“Ahem,” his ears turned red as he put the soda back, “I didn’t see any tissue, can’t I drink some soda?”
31
Luke and I stayed outside for a long time.
When we came out of the movie theater, I hung up the third call from home.
He looked up at me: “You’re really not going to answer?”
I said flatly: “It’s so late now, whatever Parker has told them to frame me is probably done. Why answer the phone? To get scolded?”
Luke burst out laughing: “How come I never noticed you had such a personality before.“”
We found a barbecue place to sit down, planning to have a late–night snack.
We didn’t bring money, relying entirely on Luke, this rich second–generation fool.
“Oh, good students drink alcohol too?”
There were two bottles of beer on the table.
I shook my head: “The owner gave them to us.”
“Gave them? Do we not look like high school studen
“You look like a rich kid skipping class to take a girl out.”
Luke laughed again.
I couldn’t help but curl my lips into a smile too.
He then opened a bottle and poured two glasses: “Then this rich kid will do what rich kids do.”
The taste of beer wasn’t great.
I choked a bit, and in the aroma of barbecue and the noise of the crowd, I heard Luke put down his glass:
“I can’t stand him anymore either.”
32
“I’ve been his childhood sweetheart for over ten years… Actually, Parker wasn’t like this before. He was just a bit tsundere, liked to say the opposite of what he meant, stubborn, but wouldn’t deliberately bully people.
“I remember when we were little and I was bullied, he got beaten up badly to get revenge for me. He wouldn’t tell me about it no matter what, and his dad had a bad temper. If I hadn’t gone to his house crying, I’m afraid he would have been beaten to death.
“It was probably after middle school, I heard from my parents that his mom had an affair and was caught by his dad. She got beaten up, and when he tried to stop it, he got beaten too. It was a shameful thing, and their family changed after that… Parker, he started to go bad.”
Later, it was that game of Truth or Dare, and that’s when he started to hate me.
Luke clinked his glass with mine: “It’s okay, you’ve endured him for so many years, it should be enough. He chose his own path, he should bear
the consequences.”
I didn’t say anything, just lowered my head and took a sip of beer.
But the next second, he snatched the glass from me: “Don’t drink anymore, you’re not a rich kid.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
10:34 AM
<
“Then you rich kid, you shouldn’t drink either.”
I leaned closer, my eyes bright with laughter: “If you get drunk, I can’t drag you back. You’re as big as a bear.”
But Luke’s ears turned red and he backed away, mumbling:
“Why are you getting so close? Can’t you maintain some female virtue?”
