But I ran into Jason anyway.
At the farewell dinner that the school
arranged for us.
He was working as a waiter, serving us.
He recognized me when he handed me a
soda.
0
<
His eyes lit up for a second.
“Hailey…”
He said my name.
I smiled. “Hi, Jason. Long time no see.”
He opened his mouth, then blushed.
He didn’t say anything else. He just went back
to work.
He was looking down.
He was trying to disappear.
After dinner.
I was settling the bill with the head of the
<
cafeteria.
4
Jason was waiting nearby.
He knew I wanted to talk to him.
He left us alone.
It was raining.
The night air was cool.
Jason and I sat in the cafeteria.
“I haven’t been doing well,” he said. “I was
too young.”
I didn’t care. “You’re still young. You have
time.”
L
C
C
“I thought I was special. I thought I had a gift.
But I learned that things don’t work that way.
Everything is about connections.”
“If I hadn’t gotten into MIT, if I hadn’t been in
that secret program, no one would have
invested in me.”
I was surprised.
Jason had remembered.
That’s why he chose Brittany.
He didn’t want to do the coding competition.
Last time, he did it for me.
“I messed up,” he said. “I’m sorry, Hailey.”
<
I shook my head. “Everyone makes choices.
You don’t have to apologize.”
He looked pale. “I chose wrong. Brittany left
- me. She’s with another man. She said I didn’t
keep my promise to give her a good life.”
“She’s changed. She’s not the girl I knew.
She’s greedy and shallow. She doesn’t want
me or the kid.”
He was blaming Brittany.
He still loved her.
The noise was endless.
The rain wasn’t stopping.
I looked at the clock. It was almost curfew.
く
I stood up. “I have to go.”
He was stunned. He didn’t realize how long
he’d been talking.
I stood in front of him.
He was so thin.
His shoulders were narrow.
He wasn’t the athlete I remembered.
I realized that you can never replace the
original.
I still loved the old Jason.
The Jason I knew before.
<
I walked to the door. Jason handed me an
umbrella.
“Here,” he said.
I looked around. “There’s only one.”
He remembered. “I’m invincible.”
The familiar words filled me with disgust.
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine.”
I walked out into the rain.
Jason stood there, looking lost.
