When I finally mustered the courage to confess my feelings to him, he just turned and walked away. When I finally emerged from the shadows and began a new chapter in my life, he was gone.

Was it depression? I couldn’t believe it.

I had to find out the truth about how he died.

Samuel Lewis handed me the glass of milk and stood quietly to the side, just watching me, Isaac Carter.

I was already used to his little gestures. I pressed the glass to my cheek for a moment before taking a sip.

He smiled and ruffled my hair.

"I'm practically your dad, taking care of you and all. I doubt you'd last a day without me."

Looking at his handsome face, my heart skipped a beat, and heat rushed to my cheeks. I lowered my gaze, afraid he might notice my feelings.

Just then, a bold classmate burst into the classroom. She clutched a test paper and ran straight toward Samuel.

"Samuel, do you know how to solve this problem?" she asked.

I was in the arts track while he was in the science track, and he was a grade ahead of me. There was no way I could join their conversation, so I quietly stood off to the side.

After Samuel explained the problem, the girl blushed and said, "You're so nice. Thank you for helping me."

Before he could even respond, the demands of the student council pulled him away. He left the classroom in a hurry, leaving just me and the girl.

With Samuel gone, she turned to me with a grin. "Do you like him?"

Her bluntness startled me, but I didn't feel the need to hide anything in front of her. I admitted it freely.

"Who wouldn't like someone like him?"

The girl, Hannah Smith, frowned. "Don't you think that's kind of gross? You're both guys. Stay away from me. You're weird. If he ever found out you said that, he'd probably be grossed out too."

Her words annoyed me, but part of me felt embarrassed too. How could she be so sure?

I was determined to make Samuel know how I felt. After school, I pushed through the crowd and grabbed his arm.

"I like you."

"Don't joke around."

Everyone around us was as shocked as Samuel, but I didn't care. My heart was so full of love for him that it felt like it would burst, and all I wanted was for him to hear it.

"I'm not joking. You're so good to me, and you're amazing at school. I like you because—"

Before I could finish, Hannah pulled Samuel away. She led him straight into the throng of students.

"Do you think he's gross too? I say we stay away from him. People like that are too weird," she said loudly.

All the while, she held Samuel's hand as they moved through the crowd. More and more eyes turned toward us, whispering and pointing, talking about me.

"Oh my god, he likes guys?"

"So that's why he's always clinging to the student council president."

"Doesn't he find himself gross? How creepy."

I was trapped in a storm of whispers, my chest tightening with fear and embarrassment, but also with a fierce refusal to back down. I summoned every ounce of courage and ran after Samuel, grabbing him again.

"Do you think the same way about me? I don't care what anyone else thinks. I just want to know how you feel."

He didn't expect me to be so bold. His expression turned awkward, and he quickly pulled his hand free before hurrying off with Hannah toward the school exit.

After seeing Samuel's reaction, Hannah turned to gloat at me.

"I told you he'd be grossed out. Just go away."

Samuel didn't look back. The sight of him walking away left me feeling utterly rejected. Tears streamed down my face, and no matter how much I tried to wipe them away, they just wouldn't stop.

"Sorry..."

It was as if God himself sensed my embarrassment, unleashing a torrential downpour that left me drenched from head to toe.

Samuel didn't like me, and I couldn't blame him. However, I couldn't forgive him for leaving me there, humiliated and alone, while everyone stared and whispered.

After that, Hannah made it her mission to make my life miserable. Every day after, she'd wait for me at the classroom door under the pretense of student council inspections, just waiting to harass me.

The moment I stepped out, she'd intercept me. At first, it was just shoving. Then it escalated. She pushed me harder, even tried to shove me down the stairs more than once.

Hannah was popular among the other students, and I was naturally left isolated.

Every time a new wound began to heal, the old ones would reopen. I had no choice but to wear long sleeves every day, hiding the scars that marred my skin.

Hannah yanked the hat off my head, messing up my hair.

"Who do you think you are, wearing a hat he gave you?"

I didn't dare fight back. I just stood there in a daze as she swung the hat at me again and again.

Samuel appeared at that moment.

I had thought he would at least step in to protect me, but instead, he gently rubbed Hannah's hand.

"Don't use so much force, you might hurt yourself."

Hannah grinned triumphantly and walked away hand in hand with Samuel.

I felt like a complete joke.

Samuel and I had known each other since we were little. We had grown up together, playing through every holiday and exchanging countless gifts over the years.

Hannah had only taken one of them. There were still plenty at home, so I didn't care that much.

I didn't expect Samuel to show up at my house the next day.

He didn't say a word. He just moved into my room with practiced ease, gathering up every gift he had given me and putting them into the bag he had brought. It was as if he were wiping away our shared past, erasing all trace that we had ever known each other.

When he was done, he told me to delete everything related to him from my phone.

I couldn't understand.

"Why do you want me to delete even the things on my phone?"

Samuel was silent for a moment, then he calmly replied, "Hannah gets jealous easily. I don't want her to misunderstand."

-

After that, Samuel disappeared from my life. However, Hannah kept showing up, always looking for trouble.

I pounded on the door, desperate to escape, only to have a bucket of mop water dumped over me.

Hannah pretended to be terrified and screamed, "Help! Isaac's gone crazy! He just walked into the girls' bathroom!"

Her cry caused a commotion in the bathroom, disrupting nearby classes so badly that no one could continue their lessons.

It didn't take long for the teachers to get involved.

Soaked and filthy, I slumped into the teacher's office, leaving muddy footprints across the floor and chair.

"Isaac, what's gotten into you lately? Students have reported that you've been bullying and harassing others on campus," the teacher, Winona Lester, said.

I couldn't believe she was saying such nonsense with a straight face.

Look at me. Did I even look like someone who would bully others? Anyone could just ruin my reputation like this and no one cared, huh?

Samuel was also called into the office to testify. I kept my head down, too embarrassed to let him see me like this.

He told me to leave. I didn't want to argue, so I just did as he said. Now the office was left with only Samuel and Hannah explaining the situation to the teacher.

Less than a class period later, an expulsion notice was issued—but it wasn't for me.

Samuel had been expelled? And even Hannah was about to face disciplinary action?

It was nothing like I expected. I couldn't believe it.

"Ms. Lester, are you serious? I'm not the one being expelled?"

"Who would wish for themselves to be expelled? Samuel is expelled, and this was the principal's decision," Winona said.

I was utterly confused. The notice for Samuel's expulsion had already been posted on the bulletin board, and I checked it repeatedly, and I couldn't deny it.

It was really him.

What was going on?

-

I never found out exactly what happened in the office that day, and I never saw Samuel again.

I didn't want to drown in heartbreak forever, so when someone confessed to me later, I quickly said yes.

I was afraid of becoming the topic of gossip among my classmates again, so I kept this relationship low-key. Apart from occasionally walking around with my boyfriend, Yuvan Warren, everything else stayed just like usual.

Even though I tried my best to stay under the radar, classmates still noticed.

"What's Isaac doing here?"

"Quick, let's move. What if he falls for us while we're standing here?"

"Did you hear? He's with Yuvan now."

"I can't believe it. Why would Yuvan do that?"

I realized all the criticism Yuvan was getting was because of me. He was normally well-liked at school, and I didn't want to be a burden, so I asked him to break up with me.