Chapter 64 Noah's Invitation and His Provocation at the Party

Elena Garcia POV:

The room was somewhat quiet.

Noah chimed in, "Elena, moving out of the dorm now in not a good timing. The semester's already in full swing."

"Ms. Joy mentioned she was a bit worried because you jumped at the chance to move into the apartment. She thinks if you didn't want to live with others, you should've looked into other dorm options first."

I was at a loss for words. Greta was sharp and perceptive. My sudden decision was definitely out of the blue, but she still took my feelings into account.

"Noah."

Marco frowned, cutting Noah off. He could tell from my reaction that my sadness had something to do with moving out.

Noah apologized, "Oh! Sorry, my bad. My friends always say that I can't read the room and have zero emotional intelligence. Should I not have asked so bluntly?"

Looking embarrassed, Noah stood up, "Want some milk?"

Then he noticed the cup in my hand and sat back down awkwardly, "Oh, you already have some." He lowered his head, sneaking glances at me.

"It's okay," I reassured him. Realizing I couldn't use the same excuse with Greta, I tried to cover it up so she wouldn't dig too deep into why I moved out.

I said, "My previous roommate and I had some disagreements, but that's not the main reason I moved out. We've sorted things out. If Ms. Joy asks again, you can tell her that."

"Moving out was a mutual decision after talking it over with my roommate. I've just been busy and almost forgot about it."

Noah was easy to convince. He bought my story without a second thought and promised to tell Greta if she asked again.

I sighed in relief.

Marco hadn't said a word the whole time, which made me uneasy. His attention to me didn't seem like someone who wouldn't comment. But he stayed calm without a word except for calling Noah's name at first.

I glanced at him, only to find him staring at me.

His brown eyes seemed to say, "You're lying."

His eyebrows were furrowed even more, but despite his worry, he didn't call me out in front of others.

Noah and I kept chatting. He was good at finding topics, but maybe not the best ones.

When he talked about milk, he even went into the ingredients. But who wanted to hear about how milk turned into yogurt during a casual conversation? He also talked about lactose intolerance and genetics.

I responded until I finally said I needed to organize my things. Honestly, my room was almost done. Noah talked too much, and I just wanted an excuse to get rid of this conversation.

"Oh, Marco and I should get ready too!" Noah checked the time and looked at me reluctantly.

I think my listening made him happy.

Noah asked, "There's a party on the third floor tonight. Want to come with us?"

I had nothing else planned. I was supposed to review medical books with Sophia and Nancy, watch some surgery videos, and have a small discussion, but now I had nothing to do.

I could still review books or watch videos alone, but I didn't want to.

Noah's invitation made me hesitate, but I finally agreed. Maybe the party would be a good way to relax.

When Noah went to change into some stylish clothes, Marco and I waited on the sofa.

While waiting, the silent Marco spoke up, "You're always like this, Elena."

"What?" I looked at him, confused.

"Putting others before yourself." His tone was restrained.

Marco said, "You haven't resolved things with your previous roommate, have you? You just don't want others to know. Are you protecting her? Were you bullied?"

Mentioning that word, he seemed to revert to his cold demeanor, his eyes narrowing slightly in a menacing way.

I could almost hear his teeth grinding in anger.

"You've got it wrong." I pretended not to understand Marco's words.

I said, "I wasn't bullied. That's just your wild guess!"

If Marco knew too much about my situation, it might complicate things.

I know that if I let Marco handle this, it would be resolved quickly; the ruthless mafia dealing with school bullying would probably use some pretty harsh methods. But that would only make things worse. I resisted asking Marco for help. Especially since I knew he liked me. I didn't think Marco should do anything for me just because he liked me. I wasn't Sofia.

When someone wanted something, they had to give something in return. That's fair. All unfairness got backlash.

Thinking about the gifts Marco had given me, I knew I couldn't give him what he wanted.

Not wanting Marco to get involved, I said something rather harsh, "Don't act like you know me so well, Marco. I don't endure things for anyone else."

Marco's face showed hurt, but he quickly hid it.

He looked at me silently, which made me even more uneasy, and I got a bit agitated.

Just as I was about to say something more, Noah showed up. He was wearing a funny dinosaur costume, breaking the tense atmosphere between us.

Noah asked, "How do I look? Ready to rock the party or what?"

Marco and I both buried our emotions deep down.

I praised Noah's costume, "It's cute, and it might help you get distinguished feedback at the party."

Noah looked at Marco expectantly for some comments.

After a moment of silence, Marco agreed, "Elena's right."

Noah seemed satisfied.

On our way to the party, Marco tried to mend things between us. He quietly asked, "Do you like that kind of costume?"

I said, "No. But Noah likes it a lot. I'm just trying not to spoil the fun."

Marco seemed a bit disappointed. "I thought you liked it. You treat Noah much better than you treat me, which makes me a little sad."

"You think it's because of that costume?" I didn't look at Marco, instead watching Noah who was leading us forward.

By now, I had calmed down and realized how inappropriate my earlier attitude towards Marco was.

He was just concerned about me, and I had said such cold words to him.

But my emotions hadn't completely settled, so I suggested with a somewhat strange tone and slight sarcasm, "Maybe you should try it too. Then I'll treat you the same as I treat Noah."

Marco fell silent.

When we arrived at the party, I saw that there were a lot of people, just as Noah had said. This party was open to everyone.

People varied in age and attire, with some dressed even more bizarrely than Noah.

Noah seemed to have good social connections. After he appeared, many people greeted him, pushing Marco and me to the side.

To avoid getting separated by the crowd, Marco held my hand tightly. We finally made our way to a slightly less crowded corridor, from where we observed the people in the hall. Clearly, neither Marco nor I were very comfortable with this kind of atmosphere.

We each grabbed a drink and stood in the corridor chatting. This time, we didn't talk about anything that would make each other angry or sad. Instead, we talked about Noah and the outfits of the people around him.

I said, "I thought you were good at parties, which is why you agreed to come with Noah."

"No, it's just that Noah told me that he hoped someone could accompany him. He was afraid no one would talk to him at the party." Marco looked at Noah with a somewhat helpless expression, who was imitating a dinosaur roar in the hall. He then added, "Obviously, I was fooled by him. He might have been anxious about not finding anyone similar to himself. After all, he's a dinosaur now."

I couldn't help but laugh.

Just as we were enjoying this happy atmosphere, I suddenly saw a few figures; they were Laura's followers.

I took a step back, trying to avoid them for now. I didn't want any conflict with them here. But then I saw those girls move to a corner that was hard to notice. One of the girls raised her hand and slapped another girl hard on the face. "Damn it!"

"Elena, what's wrong?" Marco noticed my distraction.

I was about to answer, but when the girl who was slapped raised her head, I clearly saw her face. It was Sophia!

After I recognized her, she was quickly blocked from the view, and the girl who slapped her was now looking at me provocatively.

I realized she did it on purpose and was waiting for my reaction. I felt a surge of anger.