He’d Marry Me Only If His Friends Gave Me a Perfect Score, So I Quit the Game Chapter 07
After I returned to school, I devoted most of my time to my classes and my work as a research
assistant.
Over the years, I had given up far too many of my own plans just to go to Ethan’s practices, games, and parties. Now, all of a sudden, I had so much time that actually belonged to me.
I started applying for academic programs again, took on a teaching assistant position, and began preparing my graduate school applications.
Ethan’s friends used to say that grades were the only thing I had.
Looking back, at least my grades were an honest reflection of the effort I had put in. They didn’t
make me pass someone else’s rating game before deciding I was worth something.
The campus counselor asked how I’d been sleeping lately.
I pushed my glasses up.
“I still wake up now and then, but it’s a lot better than it was.”
Then she asked, “Do you ever regret getting the school and the police involved?”
I thought about it for a moment.
“No. If I’d done nothing, I’d have hated myself for it later.”
There were still people who tried to convince me to go back to Ethan.
“Ethan’s changed a lot. He barely sees any of that lot anymore. People on the team say all he does now is train and go to class. He doesn’t go to parties at all. You were together for five years. Why not give him one more chance?”
I listened, then calmly finished organising my papers.
“Because him changing now doesn’t undo what happened. I went to the police for the girl I was then, when no one stood up for me. I left him for the person I am now.”
I no longer needed anyone else to tell me whether that decision was right.
Near the end of the semester, I proctored an exam.
Afterwards, I went for a walk around campus by myself.
From a distance, I saw Ethan standing beneath a tree.
He had clearly lost a lot of weight.
As captain of the football team, he used to have people surrounding him everywhere he went. Now, there wasn’t a single person beside him.
When he saw me, he instinctively straightened his jacket.
For once, he actually looked nervous.
“Erin.”
I stopped.
He walked towards me.
“I know I got it badly wrong. When you needed me most, I kept choosing everyone else over you. I
don’t have anything to do with them anymore.”
He hesitated before continuing.
“If you gave me another chance, I’d put you first. I’d make it up to you. Please, Erin. Just give me
one more chance.”
Looking at him, I suddenly thought about the person I used to be.
Whenever I got another zero, the worst part wasn’t even the mocking.
It was what came afterwards, when I started tearing myself apart.
I would wonder if maybe I really was too boring. Too quiet. Too awkward in those thick glasses.
Maybe because I hated parties and was never as physically strong as Claire, I really would never
measure up to her.
For Ethan, I had slowly cut myself off from the few people I had outside his circle.
Every day, all I thought about was how to make his friends like me.
There had even been a time when I genuinely envied Claire.
I envied the way everyone looked at her the moment she walked into a room. I envied how all she had to do was say she was upset, and someone would immediately rush to comfort her.
I used to believe that if I was obedient enough, accommodating enough, and willing enough to go
along with everything, then one day they would like me too.
Now I finally understood.
Sometimes people simply don’t like you.
And I didn’t need everyone to like me.
I looked at Ethan and gently shook my head.
“You’re only seeing that now. It’s too late.”
His expression changed.
“When I needed you most, you didn’t choose me. Some chances don’t come round again once
you’ve missed them.”
I held his gaze.
“You can regret it. You can blame me if you like. That’s up to you. But I’m never letting you and your
friends decide what I’m worth again.”
Ethan’s lips parted.
I didn’t let him continue.
“I did love you. I really did. But I don’t now.”
Then I walked around him and kept going.
For a long time, there was no sound behind me.
It wasn’t until I was almost too far away to hear that I caught the faint sound of Ethan crying.
I didn’t look back.
