Chapter 3The Milk Spill, The Bully, and the Boy Who Chose the Wrong Path

The next morning, Liam didn't show up for homeroom.

Everyone was used to him skipping class.

"But..."

My desk mate paused, unsure if she should ask.

But she asked anyway.

"You didn't walk to school with Liam today?"

Normally, we walked into the classroom together every single day. In the summer, he would buy me breakfast; in the winter, he would have a hot pack ready for me on the walk.

It was an unspoken routine everyone knew about.

But today, I deliberately took a different route that avoided his neighborhood.

Seeing my hesitation, my desk mate tactfully changed the subject.

"Oh, whatever. What do you want to grab for breakfast after homeroom?"

When homeroom ended, Liam finally showed up.

He was carrying a bag of warm, fresh cheese balls.

"Oh my god, don't you have to run all the way across town to get those?"

"Chloe, you're so lucky! Let me have one!"

A few girls crowded around me.

But Liam didn't even look at me.

He walked past my desk and dropped the bag of cheese balls directly in front of Maya.

Then he went back to his desk and put his head down to sleep.

The area around my desk went dead silent.

"Did he drop them at the wrong desk?"

"Did the young master need glasses?"

Maya looked over at me, making eye contact with the girl who had just asked for a cheese ball.

She covered the bag with her hands.

"Sorry. Liam bought these for me. I'm not sharing them."

Nobody really paid attention to her comment.

Instead, everyone was shooting me awkward, questioning looks.

Finally, someone couldn't hold back.

"Did you guys get in a fight?"

"No way. Liam is insanely protective of Chloe. There's no way he'd suddenly turn on her."

I wasn't really surprised.

Since I had seen them, there was no reason for him to keep pretending.

The atmosphere around us was definitely humiliating.

But my face remained completely blank. I just pulled my lunch card out of my desk.

"We didn't fight.

"And I should clarify this for everyone: Liam and I are just regular classmates.

"We don't have any other relationship."

With that, I walked out of the classroom.

The school jacket Liam had draped over his head suddenly slipped off.

He raised his eyes to look at me, his gaze freezing coldly in midair.