5
Bad luck!
I ran faster.
I didn’t see someone coming and knocked a
boy to the ground.
“What the…”
The boy on the ground narrowed his eyes,
rubbing his forehead. He looked like trouble.
Fearing Elijah might see me, I mumbled an
apology and ran.
Without my help, Elijah was suffering
immensely.
Children that age are sensitive and insecure,
and coupled with his pride, he endured the
abuse silently.
Heather seemed to relish having him under
her thumb, devising endless ways to torment
him.
She’d recently toned it down,
as she prepared for the orientation show.
The first photo of Elijah was her award-
winning photo from that show.
I wasn’t interested in these things, so I
skipped it this time.
I expected Elijah wouldn’t miss the chance to
see his goddess.
Unexpectedly, he didn’t go either.
Seeing him, I paused.
Then I started packing my bag to go home.
“Heather.”
After packing my last book, he turned to me.
He seemed to be suppressing his emotions,
his brow furrowed, desperate to prove
something.
Over the years with Elijah, he rarely showed
any emotional fluctuations. Even during
intimacy, he was always cold.
One of his rare outbursts was when he
confessed to me after high school graduation.
The boy’s gaze was sincere and fervent. The
question, “Will you go out with me?“, seemed
to have taken all his strength.
He stared at me, his hand clenching his shirt,
his eyes filled with love, as if afraid I would
say no.
Now, seeing his younger self overlaid on his
current form, I just felt disgusted.
Perhaps he had only used me to look at
someone else.
So I glanced at him indifferently.
And walked away, leaving him with his
hopeful expression.
