10 Chapter 10
Leonardo’s family showed up at my door unannounced, loaded with presents.
No one paid attention to Leonardo, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw his lips quirk up in a smile a few times.
He was living the life of a popular, single jock.
In my new city, I made a lot of friends, joined a film club, and kept myself busy every day.
During my first winter break from college, I missed my parents like crazy.
After a moment of shock, I smiled and walked over, greeting him easily.
On Christmas Eve, the house was full and lively.
He seemed to want to come over to my house that day, but the three of us politely
shut him down.
She casually brought up Leonardo.
After I did, I realized it was the first time in years my wish wasn’t about him.
We celebrated Christmas at a friend’s beach house. During the countdown to midnight, Sophie told me to make a wish.
I was a little confused; I didn’t think we had anything to talk about.
I smiled and said it was fine.
He was leaner, his hair was different, but he was still just as handsome.
The moment my finals were over, I rushed home.
“If you saw him now, you might not even recognize him.”
For many years of my short life, every wish had been for Leonardo.
The world is big, and life is long. Why tie yourself down to one person so early?
I said nothing.
But Leonardo seemed to have a hard time accepting it.
The whole break, I was out from morning till night, practicing for my driver’s test or hanging out with high school friends.
For a long time after that, we had no contact.
I was so happy that I had truly, finally moved on.
Over Christmas break, a high school friend visited LA. Sophie and I took her out for
brunch.
The rainy season and the traffic were tough, and there were indeed a lot of bugs.
Sophie kept giving her looks to change the subject, so our friend dropped it.
“Leo is nothing like the quiet, focused guy he was in high school. He’s a completely different person.
Mom whispered in my ear.
I realized that building your entire life around one person is actually pretty boring.
“Leonardo, you came too.”
I had always stubbornly refused.
I may be a bad judge of character, but my taste in looks was still solid.
It took him a long moment to finally grab my suitcase, his hands unsteady.
But I could see flowers blooming all year round. Soon, I couldn’t even remember what snow looked like.
“We ran into him at the entrance on our way to get you. He insisted on coming along to help.”
I specifically told my parents not to mention the Rossi family around me.
Thinking about it, I started to understand Leonardo’s point of view from back then.
Now, my perspective had changed, and calling him by his full name felt natural.
Leonardo’s hand, which had been reaching for my suitcase, froze in mid-air as he stared at me in disbelief.
10 Chapter 10
In the car, I excitedly told my parents funny stories from school, making them laugh the whole way.
I was grateful I had chosen a school in a place without a real winter.
After our family dinner, the adults watched holiday movies while we younger cousins played board games.
Since we were kids, both our families had tried to get me to call him by a cute nickname.
After half a year apart, when I saw Leonardo again, we had both changed.
The old sadness had long faded away.
I heard Leonardo came by a few times but always missed me.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t have spent my entire childhood chasing after him.
But to my surprise, Leonardo was at the airport with my parents to pick me up.
This year my grandmother and aunt came home for Christmas.
She said he and Jessica had broken up months ago. His campus in Seattle was huge, and he was dating girls from all different colleges, one after another.
