Chapter 3

3

The first time Ethan defended Lily was during English class. English was our easiest subject. We'd all had private tutors since we were toddlers. Our accents were impeccable, our grammar flawless.

One day, the teacher called on Lily to read. From the first word, the class erupted in giggles. Her pronunciation was atrocious, thick with a working-class accent. The laughter spread until Lily fell silent. The teacher, flustered, told her to sit down and quickly moved on.

After class, Chloe, always the mean girl, went up to Lily and loudly mimicked her accent. The others laughed. Lily sat with her head down, her shoulders shaking slightly.

I felt a sudden unease. I was about to tell Chloe to stop when Ethan, who'd been sleeping, sat up. He banged his copy of "Harry Potter" on his desk. The sound cut through the laughter. He looked at Chloe, his face expressionless. "Shut up. You're annoying."

Chloe froze, her smile dying on her face. The room went silent. I looked at Ethan, then at Chloe, offering a gentle smile. “Chloe, class is about to start.” Chloe nodded, taking the cue, and dragged her friends back to their seats.

I glanced at Lily. She was looking at Ethan, her eyes shining with gratitude, whispering something to him. Ethan didn’t react.

Later, I saw them again in the library. Lily was practicing her pronunciation with a small recorder. Ethan walked over, his "Harry Potter" in hand. He sat next to her. "You're doing it wrong." He opened his book, pointed to a sentence. "Read this."

Lily, blushing, stumbled through the sentence.

"Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness."

Ethan tapped the word "drifting." I could hear him patiently correcting her pronunciation, guiding her towards a more polished accent. The library was silent, sunlight streaming through the windows, illuminating the two of them like a painting.

It still wouldn’t have bothered me if it weren’t for what happened next. Lily, staring at Ethan’s face, whispered, "I'm so envious of Vivian."

The envy was clear. From that moment on, I started to dislike her.

No one knew, of course. I was always friendly, approachable. During tennis practice, when Lily was left without a partner, I smiled and offered to play with her. She looked surprised, grateful. I thought about her and Ethan in the library, and as I turned away, my smile vanished. I hoped she’d enjoy this.

Lily didn't manage to return a single one of my serves. I played like I was toying with her, sending the ball to impossible corners, forcing her to chase it endlessly.