Two Thousand Kilometers South, Away From Everyone I Loved Chapter 04

Two Thousand Kilometers South, Away From Everyone I Loved Chapter 04

“Stella!” Lucas’s voice, tight with suppressed fury, came from behind me.

I didn’t stop. I walked straight out of the hotel’s main entrance. The summer evening breeze brushed against my skin, a little stifling.

Lucas chased after me and grabbed my wrist in one swift motion. “Where are you running off to now to make a scene? Anna’s happy today. All the relatives are here. Are you determined to embarrass everyone?”

I stopped walking and turned my head to look at him. His shirt was a little crooked—it had gotten twisted earlier when he was shielding Anna. I didn’t struggle. I just looked into his eyes, perfectly calm.

“Lucas. My dress is dirty.”

He froze for a second, his gaze dropping to the disastrous mess on my skirt. “Then go wash it. Anna didn’t do it on purpose. Do you have to be this petty about everything? You weren’t like this before, Stella. How did you become so mean now?”

Mean.

I smiled. So I wasn’t even allowed to feel upset about a stained dress.

“I’m not washing it.” I pried his fingers off, one by one. “I don’t want this dress anymore.”

Lucas stared at his empty hand, his brow furrowing even tighter. “Where are you going?”

“Home.”

I hailed a taxi, pulled open the door, and got in. As the car pulled away from the hotel, Lucas’s figure in the rearview mirror grew smaller and smaller.

Two days later, it was move-in day for the new semester.

The house was in chaos from early morning. The living room was piled high with Anna’s luggage—seven or eight enormous suitcases. Mom and Dad were bustling in and out. Leo was checking items off a list.

“Did you pack her winter coat? Chicago winters are brutal.” “Yes, yes—and the space heater too.”

I dragged my little 20-inch suitcase out of my bedroom. No one noticed me.

Lucas drove up and parked downstairs. He came up and helped carry the luggage down. Trip after trip. Until the trunk and the back seat were stuffed completely full with Anna’s things.

I stood in the entryway, holding my small suitcase. Lucas wiped the sweat from his forehead, walked over, and looked at me. His eyes fell on my little suitcase.

“Stella, the car is full. You don’t have much stuff anyway—it’s not that far. Just take the Amtrak yourself. Message me when you get to campus. I’ll come pick you up after I get Anna settled.”

Leo chimed in from the side. “Yeah, you’ve always been independent. Not like Anna who has no sense of direction. You’ll definitely be fine on your own.”

Mom and Dad didn’t even turn their heads, still checking for anything they might have missed.

My fingers tightened slightly around the suitcase handle. Then, slowly, they relaxed.

“Okay.”

Lucas rubbed my hair, satisfied. “Good girl. When you get there, I’ll take you out for a big steak dinner.”

They clustered around Anna and went downstairs. The sound of the car engine starting, fading into the distance.

The house fell completely silent.

I took out my phone and looked at the flight ticket on the booking app. Two hours later, flying to Miami.

…

Three in the afternoon. The main gate of Northwestern was a sea of people and noise.

Lucas stood in the shade of a tree by the gate, holding two bottles of ice water. He glanced down at his phone. No new messages. He frowned and dialed my number.

“I’m sorry, the number you have dialed is out of service.”

Lucas kicked a stone on the ground in frustration. Leo walked over and handed him a tissue.

“Stella still not here?”

“Phone’s off.” Lucas let out a cold snort. “Probably still throwing a tantrum, deliberately not answering. That girl’s temper is getting worse and worse.”

Leo complained with dissatisfaction. “Just ignore her. When she’s dragging her suitcase around lost in Chicago by herself, she’ll know to come crying back.”

Lucas stared at the endless stream of people coming and going. His gaze locked fiercely onto every single girl getting out of a taxi.

And at that very moment, two thousand miles away in Miami, the sunshine was blazing hot and brilliant.

I stood at the new student registration desk of the University of Miami, pulling my small suitcase behind me. The senior handling check-in handed me a sign-in form and a pen.

“Please sign here.”

I took the pen. Under the form for “Architecture Department, UMiami,” I signed my name in careful, deliberate strokes: Stella Brown.