After Dumping Him, My Escape Failed

"OK."

I suppressed the bitterness in my heart, friended him on WhatsApp, and forwarded him the doctor's account.

Surprisingly, Shane had never changed his WhatsApp profile picture at all. He was still using the one matching with mine. I picked those profile pictures for us back then.

He probably didn't bother to change it. After all, he had always used a pure-black profile picture before we met.

"It's been five years. You still wanna block and delete me?"

I was choked on his words. How did he know what I was thinking?

I coughed, refusing to admit that he was right.

"I'm not that childish, OK?"

"Alright."

Did I hear him wrong? Seemed he chuckled a bit.

When I looked up, he was already gone.

The first time we met was during the military training. He was particularly outstanding among the boys.

His face was fair under the brim of his hat. He was tall and had long legs. Dressing in camouflage clothes, he stood straight and seriously.

The breeze was dry and hot, and my heart seemed to be restless.

I elbowed Tess Holmes, the girl who had taken leave with me to watch the military training, and my eyes were still glued to Shane.

"Tess, I had a crush on someone."

She looked up from her Kindle and followed my line of sight. Then she looked at me sympathetically.

"A piece of advice? Stop."

"Why?"

Tess said that she was Shane's classmate in high school, and given his excellent appearance and grades, he won the hearts of countless girls.

But every one of them ended up crying while leaving after they confessed their love to him, and he tossed every gift he received away.

Because of that, none of the girls dared to confess to him again. Some quickly got over it, yet some were obsessed and could only suffer from their affection. They barely got to talk to him though it was three years.

Tess wept for them.

"I see.

"Tess, I wanna woo him!"

"I'm glad you've decided to give up... What?"

I had always been stubborn. Once I had made up my mind, I would not easily give up.

Seeing that I insisted, Tess had no choice but to tell me everything she knew about Shane and then wish me good luck.

I searched online, and the first step to pursuing a man was to get familiar with him.

The summer in Boston was extremely hot. I almost felt I was burning.

Although the drill master was kind enough to let the students train in the shade, they were still sweating profusely.

I was rich and ordered juicy and sweet iced watermelons and cold drinks. I talked to the drill master and was ready to share them with every classmate during the break.

"Attention! Halt!

"Alma bought you iced watermelons and cold drinks."

After a burst of cheers, the drill master cleared his throat and said, "Let's thank her. Three! Two! One!"

"Thank you, Alma!"

The boys and girls spoke in unison, loud and formal. Those in the other teams next to us looked in my direction because of the noise.

I didn't get shy easily, but what the drill master did still made me embarrassed. I blushed in an instant, and I stammered.

"You... You're welcome. Enjoy."

The drill master said everyone could take five, and my classmates all walked toward me. He distributed the watermelons and cold drinks to them.

I took a piece of watermelon and a cold drink and limped to Shane, who was resting in the shade, and handed them to him.

A few drops of sweat flowed down his fair cheeks, sliding down to the collar of his camouflage uniform, and his collarbones could be vaguely seen.

I couldn't help but lick my lips. Then I smiled as sweet as I could and sweetened my voice.