Chapter 5: The Truth
907 Words
Music resounded loudly in the brightly lit auditorium. The class's coming-of-age party was taking place amid laughter, cheers, and sparkling eyes that didn't want to say goodbye. She stood behind him and watched everyone play
While everyone was laughing loudly on the stage, someone said:
"Can anyone go to the office to get the class photo and personal photo? The photo has just been developed."
She quickly raised her hand:
"Let me go!"
In her heart, an indescribable joy rose. Because she knew, in that stack of photos, there was a photo of her and him, standing next to each other, with the innocent smile that she still remembered.
Her steps were light, as she walked, she thought: later, she would definitely choose that photo, print it big, and frame it carefully. Then tomorrow, when she looks back, she will remember today — the last party of her eighteen years, where his smile, and her own, were the most complete.
After happily running to get the photo with him, she held it in her arms like a treasure and returned to the party. She walked quickly, smiling as she walked, her heart filled with an indescribable feeling of happiness.
Showing the photo to everyone, she happily listened to the teasing words, the laughter resounding in the space brightly lit with lights. However, the party eventually ended. People left sporadically, the voices became less frequent.
Only he and a few close friends remained, lingering at the corner of the table, sipping a few glasses of wine, their deep voices mixed with comfortable laughter. She stood from afar and looked back, suddenly speechless.
It was the first time she saw him like that, no longer the usual stern, cold look, but a light, fleeting but strangely warm smile. The golden light shone on his face, making his smile even more gentle, as if it could erase all the distance between them.
Her heart trembled slightly. Perhaps, at that moment, he was so close...
But then she heard a male student ask him:
"So do you really like that girl?"
The space suddenly stopped for a beat. The photo in her hand shook slightly, her heart skipped a beat.
Hot blood suddenly rushed to her face, her cheeks flushed red all the way to her ears. She quickly lowered her head, pretending to look at the photo in her hand, but her eyes still couldn't help but secretly look up at him.
The dim yellow light reflected in her eyes, in which there was shyness, confusion, but above all... a fragile ray of hope.
She silently looked at him, waiting — each passing second felt like an eternity.
If he just nodded, even if it was just a light answer, she knew… her heart would no longer be able to stay calm
But then, the answer she was waiting for came.
He smiled softly, that smile was still gentle, still calm as always… only, this time, it was a bit colder.
“Like it?” he raised his eyebrows, took a sip of wine, then let out a voice that was cold and cruel
“Who would like it? Nothing outstanding. Everything is normal. Not worthy. It was just a bet you guys made.” Then the whole group burst out laughing as if they had just gotten a toy that could do everything
Laughter echoed around, mixed with the strong smell of alcohol and the dim yellow light.
She stood there, her body frozen.
In that moment, her heart felt like it was being squeezed, each rapid beat just now suddenly slowed down, heavy.
The smile on her lips was forced, her eyes were stinging, trying to swallow all the emotions that were surging in her heart.
It turned out… everything she thought was just an illusion.
That warm gaze, that gentle smile, turned out to be just a part of his game.
She gently turned away, afraid that if she stayed for another second, her tears would fall uncontrollably in front of everyone.
The moment he said that, time seemed to stop.
All the sounds around her became faint, laughter, the sound of glasses clinking, the soft music in the background… everything gradually disappeared.
In her hand, the photo of them together was still warm with the warmth of her body. But then, not knowing if it was because she was too nervous or because her heart was in too much pain, her fingers suddenly let go.
“c***k…”
The photo fell to the ground, lightly, but the sound it made was like a knife cutting deep into her heart.
The photo was flipped upside down, the two people's faces together now just a meaningless blank space.
She looked down — in her eyes that were already wet, the shadow of the photo blurred in the yellow light.
The hope that had just been kindled in her heart, now shattered at that moment.
The immature, naive love that she had once believed in… also fell with that photo, broken into pieces that could not be picked up again.
She smiled softly — a pitiful smile.
"So… only I am sincere."
Then she turned and walked away, leaving behind the photo lying quietly on the floor, and the boy she once thought would be the whole sky.
Behind her, laughter still rang out, but to her, that sound was now just a knife piercing deep into her hear
- Writer
