Chapter 5

I watched Julian quietly.

Suddenly, I remembered the day he confessed his love to me.

In high school, he had written a love letter, mimicking what his classmates did, and slipped it into my textbook. During class, he kept stealing glances at me,

terrified I'd miss it.

He waited three days without a response. Finally, after school, he cornered me on the track field.

"Vivian, are you rejecting me?"

I looked at him in confusion, only then learning about the letter.

Right there, he read the letter aloud, word by word, declaring his love with shameless pride.

I laughed and said yes.

He immediately scooped me up onto his back and ran around the track, lap after lap.

His sweat and tears mingled, and his eyes shone with a light that belonged only to me.

During the countless nights after I found out about his betrayal, these memories would replay.

The real, raw love.

The absolute devotion.

The youth we could never get back.

I didn't know how to let it go.