Chapter 107: A Place To Lean
Darcy stood still, his gaze cast downward as the early morning sunlight spread across the training grounds. The faint breeze moved the hem of his uniform, but he barely noticed. Words still echoed in his ears, sharp, accusing words hurled at him by strangers who knew nothing of his life. Rumours? he had heard worse. He was not bothered.
His family situation had always made him prone to gossip. People hated it when someone they deemed ’socially beneath them’ succeeded. They could never accept that someone with less money or status might receive more praise, more achievement, and more admiration. So they belittled. They gossiped. They made up reasons for his success.
Darcy had long stopped responding. What good did it do? Let them talk.
He wasn’t going to answer them, not because he couldn’t prove his innocence, but because they didn’t matter. Not really.
At that time, all that was on his mind was, of course, Micah.
He hadn’t had a close friend in years. Not since his father passed away and his world went upside down. The move to a cheaper district, the change in schools, the slow fading of old friendships, he had never truly recovered. Nora, on the other hand, had easier than he did. She was at that age where she could blend in more with her peers.
But for him, with everything else weighing on his shoulders, the bills, his mother’s health, the way his younger sister clung to him like a shadow, trusting him to hold their small family together, how could he have the luxury of thinking about friends, let alone time to make any?
And when he showed promise in mathematics, winning a scholarship to a prestigious high school, it only got worse.
The students there, wealthy, polished, and spoiled, looked down on him, like a stray dog that had wandered into their mansion. The teachers praised him. The girls giggled and fussed around him. That only fueled the resentment.