My Dear Enemy, My New Beginning

I left the dorm room as the sole occupant, a ball of fury in my chest making it hard to breathe.

I took a lone walk around the campus lake, Ethan's words echoing relentlessly in my mind.

He believed I looked down on them, too aloof to bother with their company.

But he would never understand how desperately I had once wanted to be a part of his life, only to be coldly rejected.

After my father brought Ethan home, he was gloomy all the time. To cheer him up, I invited him to the amusement park for the weekend.

He brought Olivia along, introducing her as his best friend.

I treated Ethan's friend as my own, warmly welcoming Olivia.

But she always shyly hid behind Ethan, as if I were some terrifying creature.

Ethan said she was just a bit shy, but I clearly saw hostility in her eyes.

Olivia loved spicy food, so Ethan, always attentive to her needs, suggested we eat Mexican burritos.

It happened to be during my period, but not wanting to spoil the mood, I endured the intense pain and accompanied them through the meal.

After dinner, Olivia suggested we explore the haunted house, claiming she was scared but curious. Ethan affectionately tapped her nose, calling her a "scaredy-cat who can't resist a thrill."

Ethan held Olivia's hand protectively the entire time as they went through the haunted house, while I was left far behind, ending up startled by a sudden appearance of a ghost and falling to the ground. When I stumbled out of the haunted house, shaking, they were already long gone. They probably thought I was a buzzkill or just completely irrelevant. It never crossed their minds to wait for me.

I paid for everything, yet I was ditched like a third wheel. I was nothing but a complete and utter sucker.

THUD! My thoughts were interrupted as a basketball slammed into my forehead. The pain jolted me back to reality.

A familiar figure came running towards me. It was Alexander, my former rival.

He was the youngest son of the Reed family, one of the heirs to the West Coast tech empire. Throughout our four years of high school, he always managed to edge me out by a narrow margin, relegating me to second place in our class rankings.

Beyond academics, he also displayed an astonishing talent for business, repeatedly devising strategies that helped his family outmaneuver my father's investment projects.

Nobody likes to lose, so I always kept my distance from Alexander, viewing him as a formidable opponent.

Now, however, he was grabbing my wrist of his own accord.

"Hold on, your forehead's injured. We need to take care of that."

Only then did I feel the sting on my scalp. I touched it and found traces of blood on my fingers. The skin on my forehead must have been scraped.

Alexander had me sit on a bench by the lake while he quickly ran to a nearby convenience store to buy iodine and gauze to treat my wound.

"What are you doing here? And who's that guy with you?"A familiar male voice rang out. I looked up to see Ethan's sharp gaze fixed on Alexander.

Alexander didn't even lift his head in response to Ethan's questioning.

"Don't you have eyes? Sophia's hurt, and I'm helping stop the bleeding. As for who I am, that's none of your business."

Ethan was left speechless by Alexander's retort, his brows furrowed in displeasure.

Seeing Ethan's discomfort, I felt a twinge of satisfaction and found myself warming up to Alexander.

Ethan didn't pursue the matter with Alexander further, turning to me instead. "Don't think a little injury will earn you my sympathy. Did you deliberately step on Olivia's necklace and break it?"

I was baffled. "What kind of baseless accusation is this? I've never even seen any necklace, let alone stepped on it."

Olivia, with red-rimmed eyes, sobbed, "We left the dorm to get dinner, and when we came back, the necklace was broken in half. You were the only one in the room. Who else could it have been?"

I was so angry I wanted to laugh. "Did you actually see me step on your necklace? If not, don't throw around accusations. How do we know you didn't break it yourself by accident?"

"Shut up! Don't you dare talk to Olivia like that!" Ethan's voice suddenly rose. "Do you have any idea what that necklace means to her? The necklace was a high school graduation gift her mother had saved up for by working extra shifts for a year! Olivia cherished this necklace and would never damage it herself."

Alexander silently stood up at this moment, positioning himself between me and them, forming a human wall.

He said, "Since we're at an impasse, why don't we report this to the teacher? If someone witnessed Sophia stepping on and breaking the necklace, then she's indeed at fault. Otherwise, accusing her without evidence is slander."

Ethan was momentarily speechless. His intention wasn't to blow this out of proportion; he just wanted me to admit my mistake and apologize to Olivia to comfort her wounded heart.

Olivia was even more flustered. She wiped her tears and nervously tugged at Ethan's sleeve:

"Let it go. There are no cameras in the dorm, so we can't prove what really happened. Besides, how can ordinary folks like us go up against a rich heiress? The Williams family just donated $5 million to Stanford for a new library. The school will definitely side with her."

Ethan took the out Olivia offered: "Don't be upset, Olivia. I'll go to the mall right now and buy you an identical necklace."

Olivia's tears turned to a smile as she affectionately linked arms with Ethan and left." Don't let those two jerks ruin your mood. Let's go for a walk together," Alexander comforted me.

As we strolled, Alexander and I reminisced about our high school days. To my surprise, Alexander was incredibly witty and humorous, recounting those competitive stories by making fun of himself, which had me doubling over with laughter.

All this time, I had thought he was just an arrogant, cold, academic elite. I never imagined he had such an adorable side to him. My fondness for him suddenly increased.

As night fell, Alexander walked me back to the girls' dorm before saying goodbye.

When I returned to the dorm, I discovered all my bedding had been soaked and thrown outside the door. Furious, I wanted to burst in and confront Olivia about what she thought she was doing.

The dorm room was locked from the inside, and I couldn't open it even with my key.

With no other choice, I could only knock, but there was no answer from inside.

"What's with all the knocking in the middle of the night? Can't a person get some sleep around here?" someone from the neighboring room protested irritably.

It seemed they had planned together to keep me out of the dorm. Not wanting to disturb others, I silently left the dormitory.