Lunchtime found Ellie heading to the cafeteria with a couple of boys from the class. As she was leaving, she turned to Jennifer with a smile. "I showed you the ropes yesterday. You should be able to manage lunch on your own today, right?"

Boys nudged each other and laughed, while the girls linked arms and whispered secrets. Jennifer stayed at her desk, working through a reading comprehension question. When Ellie finally left, her pen fell still.

A gentle breeze ruffled the pages of her textbook, the sound standing out in the silence of the empty classroom. She pressed her hand down to stop the flutter, feeling a sudden pang of loneliness. Battling against the sting of unshed tears, she took several calming breaths.

"Jennifer, don't let them get to you again," she whispered to herself, steeling her resolve. "You're going to master English, no matter what."

Buoyed by determination, she no longer felt quite so dejected. Standing up, she pushed in her chair and retrieved her lunchbox, navigating her way to the cafeteria by memory from the previous day.

She settled herself alone at a four-seater table, glancing around. Ellie sat nearby with a group of top-performing boys, while other classmates gathered in their own clusters.

Bringing her gaze back to her meal, Jennifer felt no rush to make friends. She finished her lunch, cleaned her dishes, and returned to the classroom for a quick nap.

As classmates trickled back, Ellie saw her and asked, "Hey, did you eat? I didn’t see you in the cafeteria."

Jennifer nodded, her head resting on her folded arms. Satisfied, Ellie turned to chat with someone behind her, and the class soon fell into an afternoon hush.

After the last class ended and it was time to leave, Jennifer packed up her workbook. The math teacher stood at the podium, reminding everyone about the homework due tomorrow.

As she hoisted her backpack, someone tapped her free shoulder.

"Do you need something?" Jennifer looked up to see a boy she didn't know well, standing there. They had never spoken before.

He was taller than Jennifer by a head, his hairstyle so short his scalp showed through. His thick eyebrows and narrow eyes gave him a hardened look, made more prominent by his half-zipped uniform jacket revealing one shoulder. "Don't say anything till the teacher leaves," he muttered.

As soon as the teacher stepped out, his tap turned into a firm grip on her shoulder. "Newbie, I need your help with this," he said, roughly dropping a workbook onto her desk.

Naturally, it was the math homework assigned earlier. Jennifer shook her head. "You should do this yourself."

He glared down at her, his hand squeezing tighter, veins on the back of his hand standing out. "Be smart, or else you're gonna regret it."

With that, he gave her a final slap on the back and joined a group of similarly dressed boys as they left the school.

Ellie, having seen it all, swung her backpack over her shoulder. "That's Zach. He's always slacking off at the back of the class. Don't worry, after the next exam, he won't last in our honors group. Just put up with him for a bit."

Jennifer wasn’t easily intimidated. "Why target me out of everyone?"

Ellie glanced back and shrugged, her smile a knowing one. Jennifer clenched her fists, and after a pause, shoved the offending workbook into her backpack.

That day, Jack was waiting in his car to pick her up again. On the ride home, he apologized for his absence that morning, explaining an urgent issue at the company’s northern headquarters had demanded his immediate attention at the crack of dawn.

“Aunt Lina mentioned you were late today?” he asked casually over dinner.

Jennifer admitted it with a small nod, the morning's absence having cast a shadow over her entire day. Seeing the faint dark circles under Jack's eyes, her slight irritation evaporated.

“Uncle Jack," she began, her voice weaving a thread of playful pleading, "could you warn me next time if you’re going to disappear on me?”

Jack paused, his chopsticks halting mid-air. Independence came early for him, and years abroad had only strengthened his affinity for freedom. Yet, he delicately placed a piece of food into Jennifer’s bowl and promised, "I'll try."

Jennifer sniffed, "But Uncle Jack, you're all I’ve got. If you leave too..."

Her cheeks puffed, her round eyes shimmering with unshed tears—a sight no man could resist. Jack softened, recognizing the unique challenges she faced. “Uncle Jack will never leave you. No more tears, okay? I promise you'll know where I am.”

Her tears receded as swiftly as they’d come, replaced by a brilliantly sweet smile. "Thank you, Uncle Jack. Have some more, please."

If they weren’t seated across the table, Jack would have tousled her hair affectionately.

In their household, Aunt Lina prepared separate dinners. Jack’s health-conscious parents dined early and were usually wrapped up in their pursuits by the time Jack and Jennifer returned home.

A month ago, Jack’s mother had accepted a commission—a pastoral landscape for a French patron settled in the city. Despite her renowned skill, feedback pointed out a missing element: "It lacks the feel of life."

Her assistant chalked it up to cultural differences, a theory Jack's mother didn’t dispute. Yet, struggling to fulfill the client’s expectations, she found herself creatively blocked.

Stepping away from her studio for a breath of fresh air, her eyes caught sight of her son and the young girl animatedly chatting over dinner. The warmth of their laughter and the rising steam from the dishes brought an odd contrast to her sterile studio, making her feel worlds apart.

Quietly, she abandoned the notion of revisiting her work for the present.