Chapter 5
Sure enough, in the adult world, social connections and favors
matter most.
Xavier’s face turned bright red after being publicly humiliated, but he couldn’t say a word.
I thought Zoe would stand up for him, but she just kept her head down, saying nothing.
Come to think of it, that made perfect sense. Zoe was one of the poorest students in our class, barely managing to stay in school through financial aid. Her parents being able to afford her education was already a stroke of luck. How could she be stupid enough to defend Xavier at a time like this?
On the flip side, Xavier was pretty pathetic–getting publicly humiliated over such a trivial amount of money.
He used to casually drop at least ten thousand dollars at upscale restaurants. He’d tip servers generously, and his monthly allowance was at least several hundred dollars.
Though our school’s tuition wasn’t exactly cheap, with books and miscellaneous fees included, it cost at least ten thousand dollars per year.
But now, Xavier probably couldn’t even come up with that money. I suspected he didn’t even have a hundred dollars in his
pocket.
In just the past two weeks, he’d clearly lost a lot of weight from hunger. He looked frail, as if he hadn’t had a proper meal in
ages.
When he left the Harris family, he didn’t take a penny with him, and Zoe’s meager living expenses would be quickly spent by both of them.
Seventeen or eighteen–year–olds are still growing, but he couldn’t even afford nutritious food. No wonder he’d gotten so thin.
During class, I kept feeling like someone was staring intensely at my back. When I turned around, I locked eyes with Zoe, whose gaze was filled with anger, resentment, jealousy—a mix of emotions that sent chills down my spine.
Meanwhile, I could hear the cruel laughter of classmates around
- me.
“Seriously? Xavier’s really fallen this far? He can’t even come up with ten thousand dollars?”
“Hey, weren’t you his friend before? Why don’t you pay his tuition? Maybe when he makes it big, he’ll help you out!”
“You’re basically reminding me to delete him from my contacts before he asks me for money.”
“What are you talking about? Didn’t your family just donate to help poor students the other day? Why won’t you spend a little money on Xavier?”
“Well, I’d rather donate to charity than give it to him!”
Everyone was taking this opportunity to distance themselves from Xavier, whereas before they’d been on the fence about his break with his family.
Now, everyone was convinced he’d truly hit rock bottom. Since they were never real friends to begin with, their harsh words were pretty typical.
The moment the bell rang, Zoe cornered me at my desk. With too many people in the classroom, she didn’t dare make any dramatic moves, just lowered her voice and said, “Help Xavier pay his tuition. When we make big money later, we definitely won’t forget you.”
As soon as she finished speaking, I couldn’t help but sneer, “Why should I? Do you see me as some sucker who’ll just throw money at him? Or do you think I’m charitable enough to sponsor him?
“Besides, are you two really going to make big money? You can’t even afford food right now, and you probably don’t have a penny to your names.”
As soon as I said that, laughter erupted around us.
In their sixteen years of life, they’d probably never seen anyone so shameless.
But Zoe looked dead serious, not like she was joking at all.
“Fine, then how about you lend us some money? We’ll definitely pay you back later.”
Before I could respond, my desk mate said angrily, “Wow! Weren’t you the one shouting about love and freedom before? Why are you begging Vivian for pocket change now?”
