I was born with a naturally sweet scent. But the transfer student—the self-proclaimed queen bee of the campus—claimed it was the smell of cheap perfume. Unpleasant and overpowering. My childhood sweetheart beside me immediately darkened his expression and frowned. “It really is too strong. Zoe, why don’t you switch seats?” So I was moved to the back row. Right next to the most feared star quarterback in school. Later, the star quarterback pinned me against the hallway wall, inhaling my scent desperately, and my childhood sweetheart caught us. He crushed the soda can in his hand, eyes red, teeth clenched. “Zoe. I’m counting to three. Get your ass over here. Now.” I was born with a slow brain. My childhood sweetheart, Ethan, on the other hand, was a straight-A student—top of our major. Whenever I couldn’t grasp something even after he’d explained it several times, he’d always say, “It’s okay if you’re a little slow. Worst case, I’ll just take care of you later.” He never bothered to hide it. His voice would ring out loud whenever he said this, as if declaring ownership. The whole class would look at us with knowing smiles. I’d feel mortified, my face flushing. “Ethan, I can learn it myself. I don’t need you to take care of me.” Then I’d grab my error notebook and study it over and over on my own. It was hard. But with enough time, I could figure it out. Yet the whole class had already firmly linked Ethan and me together. So when the transfer student—Melissa—appeared, tilted her head proudly, and tapped Ethan’s desk, asking if she could sit next to him, everyone stared at me and whispered. “Look at the way Ethan’s looking at her. That’s not innocent.” “Of course he’ll agree. She’s gorgeous and gets great grades. They even competed together in the math olympiad. What does Zoe have to compare with her?” “Poor little childhood sweetheart is about to be dumped.” The pen in my hand trembled. Listening to the endless voices around me, I couldn’t help but hunch my shoulders. It felt like ants were crawling all over my skin. Unbearable. I’d clearly reminded Ethan not to reveal our childhood sweetheart relationship after we ended up in the same class. But Ethan was the one who kept binding us together. Yet I was the one being mocked. Just because I was slow, while he was an honor student. Beside me, Ethan slammed his desk and stood up, his eyes coldly sweeping across everyone. “Anyone got something else to say about Zoe?” The room fell instantly silent. Melissa looked displeased and directly straddled his desk. She pressed her knee against his chest, impatient. “Ethan, do you want me sitting next to you or not? I’m only asking one more time. If you don’t answer, I’m leaving.” “Look, so many people want to be my desk mate.” She lifted her chin toward the boys eyeing her hungrily from around the room. Ethan stared at her long, pale, slender legs for a moment, his throat moving. A smile tugged at his lips. “I already have a desk mate. Can’t switch.” “But you can sit at the desk in front of me.”
I was born with a naturally sweet scent. Ethan always liked to lean close to me. Even during class, he’d rest his head on my shoulder from time to time. My face would burn as I whispered, “Ethan, the teacher’s right there.” “He turned around to teach.” He’d quickly pull away, acting as if nothing had happened. But after Melissa transferred in, everything changed. She sat at the desk in front, her ponytail pulled high, exposing her long, graceful neck that gleamed white under the fluorescent lights. Ethan would often stare at her in a daze, propping his chin up and spacing out through entire classes. Every time class ended, Melissa would turn around to discuss problems with him. The two would lean in close, and sometimes her long hair would accidentally brush across Ethan’s face. His ears would turn completely red. On the way home from school, he’d say to me, “Girls like Melissa are too forward. She thinks she’s so pretty she can flirt with any guy. I don’t like that. You’re more innocent.” But when I encountered a difficult problem I couldn’t figure out for two whole days and nights—when I went to ask Ethan during break— He’d stare distractedly at the empty desk in front of him, pushing me away coldly. “You’re so slow. It’d probably take all afternoon to teach you. Other people need to ask me questions too. Can’t you just look it up on your phone?” I’d already tried searching on my phone, but I still couldn’t understand it. I pressed my lips together. “Ethan, I’ve been studying this problem for days. If you explain it once, I’ll definitely get it.” Before I could finish, the person beside me shot out like an arrow from a bow. Heading straight for that slender figure in the hallway. Melissa wore a white shirt paired with a pretty pleated skirt. When the wind blew, her skirt would flutter slightly. Ethan moved even closer, perfectly blocking her from view. I stared blankly at them. Right before my line of sight was completely obstructed, I clearly caught Melissa’s provocative gaze. She did it on purpose. “Is the little childhood sweetheart going to cry? I told you Ethan definitely likes her, but you didn’t believe me.” “You’re so slow—what are you going to do without Ethan?” A hand reached out from beside me to pull me over. Owen stared directly at my chest, his tone arrogant. “Why don’t you come sit with me? I’m third in our major. Not much worse than Ethan.” I quickly backed away, accidentally bumping into the corner of a desk. Just when I had nowhere to retreat— A bottle of soda came flying hard. It struck Owen’s hand. He let out a pained howl and curled up on the ground. A tall boy walked over from the back row, carrying his jacket. His features were cold as he kicked Owen hard. “Get lost. You’re in the way.” Owen scrambled away, half-crawling. I swallowed hard and started packing my things to leave too. Someone tapped their knuckles on my desk. “Which problem don’t you understand?” I froze, following the hand up to see Derek’s face with its excellent bone structure. “What did you… say?” Derek’s ears turned red. He cleared his throat lightly and repeated, “I’m asking which problem you don’t understand. I can teach you too.”
