He Turned My Exam Into a Joke, I Turned the Page Chapter 15

He Turned My Exam Into a Joke, I Turned the Page Chapter 15

He stared at me in confusion.

“You know perfectly well that we can’t go back to the way we were.”

“You are you, and I am me. Luke, I’m better now. I don’t need you anymore.”

“Now, to me, you’re just an intrusion.”

“You’re a burden.”

Luke’s pupils shrank sharply.

He swayed like a yellow leaf trembling at the end of a branch, about to fall but not quite

falling.

I repeated it again.

“Luke, I don’t need you anymore.”

That word was need.

To other people, maybe it was just a harmless word.

It was not as deep as love, nor as heavy as obsession.

But between Luke and me, the word “need” had run through our entire past.

Because of need, he had appeared before me.

Because of need, we had become inseparable.

Because of need, I had placed him at the center of my life. I loved what he loved, thought

what he thought, was happy because he was happy, and hurt because he was hurt.

But now, only one person could move my emotions.

That person was me.

“Your exchange program only lasts a year,” I said. “It ends next month. Go back when it’s

over.”

“There’s no need to keep finding ways to stay near me.”

“Other than making us both miserable, it won’t do much good.”

After saying that, I turned and went home.

Afterward, I deliberately avoided Luke.

He no longer shamelessly tried to get close to me either.

A month later, Luke returned to the States.

We never contacted each other again.

Many years later, I received a letter. The date on it happened to be the night Luke and I had

laid everything bare.

[Even though you’re tired of me and don’t need me anymore, Sienna Parker, I’m still happy that you made it out of the darkness and chose to love yourself.]

[If one day you can let go of what happened, and maybe you’re willing to see me again, call

I’ll be waiting for you every second, forever.]
The letter was signed, [Luke Bennett.]

His phone number was written beneath it.

I gave it one brief glance, then placed the letter on top of the mailbox and walked away.

It was like a piece of the past.

There was no need to deliberately forget it, and no need to remember it either.

I walked into the sunlight with the wind in my face.

I narrowed my eyes slightly as my thoughts rose with the drifting cottonwood fluff, floating

farther and farther away until they reached the stubborn, timid girl from many years ago.

Then I said something softly to her.

Sienna Parker, love yourself first.