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Chapter 3 …
Aymus Huntington really was a strange guy.
No matter how many times Harry thought it over, that opinion never changed.
“Please stop following me around.”
Simply because Jesse had asked him to, Aymus trailed after Harry everywhere.
Classrooms, the student lounge, the library, the cafeteria, the lawn… everywhere without exception.
No matter how much Harry refused or pushed him away, it was useless.
Because of that, she had even begun worrying whether he might follow her into the girls’ bathroom next.
Fortunately—or unfortunately—he had not gone that far yet.
Yet.
But it was only a matter of time.
At this rate, it was obvious that in the near future he really would come barging into the bathroom too.
Before that happened, she needed to settle things with him somehow.
“Go hang out with your hockey players. You’d have way more fun with them than with me anyway.”
No matter what, she had to shake off this strange guy.
Having made up her mind, Harry coldly snapped at him again today as he followed after her.
At her somewhat aggressive tone, Aymus slowly blinked his handsome eyes.
That gentle reaction stabbed at Harry’s conscience again and again.
It felt as though she had become some villain tormenting a harmless puppy.
Of course, Aymus Huntington—with his massive build comparable to a grown adult—was closer to a large dog than a puppy.
“It’s not fun.”
“…What?”
Distracted by her guilt, Harry did not immediately understand what he meant.
Aymus kindly reminded her of the question she had asked earlier before answering again.
“It’s more fun being with you than hanging around the hockey players.”
That was a lie.
Harry was certain she had seen right through him.
Because all she ever did at school was study or scribble lyrics into her notebook.
Those were the only two things she did all day.
There was no way watching someone like her could possibly be fun.
On the other hand, the hockey players were the most popular group in school.
Riverside High School, where they currently attended, specialized in ice sports, and the boys’ ice hockey team had won multiple championships in the North American youth league.
Especially after producing the legendary player Devon Knox, every male student at Riverside applied for the ice hockey team the moment they enrolled.
Aymus Huntington was one of the lucky boys who belonged to that very team.
‘And he’s even the ace.’
Harry had heard that not only the players but even the hockey coach called him by the nickname “Ace,” taken from his name.
Suddenly, Harry gave a bitter smile.
Another promising player came to mind.
Jesse Jackson.
Her first love, and the one she loved alone in silence, had also been a hockey player.
The sight of him gliding across the ice had been unbelievably beautiful, but she would never see it again.
It had already been a long time since he quit hockey after his family circumstances worsened.
At one point, the hockey coach had even looked into scholarships through the Price Welfare Foundation and several other places in an attempt to keep Jesse on the team.
But Jesse refused, saying he had no emotional room to play hockey right now.
‘How did I end up thinking about Jesse again?’
Used to connecting everything back to Jesse out of habit, Harry suddenly snapped back to reality.
“Sorry, but being around you isn’t fun for me at all. It’s uncomfortable.”
“……”
“So from now on, I’d rather we only see each other during class.”
Ugh. Why is he looking at me with those eyes?
Unable to face Aymus, who looked visibly hurt, Harry hurriedly tried to leave.
“Anyway, I’m going.”
“Wait……”
Harry widened her eyes in surprise when he grabbed her hand.
She had never expected Aymus to stop her this actively.
‘Were Jesse and Aymus really that close?’
Close enough that he would absolutely carry out Jesse’s request no matter what?
Just as Harry tilted her head in confusion—
“Hey, what’s going on between you two?”
A sharp voice cut between them.
When they turned toward the sound, Faye was standing there.
The Asian girl who had asked Harry to hang out with her a few days ago.
Faye glared fiercely at Aymus.
“Are you bullying her right now?”
It was definitely a situation that could easily be misunderstood.
In fact, it was not all that different from reality.
Even so, Harry instinctively defended Aymus.
The way Faye was glaring at him was far too vicious.
“It’s okay. He’s my friend’s friend.”
When both Aymus and Faye turned to stare at her at the same time, Harry grew flustered and stammered.
“M-my friend asked him to do something for me.”
“…Fine.”
Faye seemed to accept the explanation for the moment, but then immediately whipped around toward Aymus.
