He Turned My Sister Into His Wallpaper

It was the eighteenth time a street photographer had stopped us.

The photographer, as usual, pulled Nathan and my sister, Chloe, to the side, then handed their stuff to me.

Chloe looked uncomfortable, pointing at me:

No, my sister and Nathan are the couple.

Nathan wrapped an arm around me.

Then let's just take the picture, all three of us.

Forty-three photos, and Nathan only picked one.

The photographer reminded him, "Your girlfriend closed her eyes in this one..."

Nathan said flatly, "She doesn't mind little things like that."

"Besides, Chloe looks really good in this one."

Later, when I borrowed his laptop, I discovered that picture had become his wallpaper.

I had been completely cropped out.

The screen showed only him and Chloe, radiating genuine, happy smiles.

My heart skipped a beat.

Suddenly, a SnapChat message from Chloe popped up:

"Guess if Mia will be mad when she sees your wallpaper? Bet you an ice cream!"

Nathan instantly replied, "No. I told you she's not that delicate."

Looking at my profile picture, buried deep in Nathan's WhatsApp chats, it suddenly hit me: he wasn't bad at replying; he just thought I was too noisy.

If that was the case, staying any longer would be impolite.

I calmly closed the laptop. Nathan emerged from the coffee shop at just that moment, holding coffees.

"All done?" He pushed the laptop back.

I nodded.

I didn't question him, just as he expected. Instead, he looked at me suspiciously.

"Are you...?"

Before he could ask, Chloe walked over with her bag.

Nathan skillfully handed her a cup of coffee, then stuck a straw into his own and started drinking.

Chloe took a sip and smiled.

"Nathan, you're amazing. You remembered my favorite flavor just from seeing me order it once. You really are an academic ace."

Nathan's voice held an unsuppressed chuckle. "Have I ever forgotten anything about you?"

Watching them banter back and forth, my heart sank to rock bottom.

I spoke in a cold voice, "Nathan, where's my coffee?"

The atmosphere instantly froze.

Nathan froze, then smiled, pushing a coffee toward me and ruffling my hair. "Good girl, let's share one."

I looked at the iced Americano. "I've told you many times, I have bad cramps today and can't drink anything cold."

Nathan frowned. "I'll go buy you another one."

I gave a bitter smile and shook my head. "No need."

The old Nathan used to remember every single one of my periods. He'd arrange everything without me having to say a word.

If love was something I had to ask for, it wasn't worth keeping.

Chloe tried to smooth things over. "Alright, alright, let's drop it and get back to our competition project."

Nathan opened his laptop.

I quickly lowered my head, pretending to check my phone, avoiding his wallpaper, avoiding the shared glance between him and Chloe, avoiding subjecting myself to that humiliation.

Only when he opened the file did I look up.

But I found I couldn't join their conversation.

"Once the results of this competition are out, we can apply for grad school at Harvard!"

"Then I'll take you on that trip. Haven't you wanted to see the ocean for ages?"

"Yeah, I've pulled so many all-nighters for these competitions! I need a good break then!"

"Hopefully, all three of us will be at the same university!" Chloe finished, then looked at me. "Mia, which university do you want to go to for grad school?"

Nathan naturally put his arm around me. "She wants to go to Harvard, just like us."

Chloe smiled and nodded. "That's good. We can't be missing anyone..."

They continued chatting.

I avoided Nathan's hand on my shoulder, my stomach churning.

I never wanted to go to Harvard; I wanted to go to Stanford.

Before, I used to playfully tell Nathan, "Let's go to Stanford together, okay?"

Nathan would always smile and playfully tap my nose. "Whatever you want."

But I don't know when it started,

His attitude changed, becoming firm. "I want to go to Harvard, Mia. Will you come with me to Harvard? I don't want to be separated from you."

I thought he valued Harvard's reputation, but now I realized,

It was just Chloe who wanted to go to Harvard.

Turns out we were both accommodating one person.

I sighed, deleting all the saved information on my phone about Harvard dorms, faculty, campus environment, and routes.

My vision suddenly blurred. I blinked,

And typed two words into my notes app.

Stanford University.

