Chapter 3

Lawrence casually slung an arm around Elaine's shoulders, his expression cocky.

"Come on, Elaine. Don't talk about Jordan like that. He's good at science. If he studies physics, he could actually make something of himself. Unlike me, I can only study this useless stuff."

Elaine's voice immediately softened. "How is it useless? I happen to like guys like you. Not like some people who are as stiff as a rock."

I watched the two of them trade lines with icy eyes.

My phone buzzed again in my pocket. I did not even need to look. I already knew one of her best friends was probably live-commenting everything in their group chat.

[Elaine is freaking out! She definitely wants Jordan to choose a school in the same city as her!]

[Exactly! She's afraid that if Jordan goes to Westbridge University, the two of them will drift apart.]

[She's totally using Lawrence to provoke Jordan. That possessiveness is insane!]

I looked at Elaine's smug expression and only found the whole thing ridiculous. Did she really think the entire world revolved around her?

"Are you done?" I asked calmly. My voice was completely flat.

Elaine turned her head away and sighed dramatically. "Fine. Stop pretending you don't care. I know you deliberately chose Westbridge University just to make me mad. Everyone knows you want to stay here with me..."

"When did I ever say I wanted to stay here?" I looked her straight in the eyes.

Elaine froze for a moment before gritting her teeth, barely able to contain her anger. "You know perfectly well that I'm going to Apex University! And you chose Westbridge University without even asking me?"

"I can choose which university I want to go to. Why would I need to ask you?"

Before she could react, I snatched the form back from her hand and walked straight past the two of them toward the office.

After turning in my form, I had barely made it out of the building when someone stopped me at the school entrance.

It was right after school, so the entrance was packed with students. Within seconds, a crowd had gathered around us. Several girls were nudging Elaine forward until she awkwardly ended up standing in front of me.

"Come on, Elaine, stop dragging your feet!" one of the girls teased, waggling her eyebrows. "Didn't we agree you were going to surprise Jordan?"

"Exactly!" another girl chimed in. "You went too far today, Elaine. Hurry up and give him the present. Apologize, confess your feelings, and then you two can put all this behind you!"

The students who had no idea what was going on started cheering and making a scene.

Lawrence stood at the edge of the crowd, looking less than pleased.

I remained where I was, standing straight as I watched Elaine's friends push her another step forward until she was directly in front of me.

She took a deep breath. A faint, suspicious blush appeared beneath her light makeup, spreading all the way to her ears. Awkwardly, she brought out the hand she had been hiding behind her back.

She was clutching a delicate pink bag.

Seeing Elaine like this was rare. For once, she looked genuinely nervous, almost sincere. For just a moment, my heart betrayed me and started beating a little faster.

Could it be that she had finally realized she was wrong? Could she actually be planning to talk to me properly this time?

That tiny flicker of hope in my heart was completely crushed the moment Elaine opened her mouth.

"Who... Who said I was going to apologize to him?" Her voice suddenly shot up. She glared viciously at the friend who had been teasing her. "And you guys, stop making things up! Confess? If anyone is going to confess, it should be Jordan confessing to me!"

She lifted her chin, that arrogant expression returning to her face. Then she roughly shoved the pink bag into my arms. "Here. I picked it up for you while I was out."

I looked down and opened the bag. There was no carefully wrapped gift inside, just a simple cup of milkshake with a straw already poked through the lid. It was clear someone had already taken a few sips.