The next turn is Michelle Cindy's family's convenience store. She suddenly stopped and said to Mia Waters, "Let's stop here. My house is just ahead."

Mia Waters raised his eyebrows, as if he wanted to insist on seeing her all the way home.

But Michelle Cindy finally mustered up her courage and said softly, "My home is different from yours."

The warm moonlight only had a fake pale yellow warmth. The cold wind was biting, blowing Michelle Cindy's newly cut bangs into disarray—apart from Zoe Young, not a single person had noticed that Michelle Cindy had changed her hairstyle; now she wore straight bangs.

Mia Waters stood there quietly, chewing over her words. There was no hurtful look of sudden realization on his face; he just smiled and said, "Alright, go on home. Call my house when you get back safely."

Michelle Cindy knew he understood, and she didn't even dare to guess what kind of home Mia Waters imagined she had. He had seen her socks with holes, heard her parents' awkward responses on the phone, and understood what she meant by "My home is different from yours."

Maybe for the sake of her pitiful pride, she turned and fled, vaguely hearing Mia Waters's shout swallowed by the wind. He said something, and that sentence, along with the lingering 37.2°C warmth on her body, was cooled and left behind at the corner.

What she had to face was still that shabby convenience store, the worn-out sign, and the biting northern wind in her chest.

That was the real Michelle Cindy.

What was there to be ashamed of? She lifted her head and forced back her tears.

The days when she stood up in silence and was scolded like a fool by every teacher were firmly etched in the memory of every classmate around her. There was nothing left to be embarrassed about. Dad, Mom, the broken home where she couldn't invite classmates for dinner... none of that was as shameful as Michelle Cindy herself.

That's why she had to leave. Leave far, far away, until there was no one around who knew the Michelle Cindy from before she was fifteen.

Until she was no longer Michelle Cindy at all.

But to her surprise, after that, Mia Waters actually became much more friendly and familiar with her. Maybe because Zoe Young got chickenpox and had to stay home at a critical time, the usually careless Mia Waters took the initiative to act as both tutor and courier, organizing exercises and test papers for her every day, most of which came from Michelle Cindy.

They now had a legitimate topic to discuss. He would come over to urge her to finish the papers, and she could point out different parts and explain the requirements for Mia Waters to pass on... More importantly, Michelle Cindy realized that after Mia Waters vaguely learned about her family background, he didn't act distant or sympathetic—he just treated her normally.

A rare kind of normal.

Sometimes, Mia Waters would sit a little closer to her to copy the papers. Michelle Cindy felt her ears start to burn again, a little dizzy, but very comfortable.

A low fever of 37.2°C.

The source of warmth was on her left.

Until the chickenpox-covered Zoe Young appeared behind the glass in the mailroom, Mia Waters called everyone over to see her, and for the first time, Michelle Cindy had the chance to walk side by side with Sean Sherman.

The two of them really were a bit alike—both quiet and gloomy.

Halfway there, she softly asked Mia Waters, "Hey, how exactly am I like Sean Sherman?"

Mia Waters snorted, "Didn't I already say you two aren't alike?"

Michelle Cindy pressed again, "Why not?"

Mia Waters shrugged, "If I say you're not alike, then you're not."

Zoe Young, being treated like a monkey on display, shouted angrily at Mia Waters from inside, but those outside—Michelle Cindy and the others—couldn't hear her. Mia Waters laughed happily, made faces, knocked on the glass, and even pulled a banana from his bag to pretend to feed her, driving Zoe Young crazy. Martin Bates added fuel to the fire, making a camera shape with his fingers as if taking pictures, and even Sean Sherman actually smiled for once.

Michelle Cindy suddenly spaced out at that moment.

In fact, she never wanted Zoe Young to recover and come back.

The Michelle Cindy who used to help Zoe Young put thumbtacks on Ethan Xavier's chair had already drowned in the flood of years, in Michelle Cindy番外. The Michelle Cindy of now was throwing a handful of thumbtacks at the world indiscriminately. In that moment, she was crazily jealous, wishing so much that she was the monkey inside the glass. She knew that beneath Zoe Young's apparent anger was a heart full of gratitude and happiness.

