13
Shannon’s POV
I looked around the place, curiosity written all over my face. I was so distracted that I didn’t even notice the damp grass under my feet until I slipped.”
Instinctively, I reached out, hoping to grab onto something, but all I caught was air.
Panic rushed through me as my body lost balance. I shut my eyes, bracing for the painful impact on the ground, but it never came.
Instead, I landed on something warm, and a familiar scent filled my nose.§
Slowly, I opened my eyes, only to find my face just inches from Clayton’s.
I jolted in surprise, scrambling to push myself up, but my limbs were weak and uncooperative. Within a second, I collapsed right back onto his chest.
My palm landed flat against his chest, and to make it worse, I reflexively squeezed.
My face went up in flames.
I didn’t even dare to meet his eyes. I could only stare at the tips of his ears, which had turned beet red. Forcing my trembling legs to work, I pulled myself up again.
The silence between us was filled only with the sound of the wind. The awkwardness clung to the air so thickly that I didn’t even know what to say.
Just as I opened my mouth to break the silence, Clayton moved closer. Reflexively, I shut my eyes, thinking something was going to happen.
But instead of kissing me, he simply draped his jacket over my shoulders.
Without saying a word, he guided me toward the woods beside the shrine.
I followed him, flustered and embarrassed, silently berating myself for acting so ridiculous.
And just when I told myself to stop being a mess, I walked straight into his broad back.
Rubbing my forehead and muttering a quiet “ouch,” I heard his voice above me.
“Shannon, do you remember this place?”
I looked up at the trees ahead, then something about them was strangely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.
While I struggled to recall, he handed me a shovel.
I stared at it blankly.”
Then, under his watchful eyes, I helped him dig. Bit by bit, we moved the damp earth until a rusty iron box peeked through the dirt.”
Clayton knelt on one knee, brushing the dirt off the box with care. Then he gently placed it in front of me.}
And just like that, the memories came flooding back.
林
We were fourteen when we buried our time capsule here. We’d filled it with the things that mattered to us most.
Clayton pulled the key from the chain around his neck and, with a glance at me, slipped it into the lock.
My heart pounded as the lid creaked open.}
He handed me the box, and I instinctively took it. Inside were bits and pieces of our childhood, seemingly random, but precious. Seeing my puzzled expression, Clayton reached in and pulled out a small notebook.
It was the diary Mom bought for me right before she passed.
“Shannon,” he said gently, “this has all the dreams little Shannon had for grown–up Shannon. If you’re feeling lost now, maybe it’s time to let your younger self guide you. She was the smartest girl I knew.”
The night breeze cleared away the clouds, and stars glimmered in his eyes like reflections on still water.
He had always known when something was off with me. Even when I stayed silent, he could sense it. And instead of pressing or prying, he protected my pride.
On the way home, my heart was full.
Memories swirled in my mind. As we reached the bedroom door, I stopped walking, clutching the iron box in my hands. The emotions got the better of me, and I blurted out the question I had buried for years.!
*Clayton, why did you contact my dad back then? Why did you send me back to that place? You knew how much it hurt me.”
His lashes fluttered, and his throat moved as if the words were hard to say.”
“Shannon, it wasn’t me who called him. It was your grandma. She’d just been diagnosed with cancer. She knew she couldn’t take care of you anymore, so she reached out to your dad.”
He paused, eyes dimming with guilt.
“I only found out afterward. I wanted to tell you the truth, but I couldn’t bring myself to go against your grandma’s last request.“N
I opened my mouth but had no words.
All these years, I thought I’d been betrayed. When in reality, it was fate that had played the cruelest trick.
