We Were Never Strangers

CHAPTER 5

The moment Professor Carter left the lecture hall, the room erupted into conversation.

"An hour?" someone complained from the front row.

"That's psychological torture."

"I just want to know if my GPA is about to suffer."

Professor Carter ignored every complaint and continued toward the door.

"The partner list will be uploaded shortly. Good luck."

Then she disappeared.

Immediately, students pulled out phones, opened group chats, and started speculating.

"Why do I feel like she's going to pair me with someone who doesn't know what deadlines are?" Chloe asked while shoving her notebook into her bag.

"Because she probably is," Isla replied.

The thought alone was exhausting.

"Come on," Chloe said. "We have a free period. Let's get food before I start overthinking."

That sounded reasonable.

Daniel glanced at his schedule before standing.

"I've got Accounting."

"Condolences," Isla said.

He placed a hand over his heart dramatically.

"Thank you."

A laugh escaped Chloe.

Daniel grinned before heading toward the exit.

"I'll see you guys later."

Once he disappeared into the crowd, Isla and Chloe headed toward the cafeteria.

The lunch rush had already started.

Students filled most of the tables while conversations blended together beneath the soft music playing overhead.

After grabbing food, they settled at a table beside the large glass windows overlooking campus.

For approximately thirty seconds, everything was peaceful.

Then Chloe suddenly froze.

Isla looked up.

"Why do you look guilty?"

"I don't look guilty."

"You absolutely do."

Chloe immediately grabbed her drink.

Far too quickly.

Suspicious.

Following her line of sight, Isla spotted the source of the problem.

Mason Carter.

Walking toward the cafeteria.

And judging by Chloe's rapidly reddening cheeks, yesterday's kitchen incident had apparently not been exaggerated.

Interesting.

Very interesting.

"Oh."

Chloe groaned.

"Don't."

"So it was more than a kiss."

"It was not."

"The panic says otherwise."

"I hate you."

"Understandable."

Before Chloe could defend herself further, Mason spotted them.

And changed direction immediately.

Straight toward their table.

Of course he did.

A few seconds later he stopped beside them.

"Hey."

His attention landed on Chloe first.

Then stayed there slightly longer than necessary.

Subtle.

Not subtle enough.

Without hesitation, Mason pulled out the chair beside Chloe and sat down.

One arm rested casually across the back of her chair.

Comfortable.

Far too comfortable for people who supposedly only shared one kiss.

Isla took a slow sip of her drink.

Watching.

Observing.

Judging.

"Mason," she greeted politely.

"Isla."

"What brings you here?"

Mason raised an eyebrow.

"The cafeteria?"

"Interesting answer."

"It seemed correct."

Chloe looked seconds away from spontaneous combustion.

Poor thing.

Then a familiar group entered through the cafeteria doors.

Adrian.

Noah.

And two other business students.

They headed toward the food counters while talking about something Noah appeared far too excited about.

Isla barely noticed.

Because Mason was currently looking at Chloe with the exact same expression Chloe had been trying very hard not to return.

And suddenly everything made sense.

A slow smirk appeared on Isla's face.

"Oh."

Mason immediately noticed.

Dangerous.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"That's never true."

Isla leaned back in her chair.

"Just making observations."

Mason looked unimpressed already.

"Should I be concerned?"

"Probably."

He sighed.

Then turned slightly toward Chloe.

A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"You know," he said casually, "that's exactly what Chloe told me yesterday."

Chloe choked on her drink.

Instantly.

Mason looked entirely too pleased with himself.

Isla nearly laughed.

Interesting.

Very interesting indeed.

The cafeteria had become significantly louder over the last fifteen minutes.

Students crowded tables.

Phones buzzed constantly.

And somewhere near the coffee station, three different people were already complaining about project partners they hadn't even received yet.

Across the room, Adrian noticed Isla's table before he even entered.

Unfortunately.

Because now he was aware of exactly where she was sitting.

Again.

"Don't."

Noah immediately spoke beside him.

Adrian didn't even look at him.

"Don't what?"

"Whatever you're doing."

"I'm standing."

"Suspiciously."

"I'm literally walking."

Noah looked deeply unconvinced.

Adrian ignored him and joined the lunch line.

Ahead of them, students moved slowly while cafeteria staff attempted to keep up with the lunchtime rush.

Noah grabbed a tray.

"So."

"No."

"I haven't even asked anything."

"You were about to."

"Fair."

"So."

"I just literally said no."

Adrian answered annoyed.

A second later both their phones vibrated simultaneously.

Almost the entire line reacted similarly.

Notifications.

Messages.

Complaints.

Someone immediately groaned.

Another student cheered.

Noah pulled out his phone first.

"Oh."

Adrian checked his own screen.

A message from Professor Carter.

Project Partner Assignments Uploaded.

Underneath was another message.

Good luck. Some of you are going to need it.

Adrian already disliked that sentence.

Beside him, Noah opened the file.

Then immediately started scrolling.

A grin appeared.

Dangerous.

Very dangerous.

Adrian looked over.

"What?"

Noah's grin widened.

"Oh, this is incredible."

"I'm concerned."

"You should be."

Adrian sighed.

"Who did you get?"

Noah kept scrolling.

Then suddenly laughed.

"No way."

"What?"

"This professor deserves a raise."

