LIGHTNOVELONLINE Lie Again!
Chapter 2
<Chapter 2. A Place Called Crawford (2)> In Crawford, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that Evan Butterfield was a walking rumor.
From the cafeteria to the classrooms, the sports fields, and even the restrooms, you could hear stories about him everywhere. Thanks to that, Jin, having been in Crawford for just a few days, was already able to weave through the dense rumors surrounding Evan Butterfield—such as his mother being a real estate mogul, that he was with Camila last night, or that it wasn’t actually Camila but Taylor. By that time, Jin had also figured out how to spot Butterfield. Finding him was very easy. If there was a crowd gathering somewhere, all she had to do was look at the center, and there was a 90% chance Butterfield would be there. In the past few days, Jin had distinctly felt that the small society of Crawford seemed to revolve around Evan Butterfield. And in Jin’s opinion, Evan Butterfield was definitely contributing to the rumors that were floating around lightly. Because he acted as casually as the rumors said. Among the many people surrounding Butterfield, there were quite a few girls who seemed to create a strange atmosphere with him. Even if Butterfield himself denied it, others always looked at him with a sense of affection and subtle expectation in their eyes. The feelings, which were quite visible even to an outsider like Jin, were certainly not lost on Butterfield. However, he always pretended not to notice them and played it cool. In the few days Jin had been in Crawford, her evaluation of Butterfield had continuously changed, but the one common factor was that her score of him was always lower today than it had been the day before. In her mind, Jin referred to Butterfield as “Butterfly,” because he behaved just like one. He would smile sweetly at someone, as if showing interest, but by the next day, he would act as though he had no idea who they were and draw a clear line. Butterfield himself would casually cross the line he had drawn between himself and others, but if the other person crossed it, he would gently remind them where the line was. ‘It’s the same now.’ Butterfield, sitting sideways on a cafeteria table, had his hands on someone’s waist, holding them between his thighs. The distance between them was precariously close, but the people around them were too busy laughing and chatting, as if they were used to it. Among them, the only one who seemed uneasy was Taylor, who gave Butterfield’s hand to her waist. She couldn’t hide her strangely excited face. Unlike Butterfield, who was leisurely looking at others and saying something, Taylor was staring at Butterfield. She would laugh along when the people around her laughed, but she didn’t know why she was laughing either, and seemed to just be imitating Butterfield’s expression. “Wow, you shouldn’t do that.” “Mhm?” With an excited expression, Joey glanced sideways at Butterfield and whispered. Unable to resist her impulse, Taylor hesitated for a moment before bringing her hand up toward Butterfield’s face. Dustin, who had been enthusiastically eating his sandwich, looked at Joey with a confused expression, but Joey didn’t even glance at him and casually replied, “Yeah, just keep eating.” Unable to get an answer from Joey, Dustin turned his gaze in turn to Amanda, Ruth, and Jin. However, the two didn’t even turn their heads, and only Jin awkwardly smiled at Dustin, shaking her head from side to side. “Will it succeed?” Ruth added as if he was relaying the words. Jin glanced back at Butterfield at those words. Taylor’s hand was passing Butterfield’s chin and heading toward his hair. Just as she was about to touch his hair, Butterfield grabbed her wrist. He was still smiling, creating beautiful dimples, but his actions were quite different from his expression. When Butterfield released the hand he had been holding by the wrist, Taylor’s hand simply dropped. Butterfield smoothly pushed Taylor away from his body, stood up from his desk, and naturally put his arm around Jonathan, who was next to him. As he showed signs of leaving, the group around him also began to move one by one. Butterfield took the basketball that Jonathan had been messing with, spinning it on his fingertips as he walked away from the cafeteria. Taylor stood frozen as though her wrist had been stiffened from the moment he grabbed it, but Butterfield never once glanced her way until the very end. “Ten dollars.” Amanda, who had been watching quietly, held out her palm to Ruth. Ruth grumbled and took dollars out of his wallet and placed them on Amanda’s palm. “Who was it that said he was with Taylor yesterday?” Ruth looked at Joey with dim eyes and said, but Joey just shrugged and replied casually that the tea he bought was non-refundable. Amanda, Joey, and Dustin were friends introduced to her by Evan