After My Boyfriend's Childhood Sweetheart Provoked Me

Sergio was suffering from a terminal illness. To seek a miracle, I knelt in front of the statue of Jesus every night before bed, praying devoutly for an hour.

However, when I learned that Sergio shared my nightly prayers to Jesus as a joke with his friends, I knew it was over between us.

What I did not expect was that they would go so far as to do something this outrageous.

I knelt on the ground, feeling numb.

In my ears were the exaggerated sounds of their laughter.

At that moment, Sergio's childhood friend Kirsten was doubled over in laughter in his arms after pretending to be Jesus.

When I prayed, I habitually left only one candle lit.

The room was too dim, and because I was nearsighted, I did not even notice that my statue had been switched out.

Kirsten, dressed as Jesus, was standing behind the altar, taking Jesus's place and receiving my kneeling for a full hour.

"See, I told you this would be so much fun!

"Elsie, your expression when you were kneeling to me was so serious!

"But I didn't expect you to still believe in this.

"If you're sick, you need to see a doctor. Even a three-year-old understands that. How do you not get it?

"I know you're desperate to live, but you shouldn't be so hasty in seeking help."

Kirsten sneered, her face full of disdain.

I looked down at the statue of Jesus that had rolled onto the ground and was being kicked around, feeling a deep sense of guilt.

Seeing that I had not reacted for a long time, Kirsten and the others grew bored and stopped laughing.

But they began to lecture me instead.

"Elsie, you really can't take a joke at all; it's just so dull," Kirsten said, looking displeased.

The others echoed her, criticizing me as well.

Even Sergio looked at me disapprovingly and said.

"Elsie, don't you know what's good for you? My friends came here specifically to see you and cheer you up because they know you are sick, and you have this serious face. What does that even mean?"

Logically, I should have argued back at this point.

However, at that moment, Sergio's words stirred no emotions within me.

I always thought that we should never argue with petty people and contend with fools.

My reaction only further enraged Kirsten and the others.

"Sergio, it seems your girlfriend doesn't like us at all and looks down on us. She doesn't even try to pretend. Forget it, we are leaving!

"You can't expect us to come back here again."

After Kirsten finished speaking, she stormed out angrily.

The others followed suit.

Sergio, seemingly feeling embarrassed, turned around and shouted at me.

"Elsie, what do you mean? Are you deliberately giving my friends the cold shoulder?

"Don't think that just because you are sick, I will always cater to you.

"I'll tell you, if you don't apologize to Kirsten and the others properly for this, I am done with you!"

With that, Sergio grabbed his coat and left in a fit of anger.

The door slammed shut with a loud noise.

I rubbed my knees, which were sore and numb from kneeling for so long, feeling an overwhelming sense of desolation.

The boy who once defended me at all costs was ultimately gone.