"You're welcome. I can't promise I'll fix it, but I'll take a look first. If I can't, you'll probably need a repair shop."
Evan waved his hand, sneaking a glance at Emily's face as he spoke.
She really stood out—delicate features, pale skin. Even before he walked over, he'd noticed her from a distance. Hard not to, honestly.
She was tall, maybe 171cm, wearing a white, pleated skirt and a simple short-sleeved top. She looked bright, almost glowing. And those legs—so fair, they caught the sunlight. She was the classic campus beauty, like she'd just stepped out of a movie.
"It's fine if you can't fix it. I'm already grateful you're helping," Emily said, flashing a smile. "Actually, how about this? No matter what, I'll treat you. Does that make me generous?"
"That depends—what kind of meal are we talking about? If it's just coffee, that's not generous at all," Evan grinned.
"Okay, then I'll buy you lunch." Emily winked, teasing him.
Somehow, the two of them had already slipped into joking around like old friends.
Evan glanced at her again. From the moment he got there, he couldn't shake the feeling—she must have seen him driving that BMW. There wasn't really any other explanation for this sudden friendliness.
Money really does turn heads.
Even someone like Emily would take the initiative, just because of a fancy car. Not that he minded—her looks and figure were hard to ignore.
"Come on. There are benches in the garden. I'll help you with your computer there."
He tried to push those thoughts away and spoke up.
"Okay," Emily said, nodding. She followed him into the small garden.
***
Not far away, behind a big tree, Jasmine had been standing, frozen, for several minutes.
At first, when she saw Evan walk up to Emily. she didn't think much of it. Just a coincidence, she figured. No way the guy Emily was waiting for was Evan. Absolutely impossible.
But then she watched them chat and laugh for a while, and walk off together into the garden. Her eyes got huge. She just stood there, stunned.
It was obvious now. Evan was the one Emily
had been waiting for.
Unbelievable, but there it was.
Emily had shown up bare-faced, picked out her outfit, and waited all for Evan.
What is even happening?
Jasmine finally snapped out of it, but her mind was a mess. She couldn't wrap her head around it—how did Emily end up interested in Evan?
She'd always thought she was ordinary. Evan was, too—so average she'd even looked down on him a bit. Now, Emily of all people had fallen for him.
Ridiculous.
Outrageous.
Jasmine rubbed her temples. She wasn't dumb. Maybe there was something about Evan she'd missed—something Emily had seen.
Maybe his family wasn't so average after all?
Her phone buzzed.
She pulled it out and saw a string of Chat messages from Nathan.
"Baby, what are you up to?"
"Did you see my post last night? Wasn't it touching?"
He'd sent several messages in a row, and honestly, Jasmine just felt annoyed. All she wanted was to figure out what was really going on with Evan. She had zero patience for Nathan right now.
She was about to put her phone away, but then she hesitated and typed out a quick question.
Are you sure Evan's family is just average?
"Of course I'm sure. He said so himself—his family owns a small shop. Didn't I tell you? Why are you asking about his family again?" Nathan replied right away, a little confused.
Think about it. There's no way his family is average.
Jasmine shot back.
"Why not? He told me, and he's been at school for a month. He doesn't spend much, either."
Nathan answered.
You really think a girl like Emily would go out of her way for an ordinary guy? She added me, chatted till midnight, dressed up just to meet him today...
Jasmine started typing, feeling frustrated. By now, she didn't buy the "average family" story anymore.
But then she erased everything she'd written.
Jasmine figured there was no point asking Nathan about it—if she wanted to know about Evan's family, she'd have to dig around herself.
Or maybe, honestly, she didn't even need to investigate. Sooner or later, everyone would know about Evan's background anyway.
One thing was clear: Evan came from money. Just look—he got Emily to approach him first, didn't he? That sort of thing doesn't happen for no reason. The only question left was just how wealthy his family really was.
But one thing's for sure: his family's way ahead of Nathan's. No comparison.
The more Jasmine thought about it, the more annoyed she felt. Why hadn't she noticed Evan's good qualities earlier? If she'd picked up on it and gone after him, she'd probably have him wrapped around her finger by now. She wasn't exactly lacking in charm.
"Jas, let's drop the Evan talk, okay? We're free this afternoon—why don't we go catch a movie?" Nathan messaged her. "There's this new romance film out, people say it's great. If you want to go, I'll grab tickets."
Jasmine didn't answer, but Nathan didn't seem to care. He just sent her an invite anyway.
Nathan had it all planned out. Watching a movie in a dark theater? It's classic. Maybe he'd get to hold her hand. That's what everyone online says about movie dates, right? Just thinking about it made him grin.
"No, I've got stuff to do this afternoon." Jasmine typed back, short and to the point. She put her phone down.
Back in the boys' dorm, Nathan stared at her reply, stunned. He fired off another message.
"Come on, let's watch the movie. It's really good, baby…"
He sent a string of messages, but Jasmine just ignored them.
She kept glancing over at the small garden, itching to know what Emily and Evan were talking about. But the garden was wide open—if she tried to follow, they'd spot her instantly.
After a while, she sighed, gave up, and headed back to her dorm. Still, she couldn't shake the thought. She needed to find out just what made Evan so impressive.
—
Meanwhile, over in the garden, Evan and Emily walked together to a bench.
