When Iris ran for student representative, even though I wasn’t running, my childhood friend Derek made everyone vote for me. But he wasn’t doing this because he liked me. He just wanted to get Iris’s attention. Once I even heard him joking with his friends, “You guys want to hook up with Luna? I can make the introduction. One night, five hundred bucks.” I froze, and quietly switched all my major classes to different sections. That rainy night when Mom’s condition worsened, I asked my childhood friend for money. He waited until the cigarette in his hand burned out before saying: “Luna, I don’t owe you anything.” After he left, a handsome guy held an umbrella over my head. “Would you be willing to come to England with me?” I nodded. On the first day of school, Iris stood on stage running for student representative. The moment the votes were announced, her flushed face turned deathly pale. Out of thirty students in the class, I got twenty-nine votes. Derek stared at Iris’s devastated expression with great interest, then suddenly started clapping, saying dotingly: “Luna, surprised?” Iris’s expression grew even worse, tears welling in her eyes as she looked at me with jealousy. I sighed silently. Derek and I grew up together. But I was just the daughter of his family’s housekeeper. The summer after middle school graduation, my dad was driving pregnant Mrs. Sterling and my mom when they got into an accident. Only my mom survived, and she became a vegetable. From that day on, I was thrown out of the Sterling house. My relationship with Derek changed dramatically too. Brake failure—he said he didn’t blame my dad. But he never spoke to me again. Everyone at school said my father was a murderer. That he killed Derek’s mom and his unborn baby brother. Derek was happy to watch me get blamed. After the exams, we coincidentally ended up at the same university, in the same class. He intimately took my bag, leaning close to my ear, “Haven’t seen you in so long, I missed you.” During self-introductions, he pointed his chin in my direction, “Luna.” Everyone looked over. The sunlight happened to fall on my profile, and they all thought it was the most beautiful confession from a teen drama. But then he suddenly smirked. “Her dad’s dead, her mom’s a vegetable.” The whole room erupted. They uncomfortably looked away. The professor sternly told Derek to get off the stage. When it was my turn, I just introduced myself simply. Derek found it incredibly boring. Until Iris appeared. She was beautiful, but poor. Like a rose with thorns, declaring she hated rich people the most. When she spoke, her gaze fell on Derek without any attempt to hide it. Derek scoffed, twirling my hair around his fingers, saying: “Don’t get too close to people whose brains haven’t fully developed.” I had a feeling he might be the one getting close to her. That was fine with me.
Sure enough, he sabotaged Iris’s campaign, then turned around and accompanied her to work part-time jobs, experiencing all of life’s hardships. People who bullied her got beaten into the hospital by him. I continued as usual—studying, working part-time, doing homework for others. Just when I thought our lives would become parallel lines. I walked into the classroom and heard a recording. “Luna, you need money badly, right? How much do you charge?” “Quick job’s fifty bucks, slow one’s five hundred.” It was my voice. Someone screamed, others laughed. Derek stood right in the middle. He said it in a frivolous tone. “I told you, she’s cheap.” The noise continued. Lewd stares fell on me. I was stunned for a moment. That recording had been edited. In high school, I did homework for others. The person in the recording was asking about homework prices. Even though I felt uncomfortable, I answered honestly. Now it was being played publicly. Iris threw herself into Derek’s arms in disbelief. “Why did you play that recording?” Derek rubbed her head, “Who told her to steal your competition spot.” I silently sat down and opened my phone. Found all the transaction records and posted them to the class group chat with full context. At the same time, I switched all my major courses to other sections. They could enjoy college life freely, or find entertainment at others’ expense. But I couldn’t. I had to repay the Williams family ten thousand dollars every month. I didn’t have time to participate in their attacks on anyone, including myself. Seeing I had no other reaction. Derek sat in the seat in front of me after class. He smiled carelessly, “Luna, I was just drumming up business for you.” “Shouldn’t you say thank you?” I looked at him. Nasty, arrogant, gloomy. The sunny, cheerful, sincere and polite young master of the Sterling family seemed