Operation: Get Him a Girlfriend

At 7 a.m., the bunk below creaked.

Someone jabbed my blanket.

"Isaac, up. Class at eight."

William, obviously. I stayed buried.

Then Jace's voice, all smug: "Still sulking about last night?"

He and Steve cracked up. I ripped the blanket off.

"I'm not mad," I muttered, climbing down to wash up.

Total lie. I was fuming.

Last night I confessed to an upperclassman in music club. She turned me down—said she liked William instead.

In the mirror, I caught him brushing his teeth behind me and scoffed.

William Wilde. Student council president. The day he stepped on campus, the forum went feral.

Not just grades—his looks too.

Six-two, broad shoulders, sharp brows, sharp eyes. That untouchable, prince-y aura everyone drooled over.

But I didn't like him.

Messing up my love life was bad enough. What really killed me was his grind.

When I gamed, he studied. When I went out, he was taking extra exams. Even the sound of him flipping pages made me feel guilty enough to put down my phone and open a damn book.

I tried everything.

Dragged him into gaming—he carried me.

Took him out like my friend suggested—total flop.

So I ranted on the forum: [How do you get someone to stop studying?]

One reply stood out:

[Easy. Get them to fall in love.]

That lit a bulb. I DMed the user. Once they swore it worked, I was in.

***

Love makes people lose it, right? If William got a girlfriend, no way he'd keep up the grind.

The more I thought about it, the better it sounded. And I already had the perfect girl.

Alicia Pior—campus queen. Pretty, sweet voice, total girl-next-door vibe. She even asked me once if William was single.

I grabbed my phone: [You there?]

Nothing.

Then: [William and I are grabbing lunch at Cactus Grill by the front gate. Wanna "accidentally" run into us?]

She shot back a thumbs-up instantly.

That's when it hit me—girls never looked at me the way they looked at him. Ouch.

I glanced at William. "Let's hit Cactus Grill today."

He nodded, raised a brow. "So you're not mad anymore?"

I huffed and looked away.

He chuckled under his breath. I pretended not to hear.

By noon, we were at Cactus Grill.

I bolted to the counter. "Yeah, this, this, and that," pointing at my usuals.

William trailed, stacking salad.

As soon as we sat down, I scanned the place, searching for Alicia.

William caught on. "Who are you looking for?"

Guilt stabbed me, but this was for him. I was serving him a gorgeous girlfriend on a platter. Lucky guy.

I straightened up, shot him a look—then spotted her.

Alicia. White dress, light makeup, glowing. Unreal.

I cleared my throat. "What a coincidence, Alicia."

She beamed. "What a surprise. It's packed—mind if I join you?"