11
That night, I still packed my things and moved into the dorms.
After being taken over by the girl’s consciousness, she seemed to disappear; I hadn’t felt her emotions for a while.
I started bringing Jax breakfast every day.
But he would always split that small breakfast in half, making me eat too.
During breaks, he’d pull small pastries from his desk drawer for me.
Calling them his “thank you gift.
That day, I put his breakfast and pastries into my desk drawer again, and they stayed untouched all morning.
With mid–to–late stage stomach cancer, I had no appetite; I didn’t even feel hungry.
If it weren’t for Jax, I wouldn’t even remember to eat.
At lunchtime, the classroom emptied out; people either went to eat or headed home.
Ireached into my desk drawer nulled out mv malak
Suddenly, a chair scraped across the floor behind me, an earsplitting sound.
I jumped.
I thought the classroom was empty, but Jax was still there.
Jax stared at the girl, whose figure had grown visibly thinner over the past few days.
He looked at me, his expression grim.
“Elara, I already know”
He gripped my shoulders, his voice serious. “I know y
you’re sick.
I sighed. No wonder he’d been so unusual lately, he hadn’t even been copying my homework.
Jax frowned, seeing the girl’s seemingly indifferent expression.
“Get treatment. Il give you the money.”
Then, afraid she might misunderstand, he quickly added,
“Consider it a l
a loan. Once you’re better, you can tutor me to pay it back?
A warm feeling bloomed in my chest. What a fool.
“I’m barely scraping by myself, find someone else for tutoring.”
Jax bristled. “I’m trying to get you to treat your illness, don’t you understand?!”
I smiled at him and said softly, “I understand
“Thank you, but it’s okay. I can’t be cured anymore. Besides, no one cares…”
Seeing the girl’s slightly disheartened expression, Jax blurted out,
“I care!”
Seeing my astonished look, he cleared his throat.
“And, you haven’t even tried treatment, how do you know you can’t be cured? You can’t be afraid to face your illness! Don’t you get it?!
I burst out laughing.
It was the first time Jax had seen the girl express such vivid emotion.
When she smiled, two small dimples appeared on her pale, slender cheeks.
He froze, a blush quickly spreading across his face.
I didn’t know when it started, but being around Jax made me feel at ease.
Perhaps it was because, for the first time, I felt what it was like to be cared for by someone.
I stopped talking to him.
