The sudden voice beside him made Evan jump. He turned his head, and—wow. It was Claire Wilson.
They were standing pretty close, so Evan could see every detail of Claire's face. She looked calm, even kind of pretty, and he realized just how flustered he was.
"Your breathing's a bit off," Claire said. "Try following me: inhale, exhale, inhale, exhale..."
Her voice snapped him out of it. He started matching his breath to hers, in and out, just like she said.
And you know what? It actually helped. That tight, squeezing feeling in his chest started to fade.
"Thanks, Teacher Wilson," Evan said, grateful.
Claire shook her head. "No need to thank me. Just keep this pace. You're doing fine."
She seemed a little nervous herself, honestly. First day as a counselor, and she wanted to do a good job. Maybe that's why she'd come over when she noticed him struggling to breathe.
Evan kept running.
Fifteen minutes later, a voice rang out in his head.
"Ding, the system detected that the host ran for 15 minutes today, completing today's check-in task."
Running progress: 1 out of 7 days. In six days, he'd get his reward.
Evan slowed to a stop, breathing hard. He didn't run much, so fifteen minutes left him wiped out.
But hey, he made it.
That's good enough.
"Done running?" Claire walked up and looked at him.
"Yeah, I'm done," Evan said, shaking his head.
"You didn't used to run, did you? You should do it more," Claire said, looking him up and down as he caught his breath.
Evan managed a nod. "Yeah, I haven't been running much." Then he thanked her for helping with his breathing again.
She brushed it off. "Seriously, it's nothing. I'm your counselor, you're my student. Comes with the job."
She smiled but didn't say anything else.
"Rest a bit before you eat," Claire said as she started to leave. "Don't skip meals—you'll get low blood sugar. All right, I'm off."
She waved and headed out.
Evan stayed there for a while, waiting for his heart rate to settle down before leaving the track.
He'd planned to go to the cafeteria right away, but his shirt was sticky with sweat. No way he'd enjoy breakfast like this. So, halfway to the cafeteria, he turned around and headed for his dorm. Shower first, then food.
When he opened the dorm door, Ryan and Jack were still out cold, snoring away. Nathan was up, already getting dressed.
"You actually went for a run?" Nathan looked at Evan, eyebrow raised, surprised to see him sweaty and out of breath.
Evan just nodded. "Yeah. Where you off to?"
"Breakfast with my girlfriend," Nathan said, grinning like he'd won a prize.
Evan shot him a look. What's the big deal? Jasmine clearly treated Nathan like her errand boy anyway.
Nathan caught the look and puffed up with pride. "Don't be jealous, Evan. When you get a girlfriend, you'll get it."
He reached out, maybe to pat Evan on the shoulder, but halfway there he noticed the sweat and pulled his hand back.
"Nevermind. My girlfriend's waiting," Nathan said, already out the door, humming a tune. He looked pretty pleased with himself—probably thinking Evan was jealous or something.
Honestly, Nathan's happiness was almost contagious. Almost.
After a quick shower, Evan changed into clean clothes and headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.
On his way back to the dorm, his phone buzzed in his pocket. A message from Emily.
"I just got up. After I wash up, want to meet at 10:30 in the small garden by the girls' dorm?"
She added, "I tried, but my laptop still won't turn on. I'll need your help."
Evan typed back a quick "ok," and Emily sent him an emoji.
He slipped his phone away and went back to the dorm. Nathan still wasn't back, but Ryan was up, glued to his phone.
Ryan looked up and grinned. "Evan, want to play a game?"
"Let's go," Evan said, loading the game.
—
In the girls' dorm, Emily lay on her bed, smiling at Evan's reply.
She'd picked 10:30 on purpose, of course. With lunch right around the corner, she'd have the perfect excuse to invite Evan to eat—she just had to play the laptop card first.
In short, Emily had made up her mind—she was going to win Evan over and become his girlfriend.
She pushed aside her thoughts, set her phone down, and got up. After a quick wash and brushing her teeth, she sat at her desk, ready to start her makeup routine.
Honestly, Emily looked gorgeous even without any makeup. Still, she wanted to look absolutely stunning standing next to Evan. She figured that was the way to keep his attention for good.
Just then, the dorm room door swung open, and Jasmine walked in. She spotted Emily at her desk, already working on her makeup, and stopped in her tracks.
"Emily, are you heading out later?" Jasmine asked. She knew the drill—no one bothers with makeup unless they've got plans.
"Yeah, we're going out," Emily said, carefully shaping her brows while she talked.
She had those perfect willow-leaf eyebrows that only needed a little touch-up to make her whole face light up. With her already striking features, it was hard not to notice her.
"So, where are we going?" Jasmine asked again, sneaking another look at Emily's face, a mix of envy and maybe even a hint of jealousy in her eyes.
If she had Emily's looks, Nathan wouldn't even be on her radar. She'd be aiming for a boyfriend with a fat bank account.
