4. Is He Famous?

“Hey, why are you daydreaming?” Felicity asked.

Ayleen swallowed hard and smiled awkwardly, trying to calm herself after that memory from her past came flooding back.

Jasper said, “Oh, she’s probably thinking about her thesis topic.”

Ayleen remained silent, choosing instead to look back and forth between the two of them.

“That’s still a long way off; no need to think about it yet,” Felicity said.

“True—unless you want to graduate right away and get out of this campus,” Jasper added.

Ayleen smiled and simply said, “Yeah, I’m hungry.”

Jasper chuckled, “Hold on, I’ll go get Eliza first.”

Once they were all gathered, the four students walked toward the cafeteria. Ayleen couldn’t stop glancing at them repeatedly, as if afraid she might wake up and realize it was all just a dream.

It was true that it was highly likely everything she was experiencing right now was related to time travel, but she still didn’t know when she would return to the future.

Speaking of the future, is it happening right now? Is this another dimension, or could it be that this isn’t time travel at all, but rather a dream I’m having as I’m dying? Ayleen thought hard.

“Hm, that’s true. Many people in a coma can experience things like this. Am I … one of those people too?” Ayleen muttered softly, but Jasper happened to hear her.

“In a coma? Who’s in a coma?” Jasper asked.

Ayleen shook her head quickly. “Please order for me, too.”

Jasper nodded and hurried over to the food stand offering a variety of dishes that had the students there drooling.

Ayleen sat down with her two best friends, each of whom was busy with their own activities.

Felicity was reading a magazine, while Elizabeth seemed to be playing with her phone.

Ah, I don’t know how long this will last, but if I really have to stay here for a while, that means I’ll have to readjust, Ayleen thought to herself.

In a flash, Ayleen grabbed her phone and started checking it.

It turned out there was nothing interesting on her phone.

“Oh yeah, this year I … haven’t met any guys yet,” Ayleen said softly.

Elizabeth, who heard her, immediately giggled, “Well, that’s why you shouldn’t be in the library all the time.”

“Yeah, that’s right. You need to go somewhere else, sweetheart,” Felicity said, who had already closed her favorite fashion magazine.

Ayleen replied, “What does the library have to do with not meeting any guys?”

Jasper had returned and was sitting in the empty chair, but he didn’t seem inclined to join their conversation.

Elizabeth clicked her tongue. “Of course there are. Are there any handsome guys there?”

“Yes,” Ayleen replied quickly.

Felicity yawned. “You mean a guy with thick glasses and a nerdy look, right?”

“Or … a librarian?” Elizabeth retorted exasperatedly.

Ayleen exhaled in exasperation, “Of course not. I just ran into a handsome guy a little while ago.”

“No need to lie,” Jasper said, casually munching on the bag of potato chips he’d just opened.

Ayleen raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean?”

Jasper grinned confidently, “A handsome guy like me wouldn’t show up at the library.”

Ayleen snorted, while Elizabeth rolled her eyes lazily.

When Ayleen turned to her right, she blurted out, “There he is.”

Ayleen’s three best friends all turned their gaze in the same direction at once.

“I ran into him at the library,” Ayleen said, keeping her eyes fixed on Sea Finley, who was furrowing his brow.

But Ayleen suddenly realized something else.

Wait a minute! Why do I keep running into him? Could it be that I used to run into him all the time but didn’t realize it?

But how is that possible? As far as I remember, at yesterday’s opening ceremony, Sea said, 'I’m glad to finally meet you.'

'Doesn’t that mean we’d only just met at that moment?' Ayleen thought seriously.

Felicity, Jasper, and Elizabeth, who had been watching where the girl was looking, all let out a soft sigh.

“Come on, Leen. Just forget about it!” Elizabeth said.

Ayleen furrowed her brow. “Forget about what?”

Jasper glanced over at Sea, who was now sitting at a table with a few people who were probably his classmates.

“Huh?” Ayleen stared blankly.

Felicity winked, “You … have a crush on Sea?”

Ayleen’s eyes widened, “What? Of course not.”

Ayleen was about to say that she was married and already had a daughter. But she managed to hold her tongue when she realized her three best friends would surely think she was crazy.

Remember, she was currently in the year 2015, a time when she was still a junior majoring in English literature at the University of Stone Hill.

So, she quickly changed the subject by asking, “Do you know him?”

Ah, that was a stupid question. Sea Finley was one of the most famous actors, just as Melody had said. Wait, but that was in 2025. It’s 2015 now—is he famous this year too? Ayleen wondered to herself.

“Who doesn’t know him, Ayleen? You’re such a … oh my gosh!” Elizabeth exclaimed, raising her eyebrows.

Ayleen immediately replied, “You mean he’s famous too? Like … a celebrity? Has he been in the modeling world? He—”

“Hey, what are you saying?” Felicity interrupted impatiently.

Jasper chimed in, “You just said he’s … an actor? Oh, come on. Don’t make me laugh, Ayleen!”

Elizabeth laughed wickedly, “Exactly. Just look at him! He’s really handsome, sure, but … with that stiff, stone-like expression of his, how could he possibly be an actor?”

Ayleen was stunned to hear this.

She stared at her three best friends with a strange look.

If you knew that in the future he’d actually become a very famous actor, you definitely wouldn’t be making fun of him like this, Ayleen thought to herself.

But, as if she still remembered that there was one question they hadn’t answered yet, Ayleen said again, “So, why did you say he’s famous?”