Chapter 4The Last Paper Star

I met his gaze calmly.

"That's my business. It has nothing to do with you."

Mason's fork froze in midair.

When I was ten, I practically hung from Mason like an extra limb.

When he played basketball, I sat courtside hugging his water bottle. When he went to the library, I sprawled across from him with picture books.

I shared everything with him. If I got a perfect score, he was the first to know. If a teacher praised me, he was the first to know. If I saw a pretty orange cat on the street, I would run home and spend ages describing it to him.

Back then, I said, "I'll tell you everything for the rest of my life."

He didn't lift his head, but the corner of his mouth curved.

"Got it."

I only realized after growing up that, to him, I was probably just an annoying little tail.

Now that the tail had cut itself loose, he probably wasn't used to it.

After dinner, he stopped me outside the restaurant.

"Hannah, what is going on with you?"

I turned around, my voice even.

"Nothing. I just realized I was pretty childish when I was younger."

He gave an unhappy scoff and strode away.

After that, Mason never voluntarily said another word to me.

We returned to our silent treatment.

I didn't feel much about it. Summer passed quickly. I slept until I woke naturally, watched a movie after getting up, and occasionally reviewed my overseas university application materials.

My days were peaceful and full.

Paige, meanwhile, updated her social feed constantly.

Sometimes it was a side profile of Mason staring down at a table in a milkshake shop, captioned, "Someone says this is my reward for improving my grades."

Sometimes it was two movie tickets side by side, captioned, "Finally dragged the genius out for some air."

Once, she posted a mirror selfie in which the true focus was Mason, supposedly captured by accident.

I stared for a moment before an email from my admissions consultant suddenly appeared, notifying me that my overseas application had been accepted.

I smiled at the screen for a long time.

The class group chat exploded on score-release day, screenshots flying everywhere.

"Mason Blackwell is first in our class? The eternal runner-up finally turned things around."

"What about Hannah? What place did she get? She's never fallen from first before."

"Shh, stop posting. She missed one exam..."

I was about to keep reading when Mason sent me a message.

It was the first time he'd contacted me all summer. The message contained only a few words.

"Going back to visit the teachers tomorrow. Coming?"

I replied, "Sure."

When I returned to school, Paige was still trailing behind Mason.

It was as though she had replaced me as Mason's new little shadow.

Ms. Sherman was delighted to see us and pulled us into a meeting with younger students to introduce ourselves.

When we left the office, sunlight flooded the campus.

As we reached the honor board, Paige suddenly stopped and began reading from the top, pointing lazily as she went.

"Wow, first in the graduating class. Impressive.

"Not bad, Mason. You did pretty well this time.

"Oh, and what's-his-name from our class is near the top too."

Then her finger stopped at the very bottom of the list.

"Hannah, there you are.

"It's okay if you didn't do well."

Paige sounded sincere.

"An ordinary state university is still perfectly fine."

I stared directly at her, my voice cooling.

"What business is that of yours?"

Mason stepped half a pace forward and positioned himself in front of Paige, a faint rebuke in his eyes.

"That's enough."

I shifted my gaze to Mason. The person who once promised to protect me was now standing in front of someone else.

"Fine."

I turned and walked toward the school gate without looking back.

Mason reached out to grab me, but I shook him off.

Suddenly, a stir rose behind us.

Several younger students near the board let out hushed exclamations.

"Look! There's another board over here!"

"Oh my God, is that Hannah Whitaker? Isn't she the senior who was just standing here?"

"A full scholarship, and she's going overseas?"