[Comprehensive British and American] Safe Neighborhood

On Friday night, Sally booked a flight to Florida online and said hello to Flynn.

After the busy exams, her nerves are not as tight as before. She squeezed the fat she had accumulated while sitting at the desk every day while studying and eating snacks. She looked at the time, and it was after 8 o'clock in the evening. So I decided to go for a walk to lose weight.

But I didn't expect that I would stroll to a bookstore near the school during this stroll.

Standing outside the bookstore and looking at the bookshelves lined up with various books, Sally fell into deep thought.

...Actually, she has been thinking about it for the past few days. Lucas must have been hit hard by the campus violence this time, and his heart has become more distorted and blackened. How can she let him get rid of the shadow of that incident and thus To comfort him...

After thinking about it, she felt that buying a few books for Lucas was the best choice.

The distortion in Lucas's heart was caused by the negligence of his childhood parents and the serious lack of love. This can only be corrected through correct guidance, and an excellent book is like a leader and guide on the road of life. It is also the best medicine to heal the soul.

...She had to find a way to influence Lucas before it was too late.

In fact, there was a very important reason why Sally cared so much about Lucas all of a sudden, and it was also a very thoughtful and frightening thing.

When she fell asleep at night after talking on the phone with Berkeley the day before yesterday, she actually dreamed that Lucas was walking towards her with a knife, which scared her to wake up from the dream.

That night...

She suddenly noticed something she hadn't noticed before.

...That incident was the incident she sent Lucas a message, and it was displayed as read as soon as she sent it. She thought Lucas was replying to her, but it didn't...

At first glance, there was nothing strange about this incident, but later, Sally realized the weirdness inside.

... Lucas is neither actively sending her messages nor planning to reply to her messages, so why is he staring at her chat interface?

And I don't know how long he watched it...

...what if he had been staring at her chat screen all day?

Thinking about it this way, the scene where Lucas stared at her chat interface and avatar on the surface appeared in his mind, but in fact he secretly wrote her name in the revenge notebook and customized the plan a little bit...

Thinking of these, Sally couldn't help but shudder.

Glancing at the bookstore in front of him again, he lifted his footsteps and walked in.

There weren't many people in the bookstore, most of them were quietly selecting books, and it was surprisingly quiet inside.

Sally walked around while looking at the classification signs on the side of the bookshelf, and finally came to the juvenile books section, stopped and glanced at the names of the neatly arranged books row by row.

...The Count of Monte Cristo...The Ordinary World...The Norwegian Wood...To Kill a Mockingbird...

...Maybe because she loved to read Chinese and foreign classics when she was in school, and she has read most of the books here.

She also accidentally saw "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" on the second row of bookshelves.

I picked it up curiously, flipped through a few pages, and found that it was a relatively simple popular version suitable for teenagers to read, and there were no complicated and difficult ancient poems in it.

...Although she really wanted to give Lucas Chinese quintessence books, but think about it or forget it.

...she'd have to pick books that were about love and healing.

Thinking of this, Sally touched her chin with her index finger and hugged her elbow to scan the book in front of her in a thoughtful manner. After a few minutes, she locked on to two targets.

One is The Shadow Thief, and the other is The Little Prince.

She has read both of them, and they are both very touching books.

It was a little difficult for her to take these two books down.

...Which one should I choose?

"The Man Who Stole the Shadow" may be quite similar to Lucas. The protagonists have suffered from school violence, but the protagonists who are victims are able to spy on other people's hearts and heal others instead...

"The Little Prince"... Isn't this a fairy tale book?How is it in the juvenile books category? ?

Sally struggled to choose for a long time, and finally, she decided to buy both.

A child makes choices, and she wants them all.

After paying the bill, in order to reflect the ritual sense of the gift, Sally bought two more wrapping papers, and wrapped the two books by herself after returning to the dormitory.

The next day, Sally took a package with these two books and a wallet and set off.

