I had no dreams that night and slept well. Because I woke up too early that day and slept too little the night before, draining my energy. This is the second time since I arrived in Victoria, waking up on a clear morning in the bright yellow light. I jumped to the window and was amazed to find that there was not even a shadow of clouds in the sky, only a few small woolly clouds of pure white fluffiness, which could not have brought any rain at all. I pushed the window open and was surprised to find that when it was opened, it was fairly quiet, not stuck at all, and it didn't look like it hadn't been opened in who knows how many years. I took a deep breath of relatively dry air. It was warm outside and there wasn't a hint of wind. My blood was boiling in my veins.

When I went downstairs, Chuck had already finished breakfast, and he immediately understood my feelings.

"Good weather for going out." He commented.

"Yes." I grinned toothily and agreed.

He smiled at me, his brown eyes curled in two arcs. When Chuck smiled, it was easy to see why he and my mom had been married so early in the first place. Much of the youthful romance he had in those days had disappeared before I can remember. Just as his curly brown hair—the same color as mine, even if the texture was different—had begun to wane, revealing more and more of the shiny skin on his forehead. But when he smiled, I could still see the man who had eloped with Tia, who was only two years older than me at the time.

I gleefully ate my breakfast and watched the dust dance in the sunlight shining in from the back window. Chuck shouted goodbye, and then I heard the patrol car drive away. I took my waterproof jacket and hesitated when I went out. Leaving it at home is a tempting but fateful move. I sighed, slung it around my arm, and walked into the brightest sunshine I'd ever seen in months.

With the strength of my elbow fat, I was finally able to roll down almost every window in the truck. I was the first to go to school. I didn't even glance at the clock and hurried out the door. I parked my car and walked straight to the rarely used picnic benches south of the cafeteria. The benches were still a bit damp, so I sat on my jacket and was glad to have the opportunity to use it. I've done my homework – a product of a slow-paced social life – but there are still a few trigonometry problems that I'm not sure I've got right. I diligently took out the book, but stopped halfway through the first question and began to wander too much, gazing at the sunlight dancing on the tops of the red bark trees. In a moment's of carelessness, I sketched in the margins of my homework. After a few minutes, I suddenly noticed that I had drawn five pairs of black eyes, all staring at me on the paper. I erased them completely with an eraser.

"Imia!" I heard someone calling me, sounding like Jack.

I looked up and realized that while I was sitting here absentmindedly, the school was already packed. Everyone wore a t-shirt, and some even wore short-sleeved shirts, although the temperature did not exceed 15°C at most. Jack walked up to me, waving his hand all the way, wearing a khaki short-sleeved shirt over a striped rugby shirt.

"Hi, Jack." I shouted, waving to him. I can't be uninterested in such a morning.

He came over and sat down next to me, his neatly combed hair glistening in the sun. He smiled with his mouth wide open. I can't help but feel satisfied just to see me to make him so happy.

"I never noticed it before - your hair is red." He commented, a thin thread clutched between his fingers swaying gently in the breeze.

"It's only like that in the sun."

As he smoothed out a strand of hair behind my ear, I began to feel a little uneasy.

"Good weather, isn't it?"

"I love the weather." I agree.

"What were you doing yesterday?" His tone was a bit like he was asking about the status of his belongings.

"I'm almost always writing my papers." I didn't add that I was done - I didn't necessarily make myself look like I was showing off.

He slapped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Oh yes - that's the deadline on Thursday, right?"

"Well, I think, it's Wednesday."

"Wednesday?" He frowned. "Something is wrong...... What's your theme? ”

"Is Shakespeare's treatment of female characters a sign of misogyny?"

He stared at me as if I had just spoken a cryptic word.

"I think I'm going to have to work on my paper tonight." He said dejectedly. "I was going to ask if you would like to go out for a walk." "Oh." I took my guard off. Why did I end up embarrassed every time I had a happy conversation with Jack?

"Well, we can have dinner together, or...... I can write my essay later. He smiled hopefully at me.

Jack ...... "I don't like to be put in this situation." I don't think it's a good idea. ”

He pulled his face down. "Why?" He asked, his eyes full of wariness. I snapped back to Roger, wondering if this was exactly what he had in mind.

