Chapter 71 Becoming Famous
Mindy was lying on the bed, messing with something. When I walked in, she glanced at the roses I was holding, then looked away with a mix of resentment and disgust.
I thought, 'I haven't done anything, so why does Mindy seem to dislike me more every day? Maybe it's that familiarity breeds contempt with roommates? It shouldn't. At the Northern Institute of the Arts, I got along great with my roommates. So why is it so hard with my roommate at National Capital University? This hostility is so weird.'
I put the flowers on my desk, thinking about how to take care of them, when Mindy said, "I'm allergic to pollen."
I thought, 'Allergic to pollen? Does that mean I have to throw these beautiful flowers away? That's really annoying. Throwing them away would be such a waste. This is the first bouquet of red roses I've ever received. Besides the sender's intentions and the flowers' meaning, they deserve to be cherished. But I can't keep them. Severe allergies can be fatal. No matter why Mindy is hostile, we're talking about someone's life here.'
I knew what the right choice was.
I took out my phone, snapped a few pictures of the bouquet, and then put it on the windowsill in the break room.
'Sorry, flowers, I can't keep you. Whoever takes you first, go with them. I wish you peace and happiness,' I thought.
When I got back to the room, Mindy's bedside lamp was already off. I quietly washed up and got into bed, planning to look at my phone for a bit before sleeping.
In my photo album, the roses looked beautiful in various poses. I picked the best two and sent them to Brad.
Good things should be shared with Brad.
To be honest, after almost two months apart, I really missed the care he used to give me.
Brad replied instantly: [They're beautiful. Where did they come from?]
If someone else had asked, I might have told them straight up.
But when Brad asked, I felt guilty and instinctively wanted to lie.
But my kindergarten teacher always said lying isn't what good kids do. I was a good kid, so I didn't lie.
I replied: [Louis sent them and took me out to dinner. I just got back.]
Brad: [The chubby guy who Daniel hid love letters from?]
Me: [Yeah, he's not chubby anymore. Tall & slim now, rly handsome. Didn't u c him on my bday?]
Brad: [Why did he send you flowers?]
Me: [Nothing much. He said he wants me to be his girlfriend.]
Brad: [Did you agree?]
Me: [No, I can't just agree like that. I said I need to think about it.]
Brad's side showed "typing" for a long time, but after five minutes, still nothing.
I stared at the screen, waiting for Brad to say something, until my eyes hurt. The "typing" indicator disappeared, but still no message came through.
I asked: [Brad, are you still there?]
Brad was silent.
I waited a bit longer, but still no reply.
I had wanted to ask Brad whether I should give Louis a chance or find some way to test him.
But Brad decided to ghost me.
I fell asleep full of regret, dreaming about these two questions all night without any conclusion.
The next morning, I had no classes, so I stayed in bed, skipping breakfast and dozing off.
Before 8:30, Daniel called, waking me up completely.
"What's up?" I asked, surprised he was calling.
"Jane, are you with Louis?" Daniel sounded out of breath, like he'd just finished a workout.
"Why do you care?" I replied.
"Check the school's Twitter. You're quite the celebrity now," he said.
What the heck!
I opened the school's Twitter and saw chaos.
At the top was a photo from yesterday in front of the apartment building, showing Louis handing me the bouquet of roses. The angle made it look like a romantic scene, with him looking affectionate and me shyly biting my lip.
If I hadn't been there, I'd think the picture was beautiful enough to make anyone jealous.
Twitter was buzzing.
[Louis is dating such an ordinary girl?]
[Wow, I want to cry. How could Louis have a girlfriend? Isn't he supposed to be uninterested in girls? Was he seduced?]
[Stop arguing, let me cry for a while.]
[This girl is so pretty, she matches Louis well.]
[Exactly, they look great together.]
[Does anyone know who the girl in the photo is? I wanna c her IRL.]
"See that, Jane? Feeling lonely at National Capital University already? Pushing yourself into the spotlight to feel accomplished?" Daniel's words were as harsh as ever.
But I wasn't eighteen anymore, unable to retort when he insulted me.
Now, I wouldn't swallow my anger.
I thought, 'Who does Daniel think he is? Five years ago, he made me feel worthless, and now he wants to interfere in my life again! Who gave him the right to comment on my affairs? What does he think he is! I have a temper too.'
"Whether I can stand the loneliness is my business, and being in the spotlight has nothing to do with you. Mind your own business and stop trying to get noticed. It's really annoying." I hung up, not wanting to hear another word from him.
Daniel called several more times. At first, I hung up, but eventually, I just let the phone vibrate on the bed, ignoring it.
Finally, the calls stopped, but then came a barrage of messages on Facebook.
For my own good mood, I quickly deleted all the voice messages Daniel sent without listening.
I didn't have room in my life for unrelated people and things, especially if they treated me badly. Not blocking Daniel on Facebook was already considerate of our past.
After being scolded by Daniel, I was in a terrible mood, so I called Brad, hoping he'd scold Daniel for me.
For some reason, Brad didn't answer. He must be busy. As a key member of the Northern Institute of the Arts' freshman class, he was an elite among elites. It would be strange if he weren't busy.
Worried about Brad forgetting to eat, I quickly sent him a Facebook message, reminding him to eat on time and drink warm water since it was getting cold up north.
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