Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Ten-minute break.

I stood in the stairwell, letting the breeze cool my face. Whenever a teacher passed, I raised my book and pretended to memorize it.

I stalled until the bell was about to ring, then finally worked up the courage to go back into the classroom.

The moment I appeared, everyone around my desk fell silent. They traded looks, nudged one another, and snickered under their breath.

There was a sickening sense of shared knowledge in the air.

Something had happened.

My stomach dropped. I hurried to my seat.

Zhou Qi’s deskmate elbowed him excitedly. “Your wife is back!”

Being called his “wife” made Zhou Qi’s ears turn red. It made me want to throw up.

This was exactly why I hid outside during every break. I hated them.

My deskmate, Zhou Ying, glanced at me. “Finally back? Class is about to start.”

I ignored her and inspected my seat. No mystery stains on the chair. Nothing filthy in my water bottle. No bugs in my pencil case. Every pen still had its refill.

Zhou Qi and his friends watched me search with nervous care, grinning the whole time.

I counted my homework and discovered that the worksheet tucked inside my Chinese textbook was gone.

Chinese class was next.

The people around me watched with eager smiles, as if I had finally found the hidden prize in their little game.

I rounded on the obvious culprit. “Zhou Qi! Where’s my worksheet?”

Zhou Qi only smiled, as if I were flirting with him.

Chen Zhuo leaned over. “Why don’t you go look for it in the woods with Zhou Qi later? Maybe it’s there.”

He drawled suggestively, “Nobody goes there. Not even the teachers. You two could do anything you wanted and no one would know.”

The look in his eyes was sly and obscene. I understood at once.

God, they were disgusting.

I wanted to slap him across the face.

The whole class erupted in laughter. Every face was bright with anticipation.

I was furious. Tears gathered in my eyes.

I hated their mocking smiles and their leering looks. Most of all, I hated the indifference of the other girls.

Led by Zhou Ying, they delighted in pairing me with Zhou Qi, a boy with bad grades, bad looks, and an even worse character.

It did not matter that I had said it a thousand times-ten thousand times.

“I don’t like Zhou Qi! There is nothing between us!”

I had a mouth, but apparently none of them had ears.

They had decided all on their own that Zhou Qi and I were a couple.

When they saw they had made me cry, they laughed even harder.

The bell rang.

Our Chinese teacher came in with a stack of worksheets tucked under one arm. Her gaze swept over my reddened eyes without pause as she set the papers on her desk.

“Take out your worksheets. We’re going over them today.”

Her eyes moved across the room and stopped on my empty desk. She frowned.

“Xia Xin, where is yours?”

I stood, lost and aggrieved. “I did it, ma’am. Zhou Qi threw it away.”

Behind me, Zhou Qi shouted, “I did not!”

The Chinese teacher fixed me with a sharp stare. “You say Zhou Qi threw it away. Do you have proof?”

I looked at Zhou Ying. Her answer came immediately. “I didn’t see anything!”

The teacher lost patience and snapped, “Xia Xin, don’t blame someone else because you didn’t do your homework! And what are you crying for? Sit down!”

I had done nothing wrong, yet somehow I was the unreasonable one.

Rage battered the inside of my chest, hot enough to make my temples throb. I barely knew how I made it through the lesson.

The instant the bell rang, I asked Zhou Ying, “You really didn’t see anything?”

Her expression shifted. “I’m not your dog. Why should I guard your homework whenever you leave?”

Chen Zhuo came over to provoke me again. “Go to the woods with your husband. He’ll help you find it! Hahaha!”

I shot to my feet. My chair screeched across the floor, and Chen Zhuo’s nasty laugh cut off.

I grabbed their pencil cases and hurled them into the trash can at the back of the classroom.

“Keep harassing me and I’ll tell the homeroom teacher!”

If the Chinese teacher would not help me, I would find the homeroom teacher. If that failed, I would go to the grade director.

Chen Zhuo flared up. “What the hell is wrong with you? Why’d you throw my stuff away?”

I kicked his desk over. “You’re the ones with something wrong!”

Several boys held him back.

I turned and left, retreating to the stairwell for air.

I had had enough of this place. I wanted so badly to go back to my old school.

I wanted to call Mom, but then I pictured her cradling my newborn little brother, her face overflowing with maternal love.

The desperate hope inside me suddenly went cold.