"Nowhere special," Emily replied, smiling and focusing back on her makeup.
Jasmine didn't push it.
When Emily finished, her makeup looked effortless—like she wasn't wearing any at all. But the truth was, she'd carefully enhanced every feature. That "no-makeup" makeup is actually much trickier to pull off than it looks.
Emily studied her bare face in the mirror, eyes lighting up with quiet pride. She got up, opened her closet, and pulled out the outfit she'd picked last night—a crisp white short-sleeved shirt and a black pleated skirt.
She wanted to look good, but not like she'd tried too hard. The white shirt and skirt struck that balance, especially teamed with fresh white sneakers and high socks. Simple, but the whole look just worked.
Getting dressed took longer than planned—over ten minutes slipped by. Emily tucked her shirt neatly into her skirt, which showed off her waist. Her long, straight legs caught the light. She looked bright, pretty, but still like herself.
She checked herself in the mirror one last time and nodded, satisfied. This was it. Time to go meet Evan.
She glanced at her phone. Only 10:00. She still had half an hour to kill. After thinking it over, she grabbed her laptop.
Jasmine noticed Emily was doing her makeup—bare-faced style, which, weirdly, takes even more time than regular makeup. At first Jasmine didn't think much of it, but then she saw Emily change into the white shirt and black skirt, pull on brand new socks, and suddenly it clicked.
Guys might see Emily's outfit as basic. But Jasmine knew better. A look this "effortless" actually takes effort.
So, where were they going? Why so much attention to detail?
Jasmine frowned, staring at Emily, and the answer dawned on her—Emily was getting ready to meet a guy. That was the only explanation. But who? Whoever it was, he had to be something special.
Curiosity got the better of her. "Emily, you look amazing. Are you going to see a guy? Do you have a boyfriend now?"
Emily didn't hesitate. "No boyfriend yet, but it's just a matter of time."
Jasmine perked up. "Wait, so you like someone? Is he from our school? Do I know him?"
Emily just smiled, clearly amused. "When we're official, you'll meet him. You and the roommates can grill him yourselves."
She didn't mention Evan. She wanted to keep it quiet until things were real.
Jasmine groaned, "Come on, tell me! I'm dying to know who he is. Why'd you go all out like this? The dress, the socks—this is a guy-magnet outfit!"
Her tone turned playful, but Emily didn't budge. "I told you, you'll find out soon enough."
Emily checked the time again—10:15 already. She slipped her laptop into her bag.
"Alright, talk later. I'm heading out."
She glanced in the mirror, double-checked her look, then picked up her bag and left the dorm. The door clicked behind her.
Jasmine stood there buzzing with curiosity, like a cat tickled by her own tail. Should she follow Emily and see who this mystery guy was? The idea popped into her mind and refused to leave. She wanted to see what kind of guy could make Emily put in all this effort.
Trying to play it cool, Jasmine picked up her phone, opened the door, and slipped out too.
...
As Emily walked out of the girls' dorm, she caught plenty of glances—some admiring, some jealous—from the other girls. She had the kind of looks and vibe that turned heads, and she knew it.
She didn't pay much attention, though. She just walked straight to the little garden near the dorm, but instead of going in, she stopped at the entrance.
I'm here, but no rush. Take your time.
She pulled out her phone and shot Evan a quick message.
"Just left the dorm, be there in ten."
Evan was already out of the boys' dorm when he saw her text. He tapped out a reply.
"Okay, I'll wait at the small garden entrance."
Emily stared at her screen for a second, then saw Evan's "ok" pop up. She smiled, still holding her phone, and hung around by the garden entrance.
A little ways off, Jasmine had slipped out of the girls' dorm behind them. She hid behind a big tree, watching. When she spotted Emily waiting at the garden entrance, Jasmine's eyes went wide.
Emily looked like she was waiting—nervous, maybe. Which kind of said it all about who had the upper hand right now. If Evan was the one making her wait, he probably held more sway. Jasmine wondered who this guy really was.
It got her thinking about Nathan. With him, it was always the opposite—he'd show up first and wait for her. That was a whole different dynamic. It said something about who mattered more, or who called the shots.
Jasmine tried to push the thought away and peeked again, but yanked her head back fast when Emily glanced her way. She doubted Emily saw her, since she hid pretty quick, but her heart thumped anyway.
Emily frowned a little. She could've sworn someone was watching her, but when she looked around, nobody was there. Weird. She shrugged it off.
A few minutes later, Evan showed up. He looked pretty average—nothing flashy about his face or height—but he had this calm, steady confidence that set him apart. Not like some of the other guys in class, who were all bravado and no chill.
That thought flickered through Emily's mind, but she pushed it aside and walked over to Evan.
"You're here! Sorry, but I really need your help with the computer. I have no clue what I'm doing," she said, flashing a bright, easy smile.
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