Chapter 2Starlight and Scars

My romance with Caleb began with childhood sweethearts losing to a destined encounter, and ended with the destined encounter losing to childhood sweethearts.

In my sophomore year of high school, I transferred and immediately became first in the grade. At that time, teachers liked to seat a good student with a poor student to help them improve, so I was arranged to sit next to Caleb.

But Caleb had absolutely no interest in studying; instead, he was very interested in me.

Either pulling my hair or taking my pen and holding it high, then looking down with a wicked smile.

"Stella Cheng, you're so short."

He passed me notes in class. I opened one to see a stick figure of me.

Just as I wanted to scold him for being bored, the teacher saw the note, displayed it publicly, and then made us both stand outside as punishment.

I was a standard good student back then and had never suffered such grievance. I pushed Caleb with red eyes.

"Caleb Vance, are you sick!"

He knew he was in the wrong and didn't speak. After a while, he folded that note with the stick figure into a star and quietly stuffed it into my hand.

I looked at that star and couldn't help but smile through my tears.

My relationship with Caleb gradually improved. I would force him to listen to my explanations until he understood, check his homework, and forbid him from copying answers.

He would also wait downstairs every day to go to school and back home with me, and we would browse the accessory shop at the gate together. Ghost led me to buy two star chains and give him one.

...

Caleb was a popular figure in school—handsome, rich family, good at basketball. Who knows how many girls liked him.

One of them blocked me and asked if I liked Caleb.

Teenage pride and inexplicable annoyance made me subconsciously speak:

"I won't like someone whose grades are worse than mine."

The girl looked behind me.

I turned around abruptly, only to find Caleb behind me. I don't know how long he had been listening.

He walked past me expressionlessly.

After that, Caleb never actively sought me out again.

He no longer talked to me in class, nor asked me to go to school together. We sat at the same desk, not saying an extra word every day.

I wanted to explain to him, but he never gave me a chance.

Until a year later, Caleb tied with me for first place with astonishing progress.

That night he stopped me and said seriously:

"Stella Cheng, my grades are no worse than yours now. Can you like me now?"

To this day, the memories of that time are very blurry.

I only remember the jacaranda flowers blooming like a sea in the school that day. When the petals were blown up by the wind, the boy's eyes were brighter than a star explosion.

The light crossed the vast universe of light years and fell straight into my heart.

In that moment, I heard my own voice.

"Okay."

We got together just like that.

Young love was uncontrollable like a prairie fire. We stuck together every day. Caleb introduced me to all his brothers and even tattooed my name on his body.

I said I wanted to test into Tech U, and he said he wanted to go to the same university as me.

His mom was overjoyed at his sudden motivation. Fortunately, my grades didn't drop either, so parents and teachers simply turned a blind eye. We became the only openly dating couple in the school.

At that time, I really thought we would go on forever.

Until I discovered there was always a girl more important than me in his heart.