I Ditched My Childhood Sweethearts for a Brighter Future Chapter 07

I Ditched My Childhood Sweethearts for a Brighter Future Chapter 07

He seemed almost afraid of something, and after saying that, he hurried back home.

I wasn’t about to wait for him, of course.

I finally understood why my grades had fallen so far behind his and Charles’s.

In the past, to keep our trio together, I would wake up early every single day just to bake treats for us to share on our walk to school.

Now, I only woke up early to study.

By the time Logan marched in with a dark expression and dropped breakfast onto my desk, I had already finished an entire practice test.

“Logan went out of his way to buy this for you first thing in the morning, Paisley. Why did you leave early without waiting for us again?”

Charles was clearly noticing my strange behavior too, leaning over to inspect my test paper.

“The teacher hasn’t even covered this method yet. Who taught you this?” He frowned.

I smoothly pushed the breakfast away. “I already ate. If you two are so bored, you should go do a couple of exam packets yourself.”

Charles stared at me in sheer disbelief. “Paisley, what crawled up your sleeve all of a sudden?”

He reached out to touch my forehead, but I slapped his hand away.

He just sighed, sitting down beside me with a look of concern. “Are you worried you won’t get into the University of Portland with us?”

He patted my head, exactly the way he used to comfort me when we were kids. “Don’t worry. If you don’t make the cut, I’ll just go to Corban University with you.”

Logan’s eyes flickered slightly, and he pressed his lips together. “Don’t push yourself so hard just for our sake. Corban is perfectly fine. These past few days, you’ve been…”

I flipped the completed exam over, pulled out a fresh sheet, and treated both of them as if they were invisible.

“There’s a school festival tonight with tons of performances. We’ll go check it out together so you can actually unwind a bit.”

I had always been the one chasing after Logan. Realizing I had absolutely no interest in engaging with him, his face clouded over and he walked out.

Charles, however, remained glued to his seat, still smiling easily. “I’m not going.”

I didn’t even look up. Charles pretended to be deaf. “We’ll save you a prime seat.”

I stayed silent. Charles assumed I didn’t know that they were actually going tonight to watch Alanna.

Word had spread everywhere that the absolute highlight of the festival was the school sweetheart performing a ballet routine.

I wasn’t interested, nor did I have the luxury of time to care. Waylon had just sent a message stating he was bringing over two more practice exams tonight.

If my accuracy score fell below ninety percent this time, he would add a bonus packet to both tomorrow and the day after.

Sure enough, during the evening study session, the teacher announced that the school was hosting a talent show that night for anyone who wanted a break—something about balancing work and fun.

The classroom emptied out in a rush, hardly anyone left behind.

The harsh fluorescent light overhead was starting to make my eyes ache. The class president turned around from the front row to look at me. “Paisley, you aren’t going?”

Gripping my pen tightly, I shook my head.

A split second later, she let out a sharp, startled gasp. “Waylon?”

Looking up, my eyes fell right on Waylon. The bright overhead lights made my vision blur slightly, and for a second, I thought I was hallucinating.

Otherwise, there was no logical reason for Waylon to be standing inside my classroom.

A finger flicked my forehead, the warmth from his touch traveling from my skin straight to my chest.

“Daydreaming?”