to have died in that accident. Along with him died the optimistic, confident Luna. I lowered my eyes, my voice dry, “Thank you.” His expression darkened as he twisted his lips, “Don’t thank me.” Derek quickly discovered I’d switched classes. He brought Iris to the coffee shop where I worked part-time. Iris “accidentally” bumped into me, making hot coffee spill all over me. My arm turned bright red from the burn. She frowned and stepped back two steps, “Can’t you even carry coffee properly?” “You got it on me! This outfit costs more than you’d make selling coffee your whole life!” My motion to crouch down and clean up paused. I looked up at her. All designer brands, latest season. Definitely expensive. The coffee splashed on her clothes was so little you could barely see it. I stood up, “Call the police then. The surveillance caught everything clearly.” Especially her deliberately reaching out to push me. She choked, pulling on Derek’s hand, “The clothes you gave me are all dirty.” Derek glanced at her, soothingly patting her head, “I’ll buy you more.” Iris smiled, “Let’s go.” She hummed a song, linking arms with Derek as they left. Leaving behind a floor covered in coffee. I stood silently for a while, then crouched down to clean up. Delivery brought burn ointment with a note attached, “Switch your classes back.” I ignored it. But two weeks later when the big group project assignment came around, classmates would look away the moment they made eye contact with me. A girl I’d talked to a few times told me, “Someone told us not to team up with you.” The professor replied to me, “Luna, the midterm project must be done in groups of 2-3 people as a rule.” I stared at my computer blankly. Derek sent me two words. “Come back.” At the same time, someone sat down beside me. It was Adrian. Top of our year. He said. “Want to team up together?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed like every time I met Adrian, he could ease my predicament. Last time was during summer break after exams, when I waited anxiously in the Williams family living room for William. Adrian appeared first. I immediately stood up. He smiled warmly, “Don’t be nervous, I’m William’s grandson—Adrian.” I knew that. He was famous at school. I grabbed the corner of my shirt uncomfortably, “I’m Luna.” He poured me tea, “You’re here so early. Grandpa played video games all night, he probably won’t wake up that quickly.” I mumbled, “I can wait.” He said, “Want to play chess with me?” I froze. Adrian, national chess champion. He brought out the board, “Let’s play checkers. I heard you were really good at it in middle school.” That day we played checkers all morning. His presence let me relax when I was at a loss. Now too. I asked him, “Can we submit the form at the last minute?” Not filling it out yet, not telling others, not letting Derek know. I had a feeling that if he found out, he’d go crazy. Adrian agreed. After a while, he said: “If you need help, you can come to me.” On the last day to submit team forms, I got fired from the coffee shop. The manager subtly reminded me I’d offended someone. I stood hesitantly in front of the shop. Not knowing where to go for a moment. Heavy rain fell silently. My heart was in turmoil. I went to the hospital to see Mom. She lay quietly on the bed. Aging so fast, barely recognizable from before. The Sterling family said Mrs. Sterling was going out to play poker that day. Why did she have to bring Mom along? Derek sent me a message. “Come to Skyline. I’ll give you ten thousand.” I replied, “Transfer it first.” Skyline was a bar near school. The pungent smell of alcohol mixed with music. Derek waved his hand, “Come here.” I sat down next to him. The seat was still warm. I wanted to stand up, but he pressed down on my shoulder. “Why didn’t you come to me first?” He leaned close to my ear. “If you don’t come back, does someone else want to team up with you?” “Will Professor Wilson let you work alone?” I said nothing. He viciously bit my earlobe, “Luna, what gives you the right not to talk?” “What gives you the right to act so calm?” “What gives you the right to act like nothing happened?” “Michael is dead!” “Sarah is a vegetable now!” I pressed my lips tightly together, my teeth biting through my cheek to mask the pain. Iris came back from the bathroom to find someone in her seat. She ran over angrily and dumped a glass of alcohol all over me. “Get up! Don’t sit in my seat.” I was almost grateful to her. “Okay.” I only said one word, and the taste of blood spread through my mouth. Just as I stood up, someone tapped Derek’s shoulder. Looking at me strangely. “She already teamed up with Adrian.”
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