"I think...... If you dare to repeat what I said right away, I'll be happy to kill you. I threatened. But I think it hurts Mary's feelings. ”

He was completely overwhelmed, apparently not thinking about it at all. "Mary?"

"Really, Jack, are you blind?"

"Oh." He exclaimed softly—clearly still confused. I took advantage of that and got myself out.

"It's time for class, and I can't be late anymore." I put the book away and stuffed it in my bag.

We walked silently towards Building Three, his face distraught. I hope that whatever is making him ponder, it is best to steer him in the right direction.

When I saw Mary in trigonometry class, she was talking eagerly. She, Reilis, and Mesha were going to go to Port Oshang tonight to buy a dress for the ball, and she wanted me to go too, even though I didn't need to. I hesitated. It's a good thing to go out of town with a couple of little girlfriends, but Mesha is too. And who knows what I can do tonight...... But apparently it was the wrong path that made my mind wander. Of course, I love the sun. But that's not all there is to me in a good mood, in fact, not at all.

So I just gave her an ambiguous reply, telling her I had to ask Chuck first.

When she went to Spanish class, she kept talking about the prom, and she didn't have time to talk about anything else, and she didn't even stop until the end of the class. Five minutes later, we went to lunch. I was so caught up in my madness that I barely noticed what she said. I saw him painfully, but not just him, but all the Wright children—comparing them to the suspicions that tormented my mind. As I walked through the entrance of the cafeteria, for the first time I felt a wave of fear slip down my spine and onto my stomach. Can they know what I'm thinking? Then, a completely different feeling turned me upside down - would Roger wait to sit with me again?

As usual, I first looked at the Wright's table. When I realized it was empty, a wave of fear churned in my stomach. With a fainter and fainter hope, my eyes were on the rest of the cafeteria, hoping to see him sitting alone, waiting for me. It was full of people everywhere - we were late for Spanish class - but there was no sign of Roger or one of his family members. A sense of powerlessness and desolation struck me.

I staggered behind Mary, no longer bothering to pretend to be listening to her.

We arrived too late, almost all the people at our table arrived. I avoided the empty chair next to Jack in favor of the one next to Reilis. I vaguely noticed that Jack politely pulled out a chair for Mary, and her face immediately glowed.

Reilis quietly asked a few questions about the Merchant of Venice, and I answered as reasonably as I could, though I was now spiraling into the abyss of despair. She invited me to come with them tonight, and I immediately agreed, trying to catch anything that would distract me.

When I walked into the biology classroom, I realized that I had one last glimmer of hope. But after seeing his empty seat, a new round of disappointment came over me.

The rest of the day passed long and silent. In PE class, we had to listen to the rules of badminton, which was another ordeal waiting for me in line. But at the very least, it means I can sit and listen to the lecture instead of tripping around the patio. The best part was that the coach didn't finish it, so I'm going to get away with it tomorrow. Until I was freed from the rest of my lessons, I didn't care that they were going to let me get my racket the day after tomorrow.

I was glad to be out of school so that I could be free to lose my temper and lose my mind before I went out with Mary tonight. But just as I walked through the door of Chuck's house, Mary called and canceled our plans. I tried to rejoice that Jack had invited her out to dinner—and I did feel relieved that he finally understood—but my eager voice seemed fake to my own ears. She postponed our shopping trip to tomorrow night.

This leaves me with very little to distract from. I marinated the fish in the sauce, made another salad, and with the rest of the bread from last night, dinner was ready, and there was nothing more to do. I spent half an hour concentrating on my homework, but I finished it again. I checked my email, and looked at the emails from my mother that I had accumulated, and the further back in time I was, the more irritable my tone became. I sighed and typed a short reply:

"Mom, I'm sorry. I went out. I went to the beach with a few friends. And I still have a thesis to write. ”

My excuse sounded rather pathetic, so I gave up and replaced it with the one below.

"It's been very sunny outside today – I know, I'm shocked – so I'm going to go outside and get as much vitamin D as I can. I love you. - Imia"

I decided to pass the time by reading outside of class to pass the hour. When I came to Victoria, I took with me a collection of books, the most broken of which was Jane. Austen's Collection. I picked out the book, walked to the backyard, and as I went downstairs, grabbed a worn-out mattress from the linen closet at the top of the stairs.

