Chapter 10
Comments Said Not to Save My Toxic Childhood Sweetheart, I Chose Cambridge Chapter 10
Comments Said Not to Save My Toxic Childhood Sweetheart, I Chose Cambridge Chapter 10
The day Haverthorp Institute’s fall semester began, the sky shone bright and clear blue I stood at the entrance to Thorne Hall, staring at old stone campus buildings glowing gold in the afternoon sun. Other new students wandered around taking photos, chatting in small groups, rolling suitcases across the stone walkways.
No one knew my name here, and I didn’t recognize a single face around me.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, a new message from Wren popping up on screen.
[Did you make it to campus safely?]
[I arrived.]
[How’s everything there?]
[It’s perfect.]
[I’m glad you found a fresh start. Take good care of yourself overseas.]
[You too.]
She forwarded a series of updates about Seraphina’s current life situation. Her parents tried to send her abroad for schooling, but she refused the offer. She’d become isolated and ostracized at her
new local high school.
I scanned the message thread briefly, then closed the chat without replying.
I felt no lingering hatred, no lingering hurt. I simply didn’t care anymore.
My phone vibrated once more, a bank transfer notification popping onto my screen.
Kael had sent five thousand dollars, the transfer note reading: [Reimbursement for study prep materials.]
He’d finally remembered the three years of tutoring binders I’d put together for him all those years ago.
I tapped to accept the bank transfer.
He tried to send another follow-up message, but the system blocked delivery since I’d kept his contact fully blocked.
I stared at the blank chat screen for a few quiet seconds, then navigated back to my main phone menu.
Sunlight streamed through the institute’s tall windows, glinting off my phone screen and making me squint slightly.
I slipped the device into my jacket pocket, grabbed my suitcase handle, and stepped fully through Thorne Hall’s main entry archway.
A soft breeze drifted over from Willow Brook, carrying the faint scent of grass and fresh water.
During the first week of classes, I attended the Undergraduate Freshman Mixer hosted by my hall.
A girl named Zora Veyra sat beside me, originally grew up in Singapore before relocating to the States for high school. She smiled wide with two faint dimples in her cheeks. She asked where I’d traveled from to attend Haverthorp.
“I came from the United States,” I answered simply.
She mentioned how many American students attended the institute, then asked what pushed me to enroll here.
I thought about it for a second before replying.
“No one here knows the messy drama I left back home.”
She blinked in surprise, then laughed warmly.
“Watch out though-Haverthorp’s a tiny campus. Everyone’ll know your name before the month ends.”
We quickly became close friends after that conversation.
She knew nothing about Havenbrook Preparatory Academy, Seraphina, or Kael. She’d never heard the story of the SAT exam day bus chaos, or the hate messages spread across live stream chats.
To her, I was simply Elowen, an international student studying Integrated Natural Sciences.
This new sense of anonymity felt unbelievably freeing.
On quiet weekends, I walked along the banks of Willow Brook all by myself.
Other students rowed small boats across the water, tourists laughed and snapped photos from the shore, their chatter carried across the water by the soft wind.
I leaned against the stone footbridge railing, watching the slow current flow past, and my mind drifted back to senior year at Havenbrook Prep.
Kael passed by my classroom window one afternoon, tapping the glass to catch my attention.
“Quit studying for a minute-come walk around the athletic field with me.”
I’d told him I’d join him once I finished my practice problem set.
After that day, he never tapped my classroom window again.
A faint smile tugged at my mouth as I stepped off the bridge and followed the winding brook path forward.
A light breeze drifted off Willow Brook, carrying soft grass and water weed scents.
The sunlight glowed warm and bright.
And for the first time in years, I was truly okay.
