Chapter 4

The four of us walked home side by side, and I remained silent.

I don't know when it started, but I stopped talking much when Emma was around.

I didn't know which of my words might touch Emma's sensitive nerves, causing her to cry, followed by Lucas and Gabriel scrambling to comfort her.

Lucas seemed to notice my unusual behavior and tried to ease the atmosphere by speaking first.

"Hey Sophia, why don't you tutor Emma and me in English sometime?"

I glanced briefly at Lucas and Emma standing together.

"We'll see."

Lucas's face froze slightly, not expecting me to refuse him.

Emma timidly tugged at Lucas's sleeve.

Gabriel frowned and looked at me, "Are you in a bad mood lately?"

"Mm, that time of the month."

I vaguely brushed them off while kicking small stones on the road.

No matter what, I felt very uncomfortable about how our friendship had become.

Especially when I saw Emma, I felt even more uneasy.