"Hey, here's my laptop," Emily said, pulling it from her bag. "Something's up with it. I've tried turning it on a bunch of times, but nothing happens."
"Let me take a look." Evan nodded and set the laptop down on the bench.
It was a MacBook.
"Is this a new? It shouldn't be having trouble starting up."
Evan raised an eyebrow as he saw the machine. "I'm not sure, but I tried turning it on a bunch of times yesterday. Nothing happened," Emily said, shaking her head.
"Alright, let me give it a shot."
He didn't say much else. Evan opened the laptop, hit the power button, and—just like that—the screen came to life.
He glanced at Emily, eyebrow still raised. Seriously?
Emily stared at the glowing screen, her face lighting up with surprise. "Wait, how did you turn it on so easily?" She let out a little gasp, genuinely startled. But if you looked closely, you could see her ears turning a bit pink.
Honestly, she knew exactly what was going on. She'd come up with this plan last night—using the broken laptop as an excuse to talk to Evan. Even so, now that she was actually doing it, she felt a bit shy. This was the first time she'd ever made the first move toward a guy.
Still, she kept up the act, looking as if she was honestly confused about the laptop's sudden recovery. She was pretty good at pretending.
Evan studied her for a second. Nothing seemed off, but it was just weird. The laptop hadn't worked for her no matter what, and now it powered up on the first try? What were the odds?
He tried the laptop a few more times, turning it off and on. It worked perfectly every time.
Emily stood off to the side, long legs almost glowing in the sunlight. "I couldn't get it to start at all yesterday, but you just turned it right on."
Evan glanced at her—couldn't help it, really—then looked away. "Must've just been a fluke. Anyway, it's fine now. Use it like normal, and if it acts up again, we'll deal with it then."
He closed the laptop and handed it back to her.
"Thanks for helping," Emily said, taking the computer.
"No need to thank me. I didn't do anything." Evan waved it off and started to leave. "Alright, I'll get going."
"Hey, don't go yet!" Emily said, her voice suddenly bright and confident. "I told you last night I'd treat you to dinner, no matter what happened with the laptop. Now that it's working, I definitely can't back out. It's lunchtime—come on, let's eat at the cafeteria. My treat."
Evan looked at her for a second, then shrugged. "Alright."
Honestly, he couldn't pretend he didn't like her. With her looks, her figure, those long legs—what guy wouldn't be interested? And she was being so direct about it. No point in fighting it.
"Wait for me, I'll just drop this off in my dorm. Be right back," Emily said, flashing him a smile before walking off with her laptop. She moved with this effortless grace—tall, straight-backed, with a kind of quiet confidence. Hard not to notice.
—
As soon as she walked into the girls' dorm, Emily let out a breath she'd been holding in. A smile pulled at her lips. The plan was working. She'd gotten to know Evan, and now they were going to have lunch together. Everything else would fall into place.
With her looks, her figure, her whole vibe, she was pretty sure Evan wouldn't be able to resist her. In her mind, she'd already won.
Her mood lifted even more. She headed into the dorm room, and saw only Jasmine was there.
No big deal. Emily put the laptop on her desk, checked her makeup in the mirror—still perfect—and got ready to leave for lunch.
Just then, Jasmine spoke up. "Emily, wait a sec."
Emily stopped in the doorway. "Yeah? What's up?" She turned to face Jasmine.
Jasmine sat in her chair, looking uncertain. She hesitated, thinking about whether to mention that she'd seen Emily with Evan. In the end, curiosity won out. She wanted to see what Emily would say, especially since she seemed to be in such a good mood.
So Jasmine decided to just ask.
"Hey, Emily, it's nothing big, just… when you went downstairs before me, Nathan also came looking for me. I went down after, and I saw you waiting by the little garden entrance. I thought about coming over to say hi, but then Evan showed up and started talking to you."
She tossed out this casual excuse, then paused. Emily just looked at her, not saying a word. Jasmine couldn't hold back anymore—she asked what was really on her mind.
"Emily, is Evan the guy you were waiting for? Is he the one you like?"
Jasmine watched Emily closely, not wanting to miss even the smallest reaction.
"Yeah."
To Jasmine's surprise, Emily just nodded and said it straight out.
"It's really him? Why?"
Jasmine blurted it out before she could stop herself.
"There's no reason. It's just him."
Emily smiled, bright and open. She waved her hand like the conversation was over. "Anything else? Otherwise, I'm heading out."
Heading where?
Jasmine asked without thinking.
"Let's go to the cafeteria together." Emily said this while opening the dorm room door, then she stepped out and shut it behind her.
The door closed with a soft thud.
Jasmine sat there, a little dazed.
A few things really threw her off.
First, Emily had just admitted, plain as day, that she liked Evan. No hesitation at all.
And then—Emily was going to dinner with him.
Jasmine tried to shake off her shock, rubbing her face.
Honestly, before she asked, she thought maybe she'd misunderstood. Maybe Emily just wanted to talk to Evan about something, not because she liked him.
But now she had her answer. No doubt about it.
I like him. That's it.
So clean and honest. No holding back.
That's what Jasmine couldn't figure out. She didn't leave herself any backup plan.
Even if Evan's family is well-off, what if there's someone out there with even better prospects?
Did Emily just put all her cards on the table, just like that?
------