In Chuck's small, boxy courtyard, I folded the mattress in half and placed it on the lawn beyond the shade of the trees. No matter how long the sun shines, the lawn is always slightly moist. I lay down, my ankles folded in the air, and scanned each section of the book at a rapid pace, trying to decide which one would best indulge me. My favorites are Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility. I read the former the most, so I started reading "Sense and Sensibility". I watched for a long time and felt a little tired from my eyes, so I closed my eyes and rested.

The breeze was gently blowing, but it blew the hair next to my face and it was itchy. I pulled all my hair back and fanned it over my mattress, then once again focused on the heat of the sun. The warm sun fell on my eyelids, on my cheekbones, on my nose, on my lips, on my forearms, on my neck, soaking through my light shirt......

Next I heard the sound of Chuck's patrol car running bricks into the driveway. I sat up in astonishment, realizing that the light had disappeared behind the bushes. I just fell asleep. I looked around blankly and suddenly realized that I wasn't alone.

"Chuck?" I asked out loud. But I could hear him closing the door from the front of the house.

I jumped up, ridiculously impatient, and picked up my already damp mattress and book. I rushed into the house, put some oil in the pot, started heating it up, and realized that dinner was going to be postponed. When I came in, Chuck was hanging up his belt and taking off his boots.

"Sorry, Dad, dinner isn't good yet - I'm asleep outside the house." My words were interrupted by a yawn.

"Don't worry," he said. "Anyway, I want to see the score of the game first."

To find something to do, I watched TV with Chuck after dinner. There wasn't much I wanted to watch, but he knew I didn't like football, so he switched to a sitcom that we didn't really like. But he's still happy because we can stay together and do something. If I don't care about my loss, it's nice to make him happy.

"Dad," I said during the commercial. "Mary and Reilis are going to Harbor Ao to find clothes for the ball tomorrow night, and they want me to help them choose...... Do you mind if I go with them? ”

"Mary Miller?" He asked.

"And Reilis Velvet." I sighed and gave him more detailed information.

He was confused: "But you're not going to the ball, are you?" ”

"I'm not going, Dad. But I can help them find clothes -- you know, give them a little constructive advice. "If I'm talking to a woman, I don't have to explain that.

"Well, okay." He seems to realize that he is too far away from the girl's world. "It's school night, though."

"We go as soon as school is out so we can come back early. You're going to have to figure out the dinner yourself, no problem, right? ”

"Imia, I was self-reliant for seventeen years before you came here." He reminded me.

"I don't know how you survived." I muttered, then added more clearly. "I'll keep a little bit of the ingredients in the fridge for a cold sandwich, okay? It's on the upper level of the fridge. ”

The sky was clear again this morning. I had a new hope, though I tried to suppress it indifferently. Because the weather was warmer, I put on a dark blue V-neck blouse - something I would only wear during the coldest part of the winter in Draco City.

I scheduled my arrival time precisely so that I could be in time for class. My heart was heavy, and I was walking around the parking lot looking for a vacant seat, and at the same time looking for the silver Volvo, but it was clearly not there. I pulled over to the last row and hurried to my English class, rushing to the classroom out of breath before the last bell rang.

Today is exactly the same as yesterday - except that I have not been able to keep the little sprout of hope that has sprouted in my heart. As I looked in vain at the lunchroom, when I sat down at the empty biological experiment table, I could only strangle them in pain.

The Aoxiang Harbor plan will be restarted tonight, and what makes everything even more attractive is the fact that Meisha has something else to do. I couldn't wait to get out of town so I could stop and look over my shoulder, hoping to see him appear there as unexpectedly as usual. I swear to myself that I'm going to have a great time tonight, and I can't spoil Reilis or Mary while I'm sweeping. Maybe I should buy some clothes too. I refused to wait until this weekend and I might have to be alone shopping in Seattle and not interested in my earlier schedule. Of course, he won't unilaterally cancel the agreement, at least tell me.

After school, Mary followed me home in her old white Mercury so I could leave my books and car at home. When I was in the house, I brushed my hair a few times quickly. The thought of escaping Victoria gives me a sense of relief. I left a note for Chuck on the table, told him again where to find his dinner, then took the worn-out wallet out of my bag, transferred everything into a purse that I rarely used, and ran out to find Mary. Next we went to Reilis's house, where she was waiting for us. When we really drove out of the confines of the town, my excitement started to grow exponentially.