“Anyone who passed by probably would have helped. No need to thank me specifically,” I replied coldly, handing him his
drink.
The experiences of the past few weeks had left me utterly exhausted. I no longer wanted to engage with anyone from school more than necessary.
sted. Safa
“River, I…” Zack trailed off, his expression suddenly looking very guilty. It was a far cry from his arrogant refusal before.
Seeing I wasn’t responding, he lingered by the shop entrance for a long time, seemingly wanting to say something but
unable to get the words out.
He finally left when other staff started urging him to move along.
“What’s his deal? Does he owe you money or something? Why was he looking at you like that?” a coworker asked curiously after Zack left.
I just shook my head. I was also confused why, ever since I had moved out and given up on living in the dorms, many classmates seemed to have become much friendlier towards me.
They no longer avoided me in the hallways. Many even started inviting me to join their groups for class projects.
Especially Zack. He seemed to constantly be looking for opportunities to repair our relationship, but would always stop short of actually saying anything when he got near me.
I had no idea why things had changed. But since I couldn’t figure it out, I decided not to dwell on it.
Living independently for four years would be fine. Once I graduated, I could leave all this unpleasantness behind.
But just when I had come to terms with everything, it turned out someone else hadn’t.
