Mia Waters suddenly felt that he had faded into the background, as pale as the wall itself. The chilly, silent air gently wrapped around all four of them.

What broke through this air was Zoe Young, who walked over from behind Mia Waters.

She wore a fawning yet utterly insincere expression, reaching out her left hand to gently stroke the wall, as if she were smoothing the fur of a big dog.

"We were just doing a good deed on the way..."

The boy's face showed a hint of mockery, as if to say, Liar, keep making things up!

"Really? What kind of good deed needs three people to push a wall together?" He raised his eyebrows and smiled.

Zoe Young gave a silly laugh and pointed sharply at the wall.

"Because we found out that your school's wall is a bit crooked."

------------

7. Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road

For the fastest updates on Hello, Old Times, read the latest chapters!

"Zoe Young, go to hell..." Mia Waters's voice was as small as a mosquito, maybe because he was gritting his teeth.

"How come I never noticed the wall was crooked?" Andrew Lane finally tore off his Romeo mask of sorrow, and his voice was no longer elegant or restrained—Zoe Young suddenly felt a wave of relief inside.

This was the Andrew Lane she knew.

"Because..." Zoe Young tilted her head to look at the perfectly straight white wall, "because we already straightened it just now..."

For a moment, Zoe Young felt like Andrew Lane was about to pounce and bite her.

Every time she saw him, she felt a complicated panic inside, and the things she said and did all veered off the normal track. Or maybe, she did it on purpose, deliberately steering the conversation as far away as possible, as if that could help her avoid the tangled mess between them.

Just like every time before, using lunch boxes, sanitary pads, and yearbooks missing a blessing, smoothing over the gap of time with all sorts of strange coincidences, sticking their original selves back together.

Zoe Young didn't see Mia Waters's look of disdain, nor did she see the shock in Sean Sherman's eyes. She still smiled carelessly, but her eyes were a little nervously fixed on Andrew Lane in front of her.

Andrew Lane didn't smile. In the rather long silence, he was like a small animal, slowly retracting the fur and claws he had bristled in pain, just narrowing his eyes slightly, calmly facing off with Zoe Young, with a hint of sharpness.

The flustered and exasperated Andrew Lane that Zoe Young knew only appeared for a few seconds before disappearing into the crooked wall.

"Do you think this is fun?" Andrew Lane smiled, but there was nothing warm or bright about it.

Zoe Young raised her eyebrows, her chest feeling a bit tight, but she didn't argue.

"How old are you now, still making up excuses like this? What, you think you never graduated elementary school?"

"You disappeared without a word, and now you pop up out of nowhere, using your little tricks to fool and bully people again?"

Andrew Lane stood leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, every word calm, even with a hint of a scornful smile, but the slight tremble at the end of his sentences betrayed a trace of real emotion.

Mia Waters was stunned. He saw that the Zoe Young who had been in control like a queen just three minutes ago now had her head lowered, her cheeks slightly red, her expression unclear, only her ponytail still sticking up high, like a magpie refusing to admit defeat.

When he first found out that Romeo and Zoe Young knew each other, he had sensibly kept quiet, but now he couldn't hold back anymore.

"It's not like we knocked down your school's crappy wall, so why do you care why we were pushing it? I just felt like pushing it, what's it to you? Wearing a top hat and you forget your own name, huh? I just don't like the look of you today..."

"Mia Waters!"

Zoe Young grabbed Mia Waters, her cold, sweaty fingers landing on his rolled-up sleeve, making him shiver all over, and his half-formed anger instantly deflated.

"That's enough, let's go." Zoe Young shook her head at Mia Waters, then lowered her eyes and walked past Andrew Lane toward the venue. As she brushed past him, her wrist was suddenly gripped tightly by Andrew Lane.

"I'm not done talking. You think you can just leave?" Andrew Lane's cheeks were a little red, his eyes frighteningly bright.

Seeing Mia Waters frown and about to rush over, Andrew Lane just waved his hand lightly: "Hey, calm down, this is between us, nothing to do with you."

Mia Waters's foot, just about to step forward, hung in midair, and he had to stop, his expression half fierce, half embarrassed.

Andrew Lane was now more than half a head taller than Zoe Young, but Zoe Young didn't struggle, just looked up quietly at this boy who had grown so much. His changes were so great, and it wasn't just his height that now made her look up to him.

Yet for a long time, Andrew Lane didn't ask anything.

Why didn't you come to the Affiliated High School? Why didn't you contact me? Where did you go?

He could have called Tina Young, he would have found her for sure—but he didn't. He didn't even know why.

Her disappearance was like a dream, or maybe, her presence back then was the real dream.

But without any warning, she appeared again. Charlotte Lee was still busy changing clothes and removing makeup, and he didn't want to wait, so he went alone to the art teacher's office to return the costume, and then saw a scene that made his blood boil—what were they doing, pushing the wall? Were they mental patients trying to escape?

The next second, the girl in the middle stepped back, exaggeratedly wiping nonexistent sweat from her forehead, and said with a grin, "I can't do it anymore, I'm exhausted, you two keep going!"

Her voice was so familiar, yet mixed with a bit of unfamiliar crispness. Her profile as she smiled was also so familiar, the curve of her brows and eyes just like when they first met, but Andrew Lane had never seen Zoe Young smile so carefreely, almost a little crazy.

So naturally happy.

Not yet fifteen, Andrew Lane felt for the first time so many emotions churning in his chest, all tangled together, time pressing, no time to untangle them, only able to pick out the brightest thread—bright red, anger.

"You think I can still just laugh and listen to your nonsense? Still let you bully me?" Andrew Lane's voice was calm, but he couldn't control the strength in his hand. Zoe Young frowned from the pain, but didn't make a sound.

After a while, she looked up: "I know you were letting me win."

Andrew Lane was a little surprised, opened his mouth, and loosened his grip.

"Don't worry, I won't bully you anymore."

Zoe Young pulled her hand free. Andrew Lane's panicked expression flashed by, and she strode toward the entrance of the venue without looking back.

"Hey, are you really okay?"

Zoe Young nodded: "I'm fine."

She was grateful that Mia Waters didn't ask anything, including who Romeo really was.

Zoe Young returned to her seat, and about five minutes later, Mia Waters and Sean Sherman came back. Sean Sherman looked gloomy, while Mia Waters seemed thoughtful.

She felt a bit annoyed, smiled apologetically: "Sorry, I was too willful, made things awkward for you all just now, and in the end it didn't work at all, just made things worse."

Mia Waters waved it off: "I'm not nervous anymore, really," then his voice dropped, "as for Sean Sherman, the way she is now isn't your fault, she just had a fight with someone."

"Sean Sherman? A fight?" Those two words just didn't seem to go together.

"Yeah," Mia Waters nodded, "and with a boy, too. Right after you left, a boy and a girl came looking for that Romeo from before, and... they said some really nasty things. I spoke up for Sean Sherman a lot, anyway..." Mia Waters trailed off, shrugging.

He didn't want to gossip about the details of the argument to Zoe Young. If he were the proud-to-a-fault Sean Sherman, he wouldn't want those vicious words repeated either.

"In the end, it was that Romeo you know who stopped us all. Actually, he's pretty reasonable, really. After you left, he seemed totally out of it." Mia Waters finished, carefully watching Zoe Young's expression, but saw nothing.

Zoe Young quickly changed the subject: "Sean Sherman's not too upset, is she?"

Mia Waters shrugged and gestured toward Sean Sherman.