Finally, we submitted the competition project.

Nathan took my hand. "Let's go, time for dinner."

"Didn't you always want to try that new Japanese place?"

I looked at him, surprised.

I'd mentioned that restaurant almost daily since it opened,

But Nathan always found new excuses to refuse: student council work was too busy, it was too far, he wasn't hungry...

Today, he was actually suggesting it.

Chloe patted Nathan's shoulder. "Nice, nice. I just told you about that place today, and you already thought of going!"

Then she turned and winked at me. "You've got a good boyfriend there, Mia. You're really lucky."

Lucky?

I opened my TikTok app.

He hadn't replied to a single video I'd shared.

He hadn't taken a single word I'd said to heart.

I pulled my hand away from Nathan's.

The rideshare arrived. Nathan opened the car door, gesturing "please" to Chloe.

Usually, at this point, I would ask:

"Why don't you invite me first? Aren't I your girlfriend?"

Nathan would always say with a smile:

"Why are you even jealous of your own sister?"

"Don't I have to butter up your family first so they'll trust me with you?"

After that, I could only swallow any further dissatisfaction.

But now, there was no need.

When Nathan turned to call me into the car, I shook my head,

And got into the passenger seat.

Nathan's private message came through: [Upset?]

My fingers trembled as I prepared to reply.

But the next second, the two of them burst into laughter in the backseat.

I exited Nathan's chat,

And typed a line of text:

[Ethan, did you go to Stanford last year?]

[I'd like to ask you something.]

At the restaurant, Nathan still sat on the same side as Chloe.

They discussed the menu, talked to the waiter, complaining about their tight schedule lately.

No one looked up at me, as if I were invisible.

Finally, Chloe looked up and asked:

"Oh, right, Mia, why haven't I heard you mention wanting to go to Harvard?"

"I have tons of Harvard resources here, I'll send them to you."

Ten or so files came through in a row.

I randomly opened one.

The familiar annotation style was Nathan's.

A 99-page document, meticulously detailing Harvard's campus environment, dorm conditions, surrounding malls, and dining halls.

Every dish Chloe liked had two asterisks next to it.

I didn't know how long it took to create all this.

I only knew that every time we had a date or traveled,

Nathan was always glued to his laptop, collecting information.

When I complained he wasn't spending time with me, he would only say:

"I'm doing this to give you a better experience, you know."

But in the end, I never received the files,

Instead, every moment we had alone was filled with Chloe.

When we left after dinner, I stared blankly at their parallel figures.

And still, shamelessly, tears welled up.

Suddenly, Nathan stopped. "Dummy, your backpack zipper is open."

Chloe stuck out her tongue,

Turning her back to let Nathan zip it up for her.

Several acquaintances walked by, saw the scene, and started cheering:

"I knew Nathan was too handsome not to have a girlfriend! Turns out he was hiding her!"

"Oh, they're really a perfect match!"

Nathan frowned, about to explain,

Chloe clasped his hand.

He looked down at their intertwined fingers and suddenly fell silent.

I turned and exited through the side door,

Remembering the old Nathan, who made a big public show of pursuing me.

The first day we got together, he announced to the world that I was his girlfriend.

I asked him why he was so silly, and he pinched my cheek:

"It'd be silly not to tell everyone I have such a beautiful girlfriend."

What made him deny I was his girlfriend now?

Nathan caught up behind me. "Mia! Mia!"

I wiped my tears and turned around:

"Nathan, let's break up."

Nathan frowned.

"Mia, if something's bothering you, just say it. There's no need to threaten me with a breakup."

I met his gaze, and he instinctively looked away.

He knew I wasn't joking.

No matter how big the conflict, I wouldn't easily suggest breaking up, but I couldn't continue with such an insecure relationship anymore.

Nathan sighed and took my hand.

"Is it because I've been too busy lately? Do you feel neglected?"

"Mia, applying for grad school at Harvard is important for both of us. We've worked for three years for this. Once we're accepted, I promise I'll spend quality time with you."

My hands and feet were icy cold from the evening breeze, but at that moment, I felt no fondness for the warmth of his hand.

I scoffed. "Nathan, you don't have time for me, but you have time for Chloe?"

