Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
[Evelyn’s angle]
Catherine didn’t like to talk. Even when a classmate came up to her and talked to her, she only said a few words softly in response, which made me uncomfortable with this new classmate joining us.
The first time I talked to her was when the teacher asked the kids to form teams of two for a race. I had already formed a team with my friend, but the girl who was in the same team with Catherine cried and wanted to change teams.
The teacher asked her why. She said that Catherine’s mother was a bad woman and a mistress. So, Catherine was a bad and dirty child too. She didn’t want to play with bad children.
Hearing this reason, the teacher looked at Catherine with a strange expression. I suddenly felt slightly uncomfortable, but wasn’t towards Catherine, but towards my teacher.
The teacher didn’t say anything to the girl. Instead, she asked if anyone was willing to team up with Catherine, but the answer was obvious. No one raised a hand.
Looking at Catherine, who was standing there so helpless that she was almost crying, I said something to my friend and raised my hand.
Because of this small action, our friendship that hadn’t changed for more than a decade was established.
“Sister?”
A voice that suddenly sounded startled me. I turned around and saw Dylan standing under a tree, dressed in a pure white casual outfit. The sun shone through the branches onto his short chestnut-colored hair, and his gray-green eyes met mine in surprise.
“Dylan? Why are you here?”
“Sister, I wanted to ask you something! I thought you’d drink to your heart’s content last night and be drunk for the entire day, and would be lectured by Catherine, Mom and Dad right now.” Dylan said to me with excitement all over his face.
The corners of my mouth twitched slightly. What kind of bad brother would wait for his sister to embarrass herself?
“Oh! I’m so disappointed in you. It’s my fault for not letting you see me being lectured!” I refuted and turned around to ignore him.
He dared to provoke his sister when she was in a bad mood. I could probably throw him away.
“Hm? Sister, what’s wrong?”
Dylan walked a few steps around to stand in front of me. He didn’t look as silly as before. Instead, he looked a little worried. Seeing Dylan’s expression, I knew I shouldn’t lose my temper so easily. I lowered my eyes, buried my face in my arms and curled into a ball.
“Catherine is leaving. She won’t let me go to see her.”
Dylan fell silent when I finished talking.
After a while, Dylan sighed and said, “Has Catherine decided to leave after all?”
I looked up and was a bit surprised. Had Dylan known all along that Catherine was leaving?
Seeing my expression, Dylan continued, “Sister, didn’t you also guess that something might have happened at Catherine’s side? That’s why you’ve been sticking to her all this time. You even said you wanted to drink a lot at the graduation party.”
I remained silent. It was just as Dylan had said. I had guessed that something might have happened to Catherine. She had been absent-minded a while back, and even though I was sloppy and careless, it was impossible for me not to notice the changes in her after spending so much time with her. Since she had no intention of telling me, I couldn’t force her either. Everyone had to have their own private space. However, I had never expected to receive such a notice from her.
“I figured that, but I didn’t think she’d leave, and I didn’t think she wouldn’t let me contact her.”
I didn’t say the rest. It was these words that made me feel even worse.
Before the graduation party, I felt that she had returned to her normal self, back to the old Catherine. That was why I drank a little secretly and then made a series of mistakes. It was probably what happened last night that made Catherine change her mind and leave completely.
So it was all my fault.
I’d had a bad feeling since Catherine sat down next to me just then, so I avoided it, pretending I didn’t know anything, until Dylan’s words hit me like a needle piercing a balloon I had blown up with a lie.
“I’m sorry.”
I covered my face with my hands while tears fell uncontrollably. I didn’t dare, and I had no right to stop Catherine from leaving. I didn’t know what to do. I was a selfish, cowardly person.
A heavy weight pressed down on my back. Dylan sat down behind me and leaned back against me.
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“Catherine is no longer a child. She can take good care of herself. Even though she doesn’t allow you to contact her, you can secretly ask someone to check on her. Or if it’s inconvenient for you, I can also ask my friends to take a look. Not only you, me and our parents are also her family.”
The warmth on her back dispelled the early morning chill. The chirping of birds suddenly sounded in the depths of the forest, as if they were reminding her that a new day had begun.
Catherine left in the afternoon, and as she wished, I didn’t send her off. I simply asked someone to give her a star-shaped bottle with little stars. It was my first gift to her when I was a child, but it was filled with fireflies back then.
I sat in the coffee shop that everyone would pass by when leaving Putinino Town and watched a couple of black cars with unknown plates drive down the street. She was in the last one, and the window of that car was just open. She saw me. I saw her, too.
This time, however, neither of us spoke. I remained silent. My eyes followed the black car until I could no longer see it.