “Okay! I’m going to school now. I’ll bring you a present when I get back!” I mumbled a reply. Lexie quietly tiptoed out, carefully closing the door behind her. This little kid, she’s so thoughtful. Looks like she has quite a bit of allowance, to be able to bring me a gift? I was a little excited. By the time I got up, it was almost 11 AM. Lexie was picked up from school by Dad. Mom and Dad asked me to watch her for a bit, then they went to the supermarket together. As soon as they left, Lexie eagerly pulled something out of her backpack and mysteriously scooted closer to me. “Summer, guess what gift I brought you?” How was I supposed to guess that? I was about to blurt out a random answer when she couldn’t hold back anymore, holding up an envelope in front of me. “Summer, look! Your name is written on it!” I froze for a moment, then took the letter. The paper was a bit yellowed, looking like it was from years ago. The front of the envelope read, “To Summer.” My name? What are the chances of finding someone with such an uncommon name? Lexie chattered on. “Our school held a charity sale today. We brought old stuff from home that we didn’t need anymore, and students could buy whatever they wanted. All the money we raise will be donated to a charity! “My deskmate brought a lot of stuff—old books, old stationery. I found this letter inside a book and bought it for five dollars.” Lexie looked at me, expecting praise. “Summer! Do you like it?”
My first thought was, it must be a coincidence. Growing up, I was never considered pretty in class. I always wore thick glasses and had an introverted, quiet personality. I never knew how to respond when others tried to talk to me. So, no boy had ever sent me a love letter. I held the letter, feeling a little flustered. But Lexie was already urging me. “Summer, open it quickly!” “That’s not right…” After all, it was someone else’s property. Especially something as private as a love letter. “But I worked so hard to find it, and it cost me a whole week’s allowance!” Kids are impatient. She snatched the letter from my hand and ripped it open in two swift motions. Then she shoved it back into my hand. “Summer, read it to me.” “My classmate said he got it from his Uncle Alex’s treasure chest, and it’s full of good stuff, so this must be good too.” I was about to refuse, but my gaze caught the signature at the end of the letter. The handwriting was neat and elegant—Liam Scott. It was like a lightning bolt striking my mind. I stood frozen for several seconds before my gaze stiffly moved upward to the contents of the letter: [Summer, this is our third year as deskmates…] I slapped my hand over the letter, my face turning crimson, feeling like it was about to explode. My sister was still urging, “Summer, read it! I want to hear it too!”
I sent my sister away, clutching the envelope, and rushed into my room. I opened the window and stood there, letting the wind blow over me for a long time, but my heart still wouldn’t settle. I looked at the letter again. I was absolutely certain it was written by Liam Scott. After all, my handwriting in high school looked like chicken scratch. My English teacher couldn’t stand it and made me use Liam’s homework as a model for my handwriting for an entire semester. I could recognize his handwriting even if it were burned to ashes. But, why? Why would Liam Scott have liked me in high school? My thoughts drifted, and I remembered the first time I met Liam at the beginning of freshman year. Back then, I came alone from a small, rural town to a top-ranked city high school. I was carrying an oversized, worn-out canvas bag that seemed to contain everything I owned. I couldn’t carry it anymore by the time I reached the school gate, so I just started dragging it. But I overestimated the quality of that canvas bag. With immense friction against the ground, the bag ripped. I walked a long way before realizing the weight felt off. I turned around to see my belongings scattered all along the path. Books, stationery, toiletries, a lunchbox… Students around me were watching, laughter constantly echoing. “Oh my god, a country bumpkin came to the city.” “That bag is something else, seriously.” My face turned beet red. I knelt down and started retracing my steps, picking things up. I hadn’t picked up much when I bumped head-on into a boy walking toward me. The boy had a backpack, a handsome face, and was quite tall. He was holding a stack of miscellaneous items and calmly said, “I picked up what was ahead.” He looked over my shoulder at the ripped bag on the ground. “Do you have any other bags?” I awkwardly shook my head, barely daring to look at him. He thought for a moment, took a few books out of his backpack, and handed the backpack to me. “You can use this for now.” Confused, I took the boy’s black backpack and looked up blankly. “How do I give it back to you?” The boy pointed to the book I had just picked up. “Aren’t you in Freshman Class 3 too?” I froze, instinctively looking at his book. His class and name were on the cover. Freshman Class 3, Liam Scott. … To be honest, I was the one who liked him first. Unfortunately, that secret crush ended for various reasons. After graduating from college, I joined a small, obscure company for an internship, only to unexpectedly run into him again.
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