BuzzNovelIn the back courtyard of the school, Ileana sat alone in the gazebo, mumbling to herself. Her backpack lay tossed
on the ground, and every now and then, she gave it a frustrated kick. Lucy watched the whole scene from a
distance, but didn’t rush over right away.
She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, then-putting on a worried expression-called out, “lleana! Are you out
here?”
At the sound of Lucy's voice, lleana’s head snapped up. She scrambled to grab her backpack, dusted it off, and
set it aside as she saw Lucy running her way.
Turning away, Ileana pinched her thigh hard, willing herself not to cry-but her eyes quickly reddened, and tears
spilled down her cheeks.
“lleana,” Lucy said softly as she approached, careful not to startle her.
Ileana flinched, wiping at her face with the back of her hand, but kept her back to Lucy.
“Are you okay?” Lucy edged closer, her voice gentle and tentative.
“I'm fine,” Illeana sniffled, her stubborn silhouette refusing to turn around.
“Don’t let it get to you. People are like that-they say something mean, and by the ta couple of classes go by,
they'll forget all about it.”
“I know,” Ileana choked out, her voice trembling. “But it just feels so unfair. | don’t even know what I did wrong.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtMy own brother and cousin were willing to ruin our family dinner in front of everyone just to side with Alessia and
turninto a joke. And | don’t understand why everyone at school treatslike this... | thought coming home
meant I'd finally have parents and siblings who loved me. | thought I'd make friends here...”
Her words cout in broken sobs, and she kept wiping away her tears with the
back of her hand.
Lucy pressed her lips together, then quietly handed Ileana a tissue.
“Th-thank you,” Ileana whispered, taking it gratefully.
Lucy sighed, giving her shoulder a gentle, reassuring pat.
“It’s okay. I'm here, and I'd never laugh at you. You haven't done anything wrong. You lost seventeen years of
your life, and now you have to put up with all of this on top of it-anyone would be upset. None of this is your
fault. If you hadn't been switched
it been swit
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16:43
at birth, you'd be the one surrounded by love right now.”
Her voice was soft, soothing, like a mother calming her child.
Ileana finally turned to face Lucy, her cheeks streaked with tears. “Do you really mean that?”
“Of course | do. Why else would | call the way out here to find you?” Lucy smiled, reaching out to smooth
lleana’s bangs.
“Thank you. You're the first person at this school who's actually been kind to me.”
“| guess | saw myself in you. Alessia
is the kind of person who always has
the spotlight, and anyén who’
desi Rin line gets pushed aside
or left out. I just... | don't want to see
that happen to someone else.” The
content is on novelenglish.net! Read
the latest chapter there!
Lucy gave a wry smile.
“You?” lleana stared at her in disbelief.
Lucy just nodded silently. For a
moment, it was as if they both
glimpsed a reflection of themselves
in the ofters andi théteta nt, they
bbehtie each other's comfort. Ileana
hugged Lucy, giving her a quick
squeeze, and Lucy hugged her back.
They held on for a while before finally
letting go. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
They looked at each other, and suddenly Lucy burst out laughing.
“What?” Illeana asked, puzzled.
“| chere to comfort you, but
somehow you endeg ¢pcamfdiiing
If
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Illeana shrugged tically. “Well, what can you do?”
Lucy grinned. “So it’s settled-we’re friends from now on.”
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