Chapter 6

Laura turned away in silence, avoiding them as she headed toward the school's back garden. There stood a very old banyan tree. She and Shayne had once carved their names on its trunk, drawing a small heart beside them. That was back in their first year of high school. He had pulled her over and carefully carved it with a small knife, saying he wanted to make sure they were carved into each other's lives. Now, Laura took out the key she carried with her and found the line of names. Then, she scraped them off bit by bit. Just as she finished scraping and was about to leave, she heard Melinda's sweet, cutesy voice behind her. Then came the sound of approaching footsteps. "Shayne, come look! I heard that if you carve your names in this grove, you'll have a bright future and boundless success! Let's carve our names, too!" Even without turning around, Laura could imagine Shayne nodding in agreement. Sure enough, she heard him answer with a low, "Okay." Then came the faint sound of a blade scraping against bark. Right beside the tree where she had just erased her name, they chose one and carved "Shayne" and "Melinda" side by side. Laura kept her back to them the entire time, not making a sound. After finishing what she needed to do, she slipped the key back into her pocket and turned to leave. She had just reached the artificial lake at the edge of the garden when Melinda chased after her from behind. "Laura, wait!" Melinda called out, holding a small hair clip in her hand. She said, "You dropped something." Laura realized she had accidentally left it behind earlier and reached out to take it. But Melinda pulled her hand back slightly, looking at her with a fake smile. "Laura, I'll be the one who stands beside Shayne in the future. You no longer have the right to be with him. I'll prove to you that I'm ten thousand times more important to him than you are." Laura couldn't be bothered to engage in such pointless verbal sparring. She just wanted her things back and to leave as soon as possible. "Give it back." Her complete indifference utterly enraged Melinda. Melinda suddenly grabbed Laura's wrist, saying in a sharp tone, "Why are you pretending to be so high and mighty? Don't think you're anything special just because you grew up with Shayne! Don't you know that childhood sweethearts can never beat someone who comes out of nowhere? "Shayne and I are destined to be together! You'll only ever be an insignificant extra in his past!" "Let go!" Laura's wrist throbbed with pain as she struggled to break free. Melinda retorted, "I won't!" The two of them tugged at each other by the lakeside, and in the heat of the moment, one of them slipped. Two splashes were heard in quick succession, and water sprayed everywhere. Laura could swim, but the shock of the icy lake water wrapping around her body made her calf seize up violently. She had a cramp. She immediately lost her strength, and her body sank uncontrollably as water rushed into her nose, causing her to suffocate. Just as despair set in, she saw Shayne on the shore jump in without any hesitation. In that instant, the tiny spark in her heart that had nearly been extinguished flickered faintly. But the very next second, that spark was completely doused, sinking into the icy depths of the lake with her. Shayne swam straight toward Melinda, wrapped an arm around her waist, and dragged her toward the shore with all his strength. Never once did he look back at Laura. He pushed Melinda up onto the bank. Clutching his arm and coughing, Melinda cried out loudly, "Shayne, Laura's still in the water!" Shayne turned his head and glanced at Laura, who was struggling in the water, about to sink. His voice came clearly through the sound of splashing water, shattering Laura's last shred of hope. "We've already broken up. She has nothing to do with me anymore."