Escape from Mr. Whitman (Emma and Theodore) novel Chapter 133

What does a teenage crush feel like?

It’s when he misses class, and though there’s only one empty seat in the room, your heart feels hollow, as if the whole world suddenly lost its

color.

It’s when he walks in, and the world turns dazzling bright–the sunlight outside gleams like gold, but it’s nothing compared to the brilliance that surrounds him in that moment.

It’s when his laughter melts something warm and sweet inside you, yet when he frowns, your heart twists into a painful knot.

It’s when time drifts by quietly, and just watching him from afar feels enough; when growing up is a stormy road, and you want to do everything for him, to give and sacrifice, but never let him know.

That year, she finally learned the reason behind the exhaustion and pain he tried so hard to hide: his grandmother was in the hospital, gravely ill. So she put on a surgical mask, woke up before dawn every morning, and rushed out at lunchtime, just to bring his grandmother meals, help her wash, tidy up her room–all the while pretending to be an anonymous volunteer.

She didn’t know if folding paper cranes would really bring good luck, but she was young then, and still believed in the sincerity of small wishes. So she quietly filled a jar with paper cranes for his grandmother.

It wasn’t a thousand, but it was a whole jar, and it took her a long time. On every slip of paper, she wrote a blessing, folded it into the wings of a

crane,

As she wished for Theodore’s grandmother’s recovery, she also prayed for her own grandmother’s health.

Back then, she thought she and Theodore had so much in common.

They were both children left behind by their parents.

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Both raised by their grandmothers, clinging to each other as the world

spun on.

Both growing up against the wind, doing their best to hold onto pride and. dignity.

Sometimes she imagined the two of them as trees growing side by side–far apart, their branches never touching, but underground, their roots tangled together in the same soil.

But in the end, it was all just wishful thinking.

She only smiled, never spoke, never explained.

If it had been before, if he’d brought up the story of the paper cranes, maybe she would have told him–she was the volunteer.

But now, it didn’t matter anymore.

She’d traded her own leg to pull him from beneath the wheels of that car. Yet in his eyes, it was all just a ploy, a desperate bid to make him marry her. So what did the paper cranes mean to him? Just another trick, like the festival pastries she’d given him that autumn–a way to win his heart? Even if, by some miracle, he didn’t see her as manipulative, what difference would it make?

He didn’t love her. He never had. She’d tried for five years. Saving him from that accident was a fact he’d lived through. No matter why he’d married her, the end result was the same: he didn’t love her. Why add to the list of humiliations? She’d met him at fifteen–it’s been twelve years. If he were ever going to love her, he would have by now. The truth was simple: nothing she did would ever change that. Saying more would only turn her into a joke.

Besides, she had a plan for her future now–a future without him, a clean break from these memories and the person she’d once been. No more entanglements.

Thinking this, the only thing left on her face was a smile.

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A smile caught between laughter and tears.

“What are you smiling at?” Theodore must have been lost in his own memories. He’d just bared his soul, told her a story meant to touch her heart, and all he got in return was her laughter. It made him angry.

Emma lowered her eyes, the faint smile lingering on her lips. “Nothing. I’m just moved. I wish you both happiness.”

“You…” Theodore couldn’t tell if she was being sincere or sarcastic.

“I mean it.” Emma lay back on the bed, looking up at him. The sadness in her eyes was gone, her smile genuine. “I wish you a long and happy life together. Truly.”

Chapter 134

Chapter 134