I Ditched My Childhood Sweethearts for a Brighter Future Chapter 05

I Ditched My Childhood Sweethearts for a Brighter Future Chapter 05

Charles clearly didn’t expect me to react like that. He froze for a couple of seconds before giving me a strange, questioning look.
“Paisley, are you actually mad?”

Logan’s face was terrifyingly dark. He shot me a harsh glare, turned on his heel, and marched back to his seat.

Charles leaned across my desk, resting his chin in his hand. “You’re really mad? Alanna had an academic competition yesterday, and we just went along to check it out.”

I kept my head down, flipping through the exam to continue my corrections.

Charles reached out, pressing his palm flat against the paper. “I’ll buy you that cake you love right after school tonight. Stop being mad.”

I looked up, meeting his eyes. “Charles, are you and Logan pursuing Alanna?”

Charles’s smile instantly froze. In the row ahead of us, Logan also snapped his head around to look at me.

I brushed Charles’s hand off my paper.

“If you’re trying to date a girl, you should keep your distance from other girls first.”

Charles’s fingers twitched slightly, though he still forced his voice to sound light and easy. “Paisley, you are mad at us.”

I didn’t want to waste any more time debating nonsense with him.

My phone vibrated, and a text from Waylon flashed like an absolute death warrant.

Waylon: [I mapped out your weak points from yesterday and printed a whole new exam package for you. See you tonight.]

Logan, Charles—none of them mattered anymore.

Lately, Waylon was the only one appearing in my actual nightmares. He would be standing there with his impossibly handsome face, holding an exam paper in one hand and a whip in the other, chasing me down.

Seeing that he was being completely ignored, Charles shrugged and walked away.

But by the time the final bell rang at the end of the day, both of them had vanished again.

I knew exactly where they went. They were racing each other to walk Alanna home.

Back when we first started high school, whenever we walked through the dark alleys, they would hold my hands on either side just like when we were kids, promising they would never let me walk home in the dark alone.

But ever since Alanna transferred to Northwood High, they hadn’t walked home with me once.

I used to get depressed, staring blankly at their retreating backs.

Now, I just wanted to run faster.

Sure enough, Waylon was waiting for me right outside the school gates.

Even standing under the dim shadows with his head down, his tall, lean frame was impossibly striking, drawing frequent glances from passing students.

I ran over to him, completely out of breath.

Waylon slowly looked up. “Why were you running?”

Something icy pressed against my cheek.

I shrank my neck back slightly from the sudden chill, then my eyes widened in pure delight. “How did you know I love this juice shop?”

I reached out to grab it, but he smoothly pulled it back out of my reach. “Exam first. This is a reward. If your accuracy score doesn’t hit eighty percent, you don’t get to drink it.”

I gritted my teeth and followed him toward the library.

Every single ounce of my appreciation vanished into thin air.

Fortunately, I managed to scrape past his passing line. As I sat there with my eyes half-closed, happily sipping my juice, I glanced sideways and noticed a faint smile playing on Waylon’s lips as he graded my work.

“Did I get a lot right this time? Why are you in such a good mood?”

I leaned in to look, only to see him draw a massive red X across the page.