Chapter 3: Rumors and Rooftops

Then, the pale hand withdrew, and with a push—THUMP!

A long-haired girl fell out.

"What the hell is going on!"

She lay on the ground, hair covering her face, clothes soaking wet, body trembling.

Without thinking, I rushed over to help her up.

In the light, I saw her face and blurted out:

"It’s you? Why are you here?"

The girl was Lily Barnes.

She seemed too weak to answer. I didn’t expect her to. She had a fever—I had to get her to the ER!

That day, I carried Lily on my back and rushed to the nearest hospital.

After we got her checked in, I found her lying in bed, staring out the window.

Seeing she was awake, I pulled up a chair beside her.

"Hey, how did you end up like this?"

Lily didn’t answer, lying motionless like a broken doll.

I frowned, thinking of her wet clothes, and hesitantly asked:

"Were you bullied?"

A girl in the boys’ bathroom, clothes wet, with a fever—what else could it be?

At this, Lily finally reacted.

She looked from the window to my face, then closed her eyes again.

"What’s it to you?"

"Hey, what’s with your attitude? I just saved you!" I said, a little angry.

"Good intentions, treated like trash."

Lily ignored me, lying quietly like a porcelain doll.

I glanced at her and realized she was actually very pretty.

Small face, long lashes, pale skin.

"Creep!"

As I stared, Lily suddenly opened her eyes and glared at me, embarrassed and angry.

Caught peeking, I stood up to leave:

"Well... my mom’s calling me for dinner!"

Just as I left, I heard her weak voice behind me. It was faint, but I heard it clearly—she said:

"Thank you."

The next day at school, I asked around and learned she hadn’t come in.

Of course, with a fever that bad, she’d need a few days to recover.

But after school, I saw her.

She wore a white dress, and the summer wind lifted it high, like a flower in bloom.

I paused and walked toward her.

"You..."

Before I could finish, she started to leave, but after a few steps, she stopped, glancing back at me as if by accident.

I thought she wanted me to follow, so I did.

In the after-school crowd, we walked one behind the other, no talking, no eye contact.

But somehow, I knew she wanted to take me somewhere quiet to talk.

If I ran into friends, I’d chat a bit, and Lily would quietly wait somewhere, pretending to look at the scenery but actually waiting for me.

After a lot of dawdling, we finally reached a deserted spot.

"You wanted something?"

As soon as we stopped, I asked.

Lily didn’t speak, just took an envelope from her bag and handed it to me.

I opened it—inside were a few crumpled bills.

After giving it to me, Lily tried to leave. I called after her, shaking the envelope:

"What’s this for?"

"You think it’s not enough?" She looked at me, embarrassed, gripping her bag strap. "But this is all I have..."

Seeing her misunderstanding, I quickly explained:

"No, I mean, why give me money?"

"For the hospital yesterday," she said.

"I have to pay you back."

She was small, and when she spoke to me, she had to look up, sunlight sparkling in her eyes.

I smiled: "Oh, just for that? Treat me as a good Samaritan. I don’t take money!"

I tried to give the money back, but she stubbornly refused:

"No, you have to take it."

I pretended to be angry: "Have you ever seen a good Samaritan who takes money? Are you insulting me?"

But she wouldn’t back down—if I didn’t take the money, she kept trying to force it into my hand.

Out of options, I finally took it.

"Alright, alright, you win." I pocketed the envelope, grinning, "Then tomorrow I’ll treat you to something nice!"

Unexpectedly, Lily refused, serious as ever.

"No!"

Her big eyes stared at me:

"Don’t come to me at school. Don’t say you know me!"

"I don’t know you either."

She meant it.

After that, Lily really treated me like a stranger. If we passed each other, she’d walk by without a glance.

Every time we crossed paths, I felt strangely abandoned.

Not happy!

So one day, just to mess with her, I called out:

"Hey! You’re pretty cute, what’s your name?"

She acted like she didn’t hear and kept walking. Not satisfied, I called again:

"Didn’t hear? Then let me ask—do you have a boyfriend?!"

"Hahaha!" At this, my friend from the next class burst out laughing.

"Boyfriend? Her? Hahaha!"

I frowned, not understanding why he laughed so nastily.