Paul Young handed the ball to Jason Bolton. Jason Bolton was just one goal short, so of course he wanted to help his good friend. That penalty kick was actually deliberately created by Paul Young. Of course, this doesn’t mean he faked a fall—Paul Young just knew that by breaking through so close to the opponent, the other side would inevitably make physical contact to try to stop him, and with physical contact, the chance of a foul was high. Sure enough, in the end, he won a penalty for Jason Bolton, which could be considered a birthday gift he prepared for Sophie.

Seeing Jason Bolton place the ball on the penalty spot, Sophie became excited. She knew that no matter what, Jason Bolton would absolutely not miss this shot.

“You seem really excited!” Shawn Thompson pressed his face close to Sophie’s ear and asked.

“Yes!” Sophie smiled at her, then turned her head back to focus on Jason Bolton.

When Shawn Thompson turned his face back, he gave a smug smile to Jason Bolton, who was looking over in their direction.

Jason Bolton withdrew his gaze and fixed his eyes on the goal not far away. The goalkeeper was already in position on the goal line, ready and waiting.

It was a nine-a-side small field, so the penalty area was small, and the penalty spot was very close to the goal. Even if the goalkeeper was fully prepared, in Jason Bolton’s view, it was pointless—he had never missed a penalty before. Besides, the distance was less than nine meters!

For the penalty, the spectators all quieted down.

Jason Bolton began to step back.

The whistle blew. He ran up, swung his leg, and shot!

The goalkeeper dove to the right, but to a chorus of sighs, the ball soared high over the crossbar!

Paul Young looked in disbelief at Jason Bolton’s standing figure from behind. After all these years, it was the first time he’d seen Jason Bolton miss a penalty! Was he too eager to score a hat trick and ended up overreaching?

Paul Young turned to look at Sophie on the sidelines. Sophie’s eyes were wide open, her hands covering her mouth—clearly, she couldn’t believe what had just happened either. But when she saw Jason Bolton turn around expressionlessly and walk back to midfield, she suddenly felt the distance between herself and Jason Bolton growing wider and wider—he showed no frustration or regret at all. He did it on purpose!

Sophie didn’t know why. What was going on between her and Jason Bolton? Why would Jason Bolton do this? Had she done something wrong? Or had something happened to Jason Bolton? She knew Jason Bolton had no shortage of admirers now; there were beauties in the history department, and proximity gives an advantage...

She didn’t know how the last few minutes passed, nor what things were like after the match ended. She didn’t even remember what Shawn Thompson said to her on the way back to the dorm. In short, she returned to the dorm in a daze, collapsed on her bed, her mind still stuck on the moment when Jason Bolton deliberately missed the penalty.

She felt so wronged, not understanding what she had done wrong or why Jason Bolton would treat her this way. Today was her birthday—her eighteenth, her coming-of-age birthday. She had thought she would receive the birthday gift she had long hoped for, but never expected such an ending.

Jason Bolton was her first love. Was it true that first loves are only meant to be remembered? Is the price of growing up saying goodbye to your first love? If that was really the case, Sophie absolutely refused to accept such a result. Why should something that happens a thousand times to others have to happen again to her and Jason Bolton?

Paul Young realized something was wrong. That penalty, judging by Jason Bolton’s actions, was intentional. After the match, he ran off without a word, not even saying goodbye to Sophie—that was just too much.

Unable to find Jason Bolton, he decided to go ask Sophie for an explanation. Lately, there had been so much going on—busy training the new team, busy with the school team, busy with class committee affairs... so busy he’d neglected Jason Bolton and Sophie. In his heart, these two younger people still hadn’t matured and both needed his care. Whether it was Sophie or Jason Bolton, they were as pure as blank sheets of paper, without a trace of impurity.

The phone rang. Sophie wiped her slightly reddened eyes and got up to answer. “Hello, who are you looking for?” She tried to make her voice sound calm.

“It’s me, Paul Young! Sophie, are you busy right now? There’s something I want to ask you. Can you come down? I’m at the IC card phone downstairs.”

Sophie poked her head out the window and looked down. Sure enough, she saw Paul Young making a call.

“Okay, I’ll come down.”

“What’s going on between you two?”

That was the first thing Paul Young said when he saw Sophie, leaving her stunned. What was going on? She wanted to know what was going on between her and Jason Bolton too. He had distanced himself from her without a word, and she didn’t even know what had happened.

“What’s going on?” Sophie murmured. “Nothing, we’re fine, really fine...”

“You’re such an actor!” Paul Young interrupted Sophie. “What was with Jason Bolton missing the penalty? And how do you explain him running off after the match without a word? You two barely even say hi to each other now, and you call that fine? That’s what you call fine...”

Paul Young couldn’t go on, because he saw Sophie lowering her head more and more. The air was filled with a sense of unease, like a storm was coming. Paul Young regretted it in his heart—he’d been too harsh. Sophie was a girl, after all. Even after three years of friendship, he shouldn’t have spoken like that. She wasn’t a boy. It was all his fault for being too anxious...

While Paul Young was berating himself, Sophie suddenly looked up and forced a smile. “It’s really nothing. We... what you said are just little things. We’ll work it out ourselves.”