Because she bought a round-trip ticket on the same day, she was actually in a hurry.

It took nearly two hours from Pittsburgh to Florida. After getting off the plane, she took a taxi while looking at the address of Merlin's home that Berkeley had sent her.

Aunt Merlin's home is in a nearby town. Berkeley was a teacher in a middle school in this town before, and Merlin was her colleague.

Merlin was planting in his little garden when Sally arrived.

She was a woman with an extremely gentle temperament despite her age. Qi Er had short flaxen hair and plain clothes. Her conversation was somewhat similar to Berkeley's, and she was very approachable to get along with.

Aunt Merlin received her warmly. She wanted to stay with Sally for tea, but Sally refused.

"Sorry, I have to meet a friend later, so I won't bother you." Sally said with a smile to the kind-hearted Merlin.

Merlin didn't force it, and returned a smile, "Okay then, you wait here for a while, and I'll go upstairs to get your mother's documents."

After a while, Merlin went downstairs with the documents Berkeley asked for, and handed her over to Sally.

Sally opened the folder to confirm it several times, and then thanked Merlin, "Thank you so much, I will bring her to my mother."

"You're welcome," Merlin said.

The two chatted a few more words, and Sally left.

It took a long time to get a taxi, and in the taxi, Sally wondered if she should send Lucas a message that she would go to see him.

But I checked my watch again...

Her calculation failed.

...Before she knew it, she had been delayed for a long time, and she had to catch a flight back later.

She could only speak a few words to Lucas, and if the traffic jam was serious, she might not even see Lucas.

...or don't post a message yet.

Sally thought, if she really didn't have time, she could just put the book in the mailbox outside Lucas's house.

After a few 10 minutes, Sally got out of the taxi.

It was almost dusk outside at this moment, and the entire block, houses and trees were covered with a layer of golden yellow.

Due to walking too much today, she felt soreness in her legs and slight pain in her feet. She looked down at the time and thought it should be too late.

Sally slowed down slightly as she walked through a place.

Looking at the familiar scene in front of her, she remembered what happened to her on this road to go home more than a year ago.

My heart is filled with emotion...

...Alas, I still can't go back after all.

Sighing, putting away her frustration, she walked towards Lucas' house.

But what she didn't expect was that Lucas was standing at the door of his house.

A slanting sun hit him, dyeing the pure white T-shirt he was wearing into a warm yellow. He seemed to have grown a lot taller again. He was tall and thin, with straight and slender legs. He was standing there staring at Looking at the direction she was coming from, his eyes were dim.

Sally stopped subconsciously.

... Lucas?

...how is he outside?

...It feels as if she knew she was coming and was waiting for her here...

Sally felt a little surprised, but then thought that maybe Lucas was just about to go out, so she suppressed the weird feeling in her heart.

She walked towards Lucas, who was facing her and his back to the sun, the shadow of his feet extending to hers.

Seeing her approaching him step by step stepping on his shadow, Lucas's gaze sank.

"...Hi, Lucas," Sally asked first, looking around, "are you going out now?"

"..."

Facing Sally's question, Lucas just quietly stared at her face, pursed his lips slightly, and didn't intend to respond in the slightest.

His brown hair is still fluffy and soft against his face, his green eyes are heavy, his facial features have completely lost the baby fat, his face is sharp and angular, the bruises on the corners of his mouth and the ends of his eyes have basically disappeared, and he can't see the original any trace.

...he was really angry.

Sally looked away a little guilty, at this moment, she caught a glimpse of the bandages wrapped around the fingers of Lucas' left hand.

Taking a step forward and grabbing his left hand, after observing it for a while, Sally frowned slightly and asked, "...how did you get hurt?"

The punks in the video who threatened Lucas flashed through her mind.

Seeing her worried expression, Lucas blinked and lowered his eyes, his thick eyelashes covered the color of his eyes.