Adrian was seconds away from stealing the phone.

Instead, Noah locked the screen and grabbed his tray.

"I know exactly where we're sitting."

"No."

"Absolutely."

Before Adrian could object, Noah had already started walking through the cafeteria.

Unfortunately—

toward Isla's table.

Of course.

Adrian followed with the enthusiasm of a man walking toward his own execution.

As they approached, voices drifted toward them.

"...and tomorrow night," Mason was saying casually, leaning back in his chair, "there's another party."

Chloe looked suspicious immediately.

"Another one?"

"Different crowd."

His arm rested behind her chair so naturally that Adrian doubted anyone except Isla had noticed.

Unfortunately for Mason—

Isla noticed everything.

Mason continued.

"My friend and I are hosting it."

Then his eyes shifted toward Isla.

"You should come."

Isla raised one eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because my friend would probably like you."

And then—

the i***t winked.

At Isla.

Noah nearly choked trying not to laugh.

Adrian's expression turned noticeably colder.

The exact expression that usually appeared before reporters got verbally destroyed during interviews.

Isla noticed immediately.

Of course she did.

Her eyes flickered toward him for half a second.

Then away.

Mason finally turned around fully.

"Oh."

He spotted them.

"Hey."

Noah smiled brightly.

Far too brightly.

"Hello, partner."

He extended his hand directly toward Chloe.

The entire table froze.

Mason blinked.

Chloe blinked.

Isla blinked.

"What?" Chloe asked.

Noah's grin widened.

"You haven't checked the list?"

Immediately, Chloe grabbed her phone.

"Oh my God."

Beside her, Isla did the same.

A second later Chloe's eyes widened.

Then she looked up at Noah.

Then back at her phone.

Then back at Noah.

"No."

"Oh yes."

"No."

"Oh yes."

Mason looked between them.

Completely confused.

"What is happening?"

Chloe pointed accusingly at Noah.

"You're my partner?"

"Proudly."

"You sound way too happy about this."

"Because I am."

Across from them, Isla finally found the list.

Her eyes scanned downward.

Business Strategy Project Assignments.

One by one.

Name after name.

Pair after pair.

Then—

Her finger stopped.

For a second she genuinely thought she'd read it wrong.

She blinked.

Read it again.

Nope.

Still there.

Slowly—

very slowly—

she lifted her eyes.

Directly toward Adrian.

Who was already looking at her.

Neither of them spoke.

Neither of them moved.

And suddenly—

Noah started laughing.

"Oh this semester is going to be amazing."

The moment lunch ended, Isla stood up.

"Get up we're fixing this."

Adrian already knew what she meant.

"Agreed."

Noah nearly choked on his drink.

"Wait. You're actually trying to change partners?"

"Obviously," Isla replied.

"No."

"Yes."

"No."

"Yes."

Noah looked delighted.

"This is the best thing that's happened all week."

---

Twenty minutes later, they stood outside Professor Carter's office.

Unfortunately.

The meeting had not gone according to plan.

"No."

The professor smiled pleasantly.

Isla blinked.

"I'm sorry?"

"No."

Adrian folded his arms.

"You didn't even hear our reasons."

"I heard them."

"And?"

"And my answer is still no."

The smile somehow became worse.

Professor Carter leaned back in her chair.

"The purpose of this project is collaboration."

"We can collaborate with other people," Isla argued.

"Exactly."

The professor pointed at her.

"New people."

Neither of them liked where this was going.

"You already know each other."

The words nearly made both of them choke.

Professor Carter continued.

"Which means you're comfortable disagreeing with each other."

"That's not—"

"That's exactly what makes good business partnerships."

Adrian rubbed a hand over his face.

Isla looked moments away from committing academic misconduct.

The professor remained completely unmoved.

"No partner changes."

Final.

Absolute.

Terrifyingly final.

Five minutes later, both of them exited the building.

Annoyed.

"That was your fault."

Adrian looked at her.

"My fault?"

"You barely argued."

"I argued."

"You gave up."

"You interrupted me three times."

"Because you weren't saying anything useful."

"Right."

"Right."

Neither noticed they had wandered toward the central garden.

Students moved around them in every direction.

Then a voice interrupted.

"Adrian?"

Both turned.

A blonde girl stood a few feet away, looking nervous.

"Oh no," Isla muttered.

The girl brightened immediately upon recognizing him.

"I heard you're changing project partners."

Adrian frowned.

"What?"

"It's all over campus."

Isla slowly turned toward him.

"What did Noah do?"

"I don't know."

"You absolutely know."

The girl hurried on.

"My partner is Daniel Hayes."

That got Isla's attention immediately.

"If you're looking for someone to swap with—"

Interesting.

Very interesting.

The girl smiled hopefully.

"I'd be happy to switch."

For a brief second, Isla actually considered it.

Daniel wasn't bad.

Polite.

Easy to work with.

Normal.

A huge improvement.

She opened her mouth.

"Actually—"

Before she could finish, Adrian cut in.

"No."

The girl blinked.

Isla blinked.

Adrian looked equally surprised by how quickly he'd answered.

Then his gaze shifted briefly toward Isla.

Daniel.

Of course.

That was the alternative.

Annoying.

Without thinking much further, he reached out and hooked an arm around Isla's shoulders, pulling her half a step closer.

The