Chapter 12
he suddenly burst into tears. My stepdad jumped in surprise again. Then, Erik wiped his eyes, stood up, and walked off.
Christopher only knew that I had a stepbrother who had a bad temper- kind of crazy, rich, and did whatever he wanted at home. He never respected anyone either. That was all Christopher knew.
After dinner, we took a walk in the yard. I told him the truth. I could not even call it a confession as I did not do anything wrong. However, what I said might upset him, and I would probably have to coax him later.
I looked up, watching his expression carefully with my brows slightly pulled together.
I asked in a small voice, “Are you mad?”
“Yeah,” he said.
I knew it.
I let go of his hand, fiddled with my sleeves, and tried to think of something to say.
He took my hand again and laced our fingers together. Then he turned his head and looked at me like he did not know what to do with me.
“I’m not mad at you.
***
Life went on like usual.
After the holiday, I went back to school. I sat through lectures in big classrooms, wrote papers in the library, and had meals with Christopher. He was really emotionally mature and gentle. Later, I started prepping for grad school. Everything was going smoothly.
One time when I went home, I saw Janine cleaning up Erik’s study. She
Chapter 12
found a stack of papers–it was all boarding passes to Munich. I did not. know who he was trying to impress.
What a pity. I had moved to a new place, and the school was big. Even though he went there so many times, he never ran into me.
Right before Christmas, I got an offer from a new school.
It was better than my undergrad, and the people around me were much better. I had a bright future ahead.
May we spread our wings and ride the wind–spring will come, and with it, our time to rise.