"...Did that group of people do it?" Sally asked again.

Hearing what she said about the group of people, Lucas froze for a moment, then looked at her, "...you know everything?"

Sally was about to nod, and then suddenly remembered Garrett telling her not to tell Lucas about this...

...Oops, it seems that I slipped my mouth.

Seeing her hesitant expression, Lucas said in a very affirmative tone, "...Garrett told you."

Sha Li showed embarrassment, and licked her lower lip, "...Don't blame him, he also came to me because he was worried that he couldn't contact you in those few days."

After that, he took a peek at Lucas's face, and found that his complexion was even worse than before.

"..." Lucas stared at her, slowly took his hands out of her hands, and stared at her unblinkingly, making Sally's heart tremble.

...Garrett was looking for her, that's why she messaged him.

...If Garrett hadn't looked for him, would she have never remembered his existence?

Thinking of this, Lucas narrowed his eyes slightly, his heart was dying of anger, but the corner of his mouth grinned.

...laughed out of breath.

Seeing the sudden change in the bear's expression, Sally was a little confused.

But I was slightly relieved, not as restrained as before.

...Laughed, it means there is no big problem.

So she also stood up straight and smiled at Lucas, her blue eyes were crystal clear under the sunlight.

"By the way, I came to see you this time and brought you a gift." Sally said in an indescribably cheerful tone, she took off her bag, took out two wrapped books from it, and handed them to Lucas.

After Lucas took it, he glanced at Sally, his eyes were full of doubts, as if asking why she gave him two books.

"I specially picked it for you, I hope you can read it carefully and get some inspiration from it." Fearing that Lucas would take it back and throw it aside, she deliberately emphasized the word inspiration when she spoke.

Hearing what she said, Lucas was silent for a few seconds, then smiled, "...Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Want to come in and sit down?" Lucas asked.

Sally waved her hand and said evasively, "No need, I'm going to the airport to catch a plane later."

"...Then sit there for a while, is it okay?" Lucas pointed behind her and said.

Sally followed his line of sight and saw a brown park chair in the open space not far away.

Looking at the time, it seems that she can rest for a little more than ten minutes, and her legs are indeed very sore. When she came out today, she didn't choose a pair of good shoes, and she felt that the upper part of her heel was very painful.

So he nodded, "Yes, but I don't have much time..."

"It's okay," Lucas replied quickly, and took her hand, saying in a melodious voice, "...It will be fine in a while."

So Sally and Lucas sat side by side on the park chair. As soon as their butts touched, Sally took off the bag and put it aside, rubbing her legs.

While rubbing his legs, he asked Lucas, "...how is your hand?"

Seeing her blond hair falling down a little bit after she bent down, Lucas replied casually, "...this year's piano exam is in vain."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the figure of the blond girl paused, turned his head to look at him from bottom to top, his eyes were burning, and he asked cautiously, "It's so serious...then you can still play in the future?" Piano?"

...Xiongzi is best at playing the piano. His hands are slender and fair, and he was born to play the piano...Now...

Looking at his left hand with almost five fingers wrapped and the palm wrapped in bandages, Sally couldn't bear it, "...What did they do to you?"

Seeing her extremely worried eyes, Lucas leaned back, and although he had no expression, his eyes showed a bit of melancholy and said lightly, "...they hit my finger with an iron rod...although it has been Grabbed it, but...I may, in this life...I won't be able to enter the professional field of piano."

Sally was speechless.

The image of Lucas being held back by the broken fingers of those people flashed in his mind, and he felt a little distressed in his heart.

She opened her mouth to say something to comfort Lucas, but she couldn't say anything.

The breeze blew slowly, and Sally felt restless from the bottom of her heart, mixed with a bit of bewilderment.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes, and finally, Lucas broke the silence first.

"...can I, rely on you?" she heard Lucas say.

...Depend on?

Looking at Lucas, she understood instantly.

