Ellie felt her heart pounding fiercely and nodded gently to him when she came to her senses.
Having received Ellie's consent, He just gently hugged her shoulder, gently encircling her with his arms.
Ellie felt the rhythm of his heartbeat, like a drum, beat after beat.
People's mouths can lie, but heartbeats cannot.
For some reason, her eyes became moist.
That day was April 9th, a time she would always remember.
William released her and said, "When I felt I couldn't hold on before, I thought, if only Little Teacher could give me a hug, and then Little Teacher really hugged me, it was like a wish come true. I feel very fortunate to have met Little Teacher."
Ellie stared at him for a long time before saying, "Fool."
It was meeting William that was her fortune.
Her world was originally dull and tasteless, but suddenly a teenager barged in, and that barren land was once again full of vitality and greenery.
"I'm not a fool, Little Teacher," William's ears were still red, and his heartbeat could not calm down for a long time.
On the tree-lined path.
Two people walked side by side, the teenager in black clothes kept his gaze steadily on the girl beside him.
...
"Chloe, he confessed to me."
Chloe naturally knew who 'he' was that she was talking about.
"Chloe, but I can't promise him."
Chloe looked at her hollow expression, felt a sudden sourness in her heart, her nose turned sour, and she felt like crying for no reason, saying, "I know, I know."
She knew what kind of person Ellie was; even if she liked someone a lot, she wouldn't allow herself to accept.
"I can't delay him. I, a dying person, what can I promise him with?"
When Ellie said this, her eyes were hollow, her face expressionless, as if she was stating someone else's matter, not her own.
She only hoped he would get better and better.
"Ellie..."
She had never heard Ellie say such words before. The Ellie in her impression was excellent, confident, and adept at handling anything while maintaining composure and calmness.
Although she was younger, she had been in front of her too many times from childhood.
When she knew about Ellie's illness, she couldn't accept it for a whole month, fearing that she would wake up one day and not see her.
But Ellie was very calm about her illness, as if she never feared death.
Even after chemotherapy again and again, she smiled and told her she was fine, so much so that Chloe forgot that she was already in the advanced stage.
It seemed that God had never treated her child kindly.
Why be so unfair?
She was not yet seventeen.
She had just entered the best age.
"Chloe, sometimes I also feel it's very unfair, I will never have a future," Ellie said this with a gentle smile to Chloe.
Chloe felt that she might as well not smile.
Her smile was too bitter, too complicated.
"Ellie..." Chloe could not help but choke.
Why should her child suffer from illness? Clearly, they liked each other, but they didn't even have the courage to say they liked each other.
Ellie continued, "I'm fine now, Chloe. I told him that if he could catch up with me, I would consider being with him. If... I mean if, I really don't make it to that day, please tell him from Chloe that he is very good, and I like him very much."
In fact, she could also promise him and have a vigorous romance.
But what about him?
What can he use to let go?
How long should he take to let go?
A few months? A year? Or a lifetime?
How should he move on?
What about his future?
Perhaps never being together is easier to accept than being together and then losing each other.
Life is always full of ironies.
It seems that regret and missing out are the required courses in youth.
Chloe spoke softly, "Ellie, you should do your own things. I won't help you with this. I hope you can tell him yourself in the future."
"Okay." If she could, she would also like to do her own things and say what she wants to say herself.
Chloe hugged Ellie and said, "I hope the child can say it themselves."
Ellie repeated 'okay' again.
At 9:40 PM.
Ellie received a message from William.
[A Bit Cute Little William]: Little Teacher, look outside quickly, I heard there's a meteor shower at ten o'clock tonight.
[Ellie]: Okay.
Ellie took her phone to the balcony, pulled open the curtains, opened the French window, and moved a small stool to sit outside.
Perhaps the lights of the big city were too bright, and there were only a few stars in the sky, hanging on the dark night.
Ellie still remembered that when she was a child, she had lived in the countryside for a while. Although the memories were not very good, she remembered the starry sky vividly.
[A Bit Cute Little William]: Little Teacher, are you watching from the window or the balcony?
[Ellie]: Balcony.
[A Bit Cute Little William]: Wear more clothes.
[A Bit Cute Little William]: Two more minutes.
[Ellie]: Okay, you too.
[A Bit Cute Little William]: I'm cold-resistant.
Ellie looked at that sentence and wanted to laugh.
At ten o'clock sharp.
The sky was still dotted with a few stars. Ellie looked up at the sky for a while and didn't see a meteor shower.
William's video call popped up.
She saw the teenager in the lens, a gray hoodie, holding a black cat in his arms.
"William, are you cold? You're only wearing a hoodie."
"I'm cold-resistant."
"It seems like we won't see a meteor shower today."
As soon as Ellie finished speaking, several stars streaked across the sky.
In an instant, they crossed the dark night like a dazzling white line.
"William, make a wish quickly."
"Okay."
William watched Ellie close her eyes in the lens and then closed his eyes as well.
The meteor shower was over quickly.
Ellie took her phone and went back to her room, just meeting Jennifer who came out for a drink of water.
"Ellie, aren't you asleep yet?"
"Not yet."
"Rest early."
"Okay."
The two exchanged a few words, and Ellie went back to her room.
The video wasn't hung up, and William felt that the conversation between the two was like that of not very familiar strangers, with a polite feeling.
Ellie put her phone back on the table, adjusted the position, and said to William, "Let's do the problems, I'll watch you write."
"Okay."
"After the next exam, you don't have to write that much."
"I'll follow Little Teacher's arrangement."
It was already past eleven o'clock when William finished his materials.
He looked at Ellie in the lens; she was reading with her head down, tranquil and beautiful, and he couldn't help but look at her for a while longer.
Ellie looked up from her book and met William's gaze, saying, "Finished writing?"
William nodded at her and then said, "Could you accompany me to get a haircut tomorrow, Little Teacher?"
"Okay."
...
On Sunday at noon.
William waited downstairs, watching Ellie walk over.
She was wearing a light purple coat today, with light-colored jeans underneath, her hair half up and half down, and a few small hair clips in her hair.
Very gentle.
Not just her clothes, but her as well.
William noticed what she was carrying and said, "What's this?"