Michelle was so shocked she couldn't move her legs.
For the past two days, she spent most of her time on the rooftop and would only leave to sleep.
When she went back up the rooftop, Lydia and Debra were there, sitting on the swing they had recently bought. They stretched their legs as they swayed gently under the soft warm light of the sun.
"Michelle, you're back!" Lydia bent her legs, pressed down her feet against the floor, and stood up. "Look! Debra and I made this swing chair. Come and try it! After Leon's birthday, let's keep this so we can sit on it in the future."
Her enthusiasm didn't seem to penetrate Michelle's low spirit.
"Come and play with us here!" Debra happily waved at her.
Lydia grabbed Michelle's hand and noticed that it was cold and her fingers were stiff.
It was very unusual for her since Michelle had always had soft hands.
"Why is your hand so cold? Did you catch a cold?" Lydia asked anxiously.
She placed her palm on Michelle's forehead, but it wasn't that hot to make her think she had a fever. And yet, Michelle's face was still very pale.
Lydia something must've happened. She shot a look at Debra, telling her to come over.
"What's wrong?" Debra touched Michelle's hand, and just like Lydia, she also felt how cold Michelle's hand was. "Oh my God, Michelle. What happened? Tell me. Does it have anything to do with you or your parents?" Debra guessed. Since Michelle's parents were seldom home, it would only be natural for her to worry about them and be devastated if something happened to them.
Upon hearing the mention of her parents, Michelle came to her senses.
She lowered her head and said in a low voice, "Nothing happened to my mom and dad."
"Then something must've happened to you. Did someone bully you?" Lydia placed her hand on Michelle's shoulder.
Michelle shook her head and closed her eyes. "The sun's so bright it's making me dizzy."
"You might be having a sunstroke," Debra replied. "Go and have a seat. I'll ask someone to bring medicine here."
"Sit on the swing." Lydia guided Michelle and helped her sit down.
While Debra was on the phone, Lydia picked up the small fan and pointed it to Michelle. Judging by Michelle's trembling eyelashes, she felt that it wasn't as simple as a sunstroke.
"Did something funny happen to you when you went to buy flowers? We were so bored over here," Lydia asked, pretending to be casual.
After a long silence, Michelle whispered, "No."
Her voice was quiet and nasally.
'Someone must've done something to her, ' Lydia thought.
'Michelle's not easily offended. What could've possibly happened that made her this lethargic?'
Before she could ask Michelle, she heard a murmur escape from her lips.
"It's not funny. It's not funny at all." Her hands were balled into fists, clutching the hems of her clothes.
When Debra was finished with her phone call, she walked over to them and said, "Once everything's been delivered, we can ask them to arrange it for us as well. We don't have to do anything; just sit and watch."
Then, she turned to Michelle. "Are you feeling better?" Debra sat down next to her and saw a single bead of tear rolling down Michelle's cheek.
Debra stood up and exhaled lightly. She motioned towards Lydia and mouthed, "She's crying."
Lydia's eyes widened in shock.
She had known Michelle for three years and had only seen her cry two times.
Once when Nina had an accident, and the other was when her father fell ill. Aside from those situations, she didn't remember other times when Michelle cried.
Both she and Debra had no idea why Michelle was crying now.
Lydia thought it had something to do with Leon, so she asked her to confirm.
"Did something happen to Leon?" Debra paused for a while and said, "I don't think so. Wynn updated his WeChat Moments earlier at noon.
Lydia walked past Debra and sat down next to Michelle. She put one hand on Michelle's back and gently rubbed it. "If something happened, you can tell us. We'll figure it out together."
Michelle sniffed and looked up at the birthday venue, which they had worked hard to decorate. Since her eyes were marred with tears, everything looked foggy in front of her. She could only make out a vague outline of her surroundings.
The white floral tablecloth covered the long table, fluttering gently whenever the wind blew. In the middle, there were empty vases. They were planning to put flowers in them tomorrow morning.
Along the edges of the table, there were pairs of silverware wrapped in paper towels. They were planning to remove the covers tomorrow evening.
There was also a balloon tied on the back of each chair by the table. Their colors alternated from white to blue.
She remembered inflating and tying up all those by herself.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Only you in my love