"Her messages get instant replies, mine are always read but ignored? Let's break up, I'm really tired."

The last shred of tenderness in Nathan's eyes vanished.

Replaced by a chilling gaze.

"Mia, I've told you many times."

"I'm good to Chloe, good to your family, all because of you."

He hailed a taxi with Chloe, throwing me a parting shot, "You're not thinking clearly right now. We'll talk about this when we get to Harvard."

No need to talk. There was no going back.

Harvard was 3120 miles from Stanford, and perhaps, we would never see each other again.

I hailed a rideshare back to school by myself.

When I returned to my dorm, my roommate told me:

"Your boyfriend sent you flowers again! So handsome, so smart, and so loyal. We're all so jealous of you!"

I merely hummed in response, looked at the red roses on my desk, and turned to throw them in the trash.

My roommate gasped. "What are you doing?!"

"These aren't my favorite flowers."

I looked at the vibrant red roses in the trash.

Those were Chloe's favorite flowers.

After that, neither Chloe nor Nathan contacted me, just like before.

But sometimes, when I came across a funny video or a cool new spot I wanted to check out, I'd pause, not knowing who to share it with.

I told myself, just get through this, and everything will be fine once I get to Stanford.

The day the competition results came out,

I found my bonus points were lower than both Nathan's and Chloe's.

I frantically called Nathan, but he hung up each time.

On the eleventh call, he finally answered.

My breath hitched, and I asked with a trembling voice, "Why is my score the lowest for the team project?"

His calm voice came through the receiver: "Chloe said her grades weren't that high, and she wanted more competition points to make her Harvard application more secure, so I put her name first."

"Is that a problem? Isn't she your sister? And even if your competition score is low, you can still easily get into Harvard."

Before I could say anything, Nathan hung up.

I couldn't control my anger.

Chloe had been slacking off and chatting every time, and I had done most of the work for the team.

But Nathan, without consulting me, had directly placed Chloe ahead of me.

Stanford's admission difficulty was much higher than Harvard's.

In the end, it was because of Nathan and Chloe that

I missed my closest shot at my dream.

I blocked Chloe's and Nathan's contact information one by one.

I never wanted to see these people again.

As I began preparing for exams, I received a message:

[Mia, thank you for the materials you shared before. They were incredibly helpful.]

[Our competition roster is about to be submitted. If you need it, our team is willing to list you as a member.]

The day I flew to Stanford for my interview,

I ran into Nathan at airport security.

His laptop had been mixed up with someone else's, and he was booting it up to check.

His wallpaper was clearly another street photo of me from that day.

I calmly averted my gaze.

Whoever his wallpaper was, or why he had that photo, it had nothing to do with me anymore.

Chloe walked over. "Nathan, are you ready...?"

Suddenly, she saw me.

"Mia! I knew you'd be on this flight! Why didn't you call us?"

Nathan suddenly looked up, fumbling to pack away his laptop.

He looked at me with an urgent gaze.

I quietly waited for him to speak.

But what he said was just as cold.

"So you decided to come back?"

"We've already planned our trip. You can find a hotel and stay there yourself."

Even though I was utterly disappointed in him, hearing the person I once loved say that was still incredibly painful.

Nathan, do you think everyone should revolve around you?

Who do you think you are?

I smiled at them.

"You two can go on your trip. It has nothing to do with me."

I pushed my suitcase and turned to leave.

Chloe's voice came from behind. "Mia, Mia! Wait for us, let's go together! We can look out for each other!"

"Enough, Chloe. Leave her be. She'll come back when she's done throwing a tantrum. We just spoiled her before."

On the plane, I turned off my phone.

For the three-hour flight, I just stared blankly out the window.

The clouds kept changing. It felt like I hadn't looked up at the sky in a long time.

The journey to Harvard was shorter than to Stanford.

As soon as I turned on my phone, I received a string of messages from Nathan,

And 21 missed calls.

[Mia, there's a limit to how much you can joke.]

[Where are you? I'm coming to get you.]

Another call came in.

I hung up again.

I dragged my suitcase out of the airport. From now on, I had nothing to do with him.