“You better watch your behavior from now on. Otherwise I’ll report you for racism.”
Even after Faye left behind that chilling warning, the aftermath lingered.
“Why does she hate me so much?”
“Faye hates all white people equally.”
Harry shrugged.
As a fellow Asian, she understood Faye’s feelings completely.
If it had not been for Jesse, Harry probably would have suffered constant racism too and eventually come to hate humanity as a whole.
“I’ve never been racist.”
Seeing the mixture of discomfort and injustice on his face, Harry accidentally laughed a little.
“Why are you laughing?”
At her reaction, Aymus looked even more confused.
“No reason. It just reminded me of something that happened before.”
Harry shook her head and trailed off.
But Aymus kept staring at her.
“It’s nothing special. It happened not long after I came to America.”
Unable to resist his silent prompting, Harry finally spoke.
“I was walking through a shopping mall with my parents. Then some man suddenly started picking a fight with us and cursing at us.”
Up to that point, it was nothing special—just the kind of thing countless Asians had experienced before.
“I didn’t want to stay quiet, so I shouted that he was a racist. But back then I’d only just come to America, so my English wasn’t very good.”
Harry continued while trying to suppress her laughter.
“I accidentally called him a terrorist instead of a racist. I only vaguely remembered that both words meant something bad.”
There was a huge difference between “racist” and “terrorist.”
“My God……”
Aymus covered his mouth with one hand.
He was obviously trying not to laugh.
“I still remember the look on his face. He went pale and kept muttering that he wasn’t a terrorist before running away.”
At that, Aymus burst into loud laughter.
It was the first time Harry had ever told this story to someone other than Jesse, so she had not expected such a strong reaction.
Watching Aymus laugh so hard he even wiped away tears, Harry secretly felt proud.
Because of that, she temporarily forgot what they had even been arguing about.
“Ah, see? Being with you really is much more fun.”
This time, she could not confidently declare that his words were a lie.
After all, she had just seen him laughing so hard at her story that he cried.
In the end, Harry failed once again to shake off Aymus Huntington today.
“Your friend is weird.”
Today was the day Jesse’s mother, Caroline, had rehabilitation therapy.
While waiting for Caroline’s treatment session to end, Aymus’s name suddenly slipped out of Harry’s mouth.
She did not want to complain to Jesse after finally seeing him again, but honestly, she could not help it.
“My friend?”
“Aymus Huntington. You’re the one who attached him to me.”
“Ah……”
Only then did Jesse seem to remember, scratching his forehead with his hand.
For a moment Harry felt hurt by how obvious it was that he had forgotten, but she quickly brushed it aside.
Jesse was no longer a high school student like her.
He was a proper adult earning money through work.
So naturally, he could not pay the same close attention to her as before.
“Did Aymus bully you?”
“Not exactly……”
Aymus was not really bullying her.
He was just annoyingly clingy.
“A while ago, Faye asked me to hang out with her, and I turned her down. So if she sees me hanging around with some white guy instead, what do you think she’ll think of me?”
Even at her sulky complaint, Jesse merely smiled.
“Let her think whatever she wants. At least if Aymus is beside you, nobody will mess with you.”
As he spoke, he playfully poked Harry’s cheek.
“But if anyone does bother you, tell me anytime.”
He was clearly smiling gently, yet for some reason Harry felt her chest tighten.
“Jesse, I’m not a child. I can handle my own problems.”
“I know. I know, but I still worry. I can’t stay by your side anymore.”
Jesse’s gaze drifted toward the blue school uniform Harry was wearing.
The same blue uniform he should have been wearing too.
Seeing the sadness in his eyes, Harry could no longer bring herself to complain.
‘School isn’t the same without you.’
She wanted to tell him that.
But before she could even open her mouth, Jesse moved first.
“Sorry, I need to take this call for a second.”
Julia.
That was the caller’s name Harry saw before he covered the phone screen with his hand.
‘Did he get a girlfriend?’
She remembered how he had not let go of his phone the entire drive bringing Caroline to the rehabilitation hospital.
Aymus Huntington was strange, and Jesse Jackson had changed.
Harry did not particularly welcome the changes that came with the new semester.
