I don't know how much time passed before Pat's call came through.
"Sis, Nicholas and I went on a trip, and Mom and Dad couldn't stop worrying, so they tagged along too."
"Oh, it's all my fault. I was in such a rush packing that I forgot to invite you."
Nicholas snatched the phone.
"No need to explain so much to her."
"With a score that low, what nerve would she have to go on a trip anyway?"
"Clara, just stay home and study. Stop thinking about having fun all day."
The line went dead, and everything was pitch-black again.
Back when I was in the countryside, Pat was always messaging me to show off her study tours, her spring outings, her vacations.
Country kids never got to experience any of that.
Every time I saw those messages, I'd ache with envy.
Nicholas would take my hand and smile.
"What's so special about it? Once we test into the city, I'll take you. Anywhere you want to go, we'll go!"
From that moment on, I started writing my wishes down, one by one, in this little plan booklet.
Where we'd go, what we'd do, none of it mattered.
As long as I was with Nicholas, I was happy.
Now the chance was right in front of me.
But Nicholas had left me far, far behind.
I dug out that crumpled plan booklet.
I picked up a pen and put a check mark beside the line, "Get into my dream college."
Then I read down through it, word by word.
"Go to the amusement park with Nicholas and ride the Ferris wheel."
"Visit the city library with Nicholas."
"Take graduation photos and a family portrait with Nicholas."
……
Twenty-nine lines in all.
The handwriting went from childish to neat.
Every single line, we'd written together.
Too bad he didn't remember any of it.
I fished two fever pills out of the drawer.
Once I felt a little better, I called Mark Lane and asked if he knew the address of the city library.
He laughed the second he heard the question.
"The tests are over. What would you even go to the library for?"
"Clara, don't tell me you're actually planning to retake the SATs. Take my advice and let it go. A place like the top university isn't somewhere ordinary people can get into."
"People like us, we're not the same as geniuses like Nicholas and his crowd."
Yes. I knew that.
Chasing after a genius was just too exhausting.
So this time, I only wanted to finish these wishes on my own.
"I'm not retaking anything. I just want to go see it."
My college is over seven hundred miles from Harbor City.
Once I left, I wouldn't be coming back.
But I still hadn't seen the sights of Harbor City.
I wanted to leave without any regrets.
I started tutoring on the side to earn money.
Part of it I set aside for future tuition and living expenses.
Part of it I spent on a dress, and on the amusement park.
When the Ferris wheel reached its highest point,
the evening breeze of Harbor City lifted the hem of my dress ever so gently.
No wonder Pat looked so happy in that photo.
So this was how it felt, standing up high.
I took a picture and posted it to my feed.
Not long after, Nicholas called.
"Clara, what's that photo of yours supposed to mean?"
"What do you mean?"
"Pat just posted her travel pictures, and you turned right around and posted that. Isn't that you deliberately telling everyone that we're leaving you out?"
There was real anger in his voice.
"Delete the post right now and apologize to Pat."
"Because of that photo of yours, she's insisting on cutting the trip short to come back and keep you company."
I idly scrolled down.
Right below my photo was Pat's newest post.
The four of them standing on a mountaintop, smiling like flowers in bloom.
