The two bears that now caught her attention were the very ones Alexander had won for her at the arcade. The
sight of them stirred long-forgotten memories, which slowly began to clear, as if a gust of wind had swept away
the dust to reveal a vivid image.
It had been a sunny Friday afternoon. Quinn had been stationed outside the high school gates, her patience
wearing thin as she waited for Alexander. As the sun began to dip, marking the approach of dusk, a boy in a
white shirt finally emerged from the school, his uniform and backpack distinguishing him from his friends.
Upon spotting the young girl waiting by the gates, one of his friends teased, "Your little girlfriend's been waiting
for you."
The boy responded with a playful smack to the back of his friend's head before leaving the group to approach
her. Crouching to meet her pouting face, he flashed a smile and asked, "Have you been waiting long?"
In those days, she was innocent and guileless. She nodded in affirmation, holding up three fingers to indicate the
three hours she had waited.
He scooped her up in his arms, his fingers playfully pinching her cheek. "Then I'll make it up to you," he
promised.
He took her hand, leading her to the arcade where he pointed to the selection of claw machines. "Pick one, and
I'll get it for you," he offered.
Her eyes were drawn to two bears, one larger and one smaller, nestled together. For a fleeting moment, she
thought they resembled her and Alexander.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtShe wanted those two bears, but they were snugly wedged in the back of the machine, seemingly impossible to
win. Despite his best efforts, which lasted until the arcade's closing tand cost him over a hundred dollars, he
couldn't win them.
In the end, he resorted to buying the bears from the arcade owner. Even though they were purchased, she
cherished them as if they were hard-won prizes, clinging to them dearly.
When she handed the larger bear to him, he accepted it with a smile. "Are you giving this to me?" he asked. She
shook her head, pointed at the bear, and gestured, signaling that this one represented him.
"Is this me?" he asked, looking again at the one she had kept, "And this one is you?" She nodded, took back the
bear from his hands, and placed it next to the small one, hoping her affection for him was clear.
But he misinterpreted, "Hmm, it does look like a big brother with his little sister." Even though she was young
and naive, his words made her feel differently about the bears at that moment.
Later on, after her friend Freya damaged the bear, she never played with them again. And she didn't know when
those two bears had bechis profile picture.
Ever since Quinn had linked her profile with Alexander's, it seemed he had never changed his profile picture. For
years, she had never paid any attention to it.
Quinn scrolled through the photo tand again, feeling a heavy ache in her heart as if something was pressing
down on her, making it hard to breathe. By the tshe snapped back to reality, her face was blurred with tears.
Closing her eyes, Quinn lifted her hand to wipe away the tear stains, shielding her eyes from the sight. Her
phone lay silently in her palm, and the doll in the picture seemed to stare at her through the screen.
She didn't sleep that night. She sat up before dawn. The sleepless night left her bedding ice cold, her hands and
feet frigid. She coughed, a sign of another cold setting in.
Quinn glanced at the dim light
outside, then got out of bed whem,
she noticed a ntifivétioh 4n her
O \ : :
phohe: Bhs couldn't resist unlocking
the screen; the enlarged photo still
lay there quietly. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!
Long pressing on the screen, she
saved the photo and then Julipz 2d
it, allowing it to Feta (®) itSoriginal
dill Zoi ne However, as she
clicked back, she saw the title with
| : Ln f : "
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAlexander saying: "User is typing...
q ' .
Quinn's heart leaped, her gaze fixed
0s 8 a q
on those words. ‘It is still early... is he
q ' q
typing to me? QUT EEE EbL:
AERA safe. Atter waiting a
ile, during which Quinn nearly
[1 :
forgot to breathe, the words "User is
. n |
typing..." flashed next to Alexander's
nagain. The content is on
novelenglish.net! Read the latest
chapter there!