Claire's family was a complete mess. Her father was a violent alcoholic who beat everyone at home. Her mother was addicted to gambling, and she had a good-for-nothing younger brother with bleached blond hair.
Seeing how miserable her life was growing up, my heart ached for her.
I split my allowance with her, gave her my brand-new clothes to wear, lent her my meal card whenever she needed it, and stood up for her without hesitation whenever she was bullied.
'Are you kidding me? Was everything I'd done for her all these years for nothing?'
'I'd practically raised an ungrateful parasite.'
The female classmate noticed I had gone completely still and looked at me apologetically.
"I'm so, so sorry. We were all young back then, and we believed everything Claire told us." She lowered her ga
