Five Years And A Lifetime Chapter 01
On New Year’s Eve, a message from Arthur Bradley, my old high school classmate, suddenly popped up on my phone: “I’m flat broke. Could you lend me some money?”
Attached was a medical report showing a diagnosis of late-stage gastric cancer.
Without hesitation, I emptied my bank account and transferred him the last 3,312 dollars I had. “Is this enough?”
After a brief silence, he sent back a voice message: “How are you still so gullible?”
***
His voice was crisp, carrying a hint of amusement and a lazy drawl. I froze instantly, feeling as though my entire world had suddenly stopped moving.
Then came the second voice message. “Silly, I’m on a variety show right now. It was just a prank. Happy New Year!”
His tone was light and breezy. Even through the speaker, I could easily picture him leaning back in his chair, eyes crinkling with laughter.
My lips parted, but a lump formed in my throat, making it impossible for me to speak. It took me a moment to catch my breath.
“Glad to know you’re okay. Happy New Year!”
The moment I sent the message, the typing indicator appeared.
The screen stayed lit for a few seconds before going dark again. His reply never came.
Fireworks exploded across the night sky, but I no longer had any interest in watching them.
Returning home, I buried my face straight into the blanket.
I should’ve known. Arthur was an A-list superstar now. Having won three Best Actor awards at such a young age, no matter how tight his finances might have been, he would never need to borrow money from me.
The loud ringing of my phone jolted me awake. Squinting, I reached for the phone on the nightstand and answered. My best friend Monica Rayne’s scream blasted through the speaker. “Catherine! You’re trending online!”
Her voice was so loud that my ears rang. Almost immediately, my phone began vibrating nonstop. Messages flooded in one after another on WhatsApp, filled with links and screenshots.
The trending topics read: “Arthur’s High School Classmate,” and “The Friend Who Gave Away Her Entire Savings to Help.”
Rubbing my bleary eyes, I tapped on a message. A screen recording from the variety show had been clipped into countless short videos and spread across the internet. In the video, Arthur was sitting lazily on a sofa, wearing a sleek black turtleneck. He looked effortlessly relaxed as he lowered his eyes toward his phone.
On the huge screen behind him, our private chat history was displayed.
The host smiled knowingly. “So Arthur, what’s the story behind this contact label ‘S’?”
Arthur looked up at the camera, a subtle smirk playing on his lips. “It stands for silly. Back in high school, she was kind of a silly girl.”
The live comments flew across the screen.
“Oh my, he’s totally my new Prince Charming!”
“The way he talks about her is so sweet!”
“His classmate is such an angel!”
Staring at that familiar face on the screen, I fell into a brief daze.
Arthur had said the exact same thing to me back in high school. At that time, I’d been completely focused on studying. I was terrible at reading situations, slow to react, and always a little awkward in conversations. I still remembered one day when he sat beside me, wearing a mischievous smile. “Cathy, you’re honestly the perfect definition of silly.”
“Cathy! Be honest with me, do you still have feelings for him?”
Monica’s sharp tone snapped me back to reality. I got up to pour a glass of water, but my hand trembled. Two pills slipped from my palm and landed on the floor.
“That medical report looked so real. I actually thought he was…”
“You silly girl! Even if it had been real, you shouldn’t have given him every last cent you had!” Monica groaned in frustration. “Besides, how did you only have that much money left in your account?”
“I went on a little shopping spree recently,” I smiled awkwardly and swallowed the pills.
“I’m sending you some money later. Don’t you dare refuse! By the way, you mentioned having stomach problems last time. Did you ever get checked at the hospital? If not, I’m free this week. I’ll come to San Francisco and go with you.”
“It’s nothing serious. I just had too many cold drinks.”
After hanging up, I picked up the pills from the floor and threw them into the trash.
My phone screen kept refreshing with new trending posts. I placed it face down on the table.
I never expected that I’d run into Arthur at the hospital.
After finishing my follow-up appointment, I stepped out of my attending physician’s office. As I turned a corner in the corridor, I nearly collided with a man clad in a black face mask and a black baseball cap.
I immediately stepped aside and apologized quietly. Just as our shoulders brushed, a familiar voice came from above me. “Cathy, what a coincidence.”
My blood seemed to freeze in my veins. Slowly lifting my head, I found myself looking straight into a pair of smiling eyes. “How did you…”
“You didn’t reply to my messages. Didn’t expect we’d meet here after all these years.” He waved his phone. “Quite a twist of fate, right?”
I checked WhatsApp and saw that Arthur’s chat thread had indeed floated to the very top. There were three unread messages. “I’m in San Francisco this month for filming.”
“Wanna catch up?”
“Hey, did you see my messages?”
Normally, hardly anyone contacted me. And whenever I went to the hospital, I always kept my phone on silent. That was why I hadn’t noticed his messages.
“I didn’t mean to ignore you…” I stammered, then suddenly realized something. “Wait, you’re filming here?”
The eyes above Arthur’s mask curved with amusement. “I came to this hospital to wrap up a promotional video shoot. We just finished. Are you—”
He paused mid-sentence, his gaze quietly sweeping over the medical folder clutched in my hand. “Are you ill?”
I shook my head, keeping my voice even. “A friend of mine is sick, so I came to visit her.”
Hearing my response, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “I see. Since we’re both here, how about we grab a meal together? My schedule is clear this afternoon.”
I tightened my grip on the medical folder and quietly moved it behind my back.
“Sure.”