"Come on." Sally squeezed out a smile, raised her shoulders, and gestured to him.

Lucas's head slowly rested on her shoulder, and the corners of his mouth curled up where she couldn't see.

Not far ahead were trees, and the breeze rustled the leaves.

"...I'm going to transfer schools."

"Ah."

"...that school is very close to your university," Lucas' voice was a little hoarse, with a bit of sadness, as if praying, "Can I visit you often?"

"Of course you can," Sally replied.

Lucas is now like a lost puppy begging for a hug, Sally couldn't help but soften a bit, raised her hand and stroked his head like a big sister to comfort him.

His hair was soft, and the touch reminded Sally of the memories of when she first came into this world and put Lucas to sleep for the last time in order to change the plot of the movie.

...Yeah, everything has changed.

...Lucas didn't hurt anyone, and now he's the one being hurt.

Sighing, Sally leaned her head on Lucas's, and said softly, "...everything will be fine, Lucas."

"..." Feeling the close contact between the two, Lucas rubbed her shoulder again, "...um."

After sitting for a short while, it was time for Sally to go.

Fearing that the bear would run away with injuries, Sally sent him to the door of the house.

"...Can you give me a hug?" Before leaving, Lucas made such a request.

Seeing his lonely expression with reluctance, Sally nodded, opened her arms wide, and said with a smile, "...Come on!"

As if he didn't expect her to agree so easily, Lucas froze for a moment, then reacted, took a step forward, and wrapped his arms around her waist.

...She said she was hugging Lucas, but it looked like Lucas was hugging her.

Sally thought as she buried her face in his shoulder, sniffing his boy's unique body odor mixed with the fresh scent of lemon shower gel with the tip of her nose.

Lucas let her go after holding her for a while.

This hug seemed to put the bear in a good mood. The haze on his face when Sally first met him had disappeared. At this moment, his green eyes were full of determination, and his tone was indescribably relaxed.

"...I'll go find you, wait for me."

Meeting his gaze, Sally nodded, "Okay, then... I'll go first, goodbye."

"Ah."

On the day after saying goodbye to Lucas, Sally flew back to Pittsburgh by plane, and her life went on as usual, with classes and part-time jobs making her every day full and of course very busy.

She and Lucas are back in touch online.

After the midterm exam, the most difficult teacher among the teachers, Professor Cobb, who specializes in Chinese history, gave a speech among the students. As a Chinese, Sally naturally won No.1, which made other students look at her with admiration. Professor Cooper also gave her the highest evaluation and score for her speech.

It was the first time she used her gold finger, and Sally expressed that she was flattered.

But isn't that what life is like, with difficulty comes easy.

After the second semester, Sally started to work full-time. Before taking the summer job, she calculated the amount in advance, and decided that she would earn all the tuition for the university by herself, so as to reduce the burden on Nalai's family.

She didn't intend to do this, after all, it would slow down her plan to go to China, and the tuition and living expenses are not a small sum, but by accident, she saw Berkeley's monthly bank statement. At that time, she couldn't bear it anymore.

At the beginning of the summer vacation, she went home to live for a few days, and then lived in the school dormitory, working part-time during the day and studying and reading at night.

During this period, Sheila, the roommate she shared the bed with, came back a few times, because they were not of the same type and had no common topics, and they did not speak more than five sentences each time, even online. Since she added an account last semester, Sheila has almost never found any She said something...

She is really a young lady who is cold on the outside and quite cold on the inside...

Sally's life went on like this. One day, she worked in a fast food restaurant as usual, and her fingers were numb when ordering food for customers.

"Two fish-on-the-cup meals, plus a large glass of Coke on the rocks."

Suddenly, she seemed to hear Lucas' voice.

"Okay, sir..." Looking up, she was stunned when she saw the brown-haired boy with curled lips and smiling eyes.

"...Lucas?"

She remembered that Lucas said he was coming to her, but she didn't expect it so soon?