Ruth. After the Spanish class, Ruth introduced the three to Jin in the cafeteria, which spared Jin from having to eat alone in the cafeteria—or secretly in the bathroom. “I’ll go first.” While Jin was thinking about Butterfield and the many girls around him, she made eye contact with Amanda, who had stood up holding the empty sandwich wrapper. “Let’s go together!” Joey quickly chewed her sandwich while grabbing Amanda. Jin awkwardly smiled at Amanda, feeling awkward about avoiding eye contact. Jin quickly adapted to the indifferent Dustin and the energetic Joey, but still had difficulty with Amanda. Amanda glanced at Jin once and then turned her gaze to Joey absentmindedly. “I have to clean up the tennis court today.” Leaving Joey behind, who was shouting that she was being cold, Amanda waved her hand and walked away. Jin let out a quiet sigh. Whenever she was with Amanda, Jin found herself getting increasingly nervous. Every time she encountered Amanda’s cold attitude, she couldn’t shake off the thoughts of “Does she not like me being here?” or “Did I make some kind of mistake?” As she watched the bronze-colored hair fade into the distance, Jin recalled her first meeting with Amanda. A few days ago, after Spanish class, Ruth took Jin to the cafeteria. Before that, Ruth had shown Jin the location of her locker. Jin had grabbed any locker, carelessly thrown the books inside it into a corner of the hallway, and then Ruth introduced it to Jin as her locker. Ruth continued to claim it was an unclaimed spot, but as Jin arranged her books in the locker, she couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling of having taken someone else’s place. Somehow, when she finally finished packing up and went to the cafeteria, there were already three people there. ‘Transfer student!’ Joey McCoy rushed over to Jin as soon as she saw her and bombarded her with questions. Where she was from, whether she came alone, which classes she was taking, and so on. Jin was so busy answering that she didn’t even have time to properly greet her. Watching Joey chatter nonstop, Jin thought she resembled a small bird constantly chirping. The girl, with her petite frame, blonde hair, and blue eyes, even looked like a bluebird. ‘How did you end up coming to America?’ At the questions Joey threw at her, Jin instinctively recalled certain faces. The people who had laughed noisily, and the atmosphere that had turned cold when Jin didn’t laugh along. However, Jin shook off the heavy thoughts and playfully replied that she had escaped from the Korean college entrance exam. ‘American high school isn’t that easy.’ Amidst the joking voices of Ruth, who was glad that his father had settled in America, and the chatter of his talking about watching a documentary on Korean college entrance exams, a word suddenly fell out. It was Amanda Miller. The beauty with tanned skin and bronze-colored hair, a perfect match for her look, wore a cold expression on her face. ‘Ah, I didn’t think American high schools were easy.’ Jin nodded awkwardly and added that she didn’t mean it that way. ‘Especially you, it’ll be harder since you’ll be taking the class in a language that’s not your own.’ Jin was confused about how to react. While Amanda’s tone wasn’t exactly caring, it didn’t carry any hostility either, as though she was subtly pointing out that it wasn’t her language or her country. Just as the mood was about to die down, Joey smoothly changed the subject. ‘How is the homestay you’re staying at? Are there people our age there?’ To Joey’s sparkling question, Jin replied that her homestay mom had a young daughter in elementary school. “She’s super cute, but she doesn’t seem to like me,” Jin muttered. Dustin responded indifferently, saying, “That’s just how kids that age are.” “Come to think of it, Jin, you came to your first class with Butterfield? How was it? Were you excited?” Jin was pulled out of her thoughts by the sudden sound of Joey’s voice. She then looked at Taylor, the girl surrounded by friends and being comforted. She could feel everyone in the cafeteria glancing at her and whispering quietly. “It’s going to be embarrassing for a while.” Ruth followed Jin’s gaze and clicked his tongue. “I like good people.” Jin, who had been silently staring at Taylor, finally spoke up. Taylor was now leaving the cafeteria at a quick pace. It was a stark contrast to the loud departure of Butterfield, her exit looking much more subdued. “Someone who’s so light-hearted isn’t my type. He’s handsome, but… there are too many girls around him.” Jin recited the reasons why she shouldn’t like him, as if trying to convince herself that Butterfield wasn’t worth her attention. That’s right. I like someone who is kind and only cares about me. 1) tea: exciting rumors, gossip Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and
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