"Uh, Arden—he hasn't come back yet. He might've gone to play basketball. I'll ask him."
Ryan replied casually, then messaged Arden.
Telling him the advisor was doing dorm checks.
Ryan's intuition told him Arden likely wouldn't return to the dorm tonight. Usually he wouldn't need to report to the advisor, but unfortunately Arden was unlucky enough to get caught during Anderson's patrol.
Emma walked into the room and instinctively sniffed.
The dorm had that unique smell characteristic of guys' rooms—not particularly offensive, but certainly not pleasant either.
It was generally a bit messy, with personal items scattered everywhere.
Underwear and socks hung on the bed frames.
As a graduate student, she'd done dorm checks as an RA during undergrad, so she was used to such sights and remained unfazed.
Tyler and Evan, however, were extremely self-conscious.
After all, Emma was also very attractive, even prettier than Tyler's girlfriend Chloe. She wasn't absolute top-tier, but she could certainly be called a knockout.
She wore fitted athletic wear, carrying a thin layer of fragrant sweat from her run.
Her dark blonde hair highlights were tied in a high ponytail, revealing her long, fair neck and pretty, slightly flushed ears.
Tyler and Evan almost didn't dare look at her directly.
In contrast, the usually reserved Ryan felt nothing.
In his eyes, all real-world women were the same—none as good as his games!
"Your hygiene is acceptable. Tyler and Evan, remember to clean regularly, especially the trash—it needs to be emptied daily, otherwise bacteria easily grows and causes illness," Emma advised.
"Understood." Both felt pretty embarrassed, having their messy state seen by the attractive advisor was mortifying.
"Ryan's good. Arden... huh, Arden's area is so neat."
"Emma, he's not neat—he just has fewer things," Evan couldn't help defending himself. "It looks messy here, but it's actually because I have lots of stuff: skincare products, books in their original English, a capsule coffee machine... and a ukulele. Oh, by the way, Emma, do you play ukulele?"
"I don't."
"…"
Emma looked at Evan strangely.
Why did this kid suddenly start listing things to her?
Like someone socially awkward who forcefully displays their wide range of hobbies on a first date...
"Emma, don't look at Arden's clean desk—he's actually pretty much like us normally." Perhaps encouraged by Evan's statement, Tyler also spoke up. "These dirty clothes of mine, I'm taking home to wash this weekend. The washer at home does a better job, plus I've got a car, a Volkswagen Passat. It's super convenient being local, just drive home..."
"Oh," Emma replied perfunctorily, internally complaining wildly.
Who asked you?
Emma couldn't help secretly sighing—this Tyler and Evan, just like their classmates often complained, loved showing off way too much.
It couldn't be denied their family backgrounds were quite good among Pennbrook students.
The problem was, how old were they? Showing off constantly, not acting like students at all.
They weren't even the type of truly wealthy heirs who could actually flex...
"Alright, nothing else. When Arden gets back, please tell him for me not to come back too late."
With that, Emma left room 510.
Everyone let out a long breath. Phew, this advisor had quite the presence. Although her temper was good, she always gave off this sense of sharp competence.
Evan mused, "I heard Emma participated in lots of student activities during undergrad and achieved remarkable results. She really has leadership presence."
Tyler suddenly had an idea. "It'd be pretty impressive if I could date Emma Anderson. After all, she's only four years older than us, which is totally reasonable."
"Reasonable?" Evan scoffed. "She's the type of excellent career woman—how could she possibly go for some nouveau riche real estate kid?"
"Damn, who are you mocking?"
"…"
Just as a new round of "Evan vs. Tyler" was about to begin.
Emma finished checking the other rooms and walked out of the dorm building.
After thinking about it, she decided to call Arden to give him a warning.
After all, she'd run into Arden at the dining hall earlier, and the kid said he was skipping class to work out.
Now he was coming back really late again.
He didn't seem particularly well-behaved, giving off rebellious vibes.
Actually, rebellious students were easy to spot. For example, in room 510, the others all showed varying degrees of nervousness facing the advisor.
Only Arden was neither servile nor overbearing.
Of course, Emma wasn't really going to punish Arden. Even if he genuinely didn't return to the dorm at night, it wasn't terribly serious.
Just a warning, reminding him to take it easy and not cause trouble.
Emma found Arden's contact and made a video call.
It connected after waiting over ten seconds.
The screen shook, then a swimming pool scene appeared, looking very upscale from the décor, like a pool in a luxury hotel.
Then the screen flashed and switched to the front camera.
Arden, wearing only swim trunks, his tall and athletic physique on full display, appeared before Emma.
"Emm, were you looking for me?"
"Ah, actually it's nothing major. I just went to check the guys' dorms and you weren't there, so I was asking about your situation."
"Oh, I'm staying at a hotel off-campus tonight. My relatives came to visit. I was swimming just now and didn't see the call. Sorry about that," Arden said with a smile. "I originally meant to tell you but was having too much fun and forgot."
Saying that, Arden picked up a hotel keycard and waved it in front of the camera.
"It's fine, as long as you're being responsible. Be careful and stay safe."
Emma quickly ended the video call.
She reached for her chest, breathing rapidly, her considerable assets rising and falling.
That kid's physique was too good.
Unexpectedly seeing Arden mid-swim gave Emma a huge visual impact.
Emma usually loved sports, so she particularly valued a guy's build.
Arden's physique was definitely the best she'd seen in her four years at Pennbrook.
Over six feet tall.
Very well-proportioned, perfectly muscled.
Neither too thin nor disproportionately bulky like bodybuilders.
Even more impressive was that Arden not only had an amazing body but was also handsome.
Recalling that stunning sight in the video just now, Emma gulped hard.
Good thing she ended the call in time, otherwise she definitely would've embarrassed herself!
How mortifying, almost in front of her own student... Well, according to Pennbrook tradition, the relationship between an advisor and student was actually more like upperclassmen mentoring underclassmen, not the traditional teacher-student dynamic.
Admiring a younger guy's physique wasn't that unreasonable!
Emma comforted herself.
Then she realized something else.
The keycard Arden showed had the hotel name on it.
JW Marriott.
Had to be the one not far from Pennbrook, two subway stops away.
Even a standard room cost eight or nine hundred a night.
And that was during the recent tourism off-season—prices would double during peak times.
His relatives staying at a hotel of the JW Marriott's caliber seemed quite wealthy.
So did Arden come across as low-key because his family was genuinely average, or was he just being modest?
Hard to say, hard to say.
That night, Emma inexplicably kept thinking about Arden.
She suffered from insomnia.
She finally drifted off, only to dream of swimming with Arden...