A kind of happiness that comes from truly being loved.

For a moment, she swapped herself in for Zoe Young inside, and as she thought about it, a shy smile appeared on her face.

Coming back to herself, she found Zoe Young had caught that absent-minded smile and was smiling back at her gratefully.

In that instant, Michelle Cindy understood the difference between herself and Sean Sherman.

Sean Sherman only wanted to be number one. She could go without pretty clothes, not care about popularity, not care about anything, as long as she was number one.

But Michelle Cindy, she wanted to become Zoe Young, or rather, become one of the Zoe Youngs.

They were likable, had happy families, lived in comfort, had many friends, excelled in their studies, had bright futures, and were carefree.

Michelle Cindy was so greedy.

When Michelle Cindy surpassed Zoe Young and became number one, she knew that this so-called friendship was over.

She no longer accepted Zoe Young's inexplicable kindness and goodwill; she gave the other girl the real Michelle Cindy.

Selfish, dark, ambitious.

Zoe Young, this so-called little heroine, really couldn't stand having the person she pitied take her place. Michelle Cindy sneered inwardly, watching the other girl lie on her desk, hiding her discomfort.

But at that moment, she heard Mia Waters loudly comforting Zoe Young, "You got fifth place."

"You got fifth place, that's more technical, and I even gave up my spot ahead of you."

Mia Waters's warm voice drowned out the undercurrents in Michelle Cindy's heart.

She didn't see much of Mia Waters after that.

The last thing she remembered him saying was to another girl who soon reclaimed first place: "Do you want to get fifth place?"

Later, Michelle Cindy went to Brightstar High School, where no one knew the her from before she was fifteen. Later, Michelle Cindy really was no longer Michelle Cindy.

Even later, she fell for a boy whose youth was as cramped as hers. He had no acne, was highly regarded, handsome and outstanding, but like her, something had tied down his wings.

She even felt that if you peeled away the surface, he was just another Ray Cindy.

She didn't know if she liked him, or if it was because she hated another girl, or maybe it was just that like attracts like, or maybe she admired how well he wore his mask—better than she did...

But that warm feeling never came back, that natural, uncontrollable urge to get close never came back.

That sunny feeling.

The kind of feeling that only Mia Waters ever had.

Even though the boy named Andrew Lane who now followed the indifferent Zoe Young had a similar smile and the same habit of bickering as Mia Waters, Michelle Cindy still knew that Mia Waters was different.

Mia Waters wouldn't stubbornly chase after Zoe Young and pester her, Mia Waters wouldn't let Zoe Young control his moods, Mia Waters wasn't the sun. He wouldn't make people feel scorched all over.

He, and his home, were just like a quilt warmed by the sun, wrapped around you, just the right amount of gentle heat, a mild tipsiness like a low fever.

Because she had nothing, she instinctively drew near and longed for it.

But in the end, he never cared to warm her.

Long after, when Ray Cindy heard about Zoe Young's shameful family matters from a short classmate, in that moment she suddenly heard clearly, in the north wind that blew her home at night, the last thing Mia Waters shouted as they parted.

A very simple, very simple sentence.

"Why do you always think other people must have it better than you?"

Ray Cindy suddenly laughed at herself.

There are millions of people in the world more outstanding, smarter, and happier than Mia Waters, but he never thought others were better than him.

He didn't think so, so he was the happiest.

Ray Cindy once wanted to have an epiphany because of this, but some things, once started, can never end.

Michelle Cindy番外 For example, Michelle Cindy wanted to become Ray Cindy, and Ray Cindy wanted to become someone else.

Because being someone else is happier.

Before the convenience store was about to be demolished, she squatted at home packing things, and was suddenly dazzled by a pile of junk in the sunlight.

She walked over and saw that the shiny thing was actually a silver CD player.

After the chickenpox, things between Zoe Young and Michelle Cindy quickly became awkward. The CD player had long since run out of batteries, and she no longer listened to it, but had forgotten to return it to its owner.

More than three years had passed.