Chapter 17

Shayne stood beneath the rain outside the dormitory. Water dripped from his hair and soaked his shoulders. He could no longer remember how many times he had waited in vain. Each time Laura's familiar figure appeared, she passed him by without so much as a glance. He suffered rejection after rejection, each time filled with cold indifference. At first, he was agitated. He felt resentment, anger, and an unwillingness to accept it. But later, through countless sleepless nights, he was forced to look back at the past, piece by piece. Uncontrollably, those memories surfaced in his mind. Melinda posted on social media about feeling down, and he immediately abandoned Laura. Laura had been sulking after an argument with him, and yet he'd left her to stay on the phone with Melinda all night. He climbed over the school wall to buy hot tea for Melinda. Yet, on the afternoon when Laura had suffered severe menstrual pain, he just brushed it off by asking her to drink more warm water. At the c