Ethan was first in our major. Derek was second. But Derek had a wild reputation. He was the campus star quarterback. Fighting, skipping class, bad temper, and a small, fierce-looking scar at the corner of his eye. Almost everyone was afraid of him. Naturally, I was no exception. Normally when I passed by the back row, I’d try to avoid him as much as possible. But finals were only two weeks away. And I still couldn’t solve the last major math problem. Ethan refused to help me anymore. If I didn’t learn it soon, I’d run out of time. I bit the bullet and followed Derek to the back row. He sat alone, so there was plenty of space. I could just sit next to him. Surprisingly, Derek wasn’t fierce at all when explaining problems. His voice was like a gentle breeze and soft rain, pleasant to hear, without a trace of impatience. And his teaching method was very different from Ethan’s. Ethan spoke fast—often my brain hadn’t caught up yet when he’d already moved to the next step. It made my head spin. But Derek deliberately slowed his pace, breaking down each step of the problem. After hearing it just once, I understood ninety percent of it. I corrected the error completely with my red pen. Looking up, I smiled at him with crescent-shaped eyes. “I got it. Thank you.” Derek’s lips curved. “You’re welcome.” I don’t know if it was my imagination. But Derek’s face seemed even redder. Even his ear tips looked ready to drip blood.
PE class was canceled because the teacher called in sick. No tai chi today—everyone had free time. I went to the self-study room alone. Ethan was there too. And Derek was in the back row, spacing out. He didn’t go play football today. I organized my other error problems, planning to take this opportunity to ask him for more help. But my hand was pressed down. “Which problem did you ask me about at lunch? I have time now to teach you.” Ethan still had that casual manner, reaching to flip through my error notebook. I quickly pressed it down. “I already figured it out. You can go do your free activity.” He paused. He looked me over suspiciously. “You figured it out that fast? Did you do it yourself?” I’d originally wanted to say I asked Derek. But thinking of his gloomy, keep-away demeanor, I shook my head instead. If everyone knew Derek was good at explaining problems, they’d all go ask him. That would be too much of a bother. Besides, I had a small selfish reason. If Derek could keep helping only me with problems, I could learn so many more. “I figured it out myself. I’d been studying it for days, and suddenly it just clicked.” Ethan scrutinized me for a few moments. “I can help you with other problems too.” I quickly shook my head. “I want to try solving them myself.” The hand Ethan had pressed on the error notebook tightened, his knuckles protruding. He stared at me for a while, then let out a cold laugh. “What’s going on with you, Zoe?” “Fine. Don’t ask me anything from now on.” My face fell immediately. That wouldn’t do. Even though Derek explained things better, we weren’t that close yet. What if he changed his mind later and refused to teach me? “Ethan…” I tugged at Ethan’s sleeve, about to smooth things over. A striking figure suddenly appeared in the classroom doorway. When she smiled, two dimples appeared in her right cheek. Her small face was translucently pale. She waved at Ethan, acting cute. “The teacher asked me to help write test questions, but I’m overwhelmed. Can you help me, please?” Her voice was tooth-achingly sweet. Ethan immediately grabbed his jacket and walked out, skillfully draping it over her shoulders with a frown. “Stop wearing short skirts from now on. All those guys keep staring at you.” Melissa hooked his chin with her finger, raising an eyebrow. “You dare say you don’t like it?” Ethan’s lips curved. He didn’t answer. Watching their departing backs— Unexpectedly, my heart no longer ached. Instead, I felt a hint of relief. After all, no one said a childhood sweetheart had to be for the childhood sweetheart. The childhood sweetheart could find someone else too. I exhaled and slowly walked toward the back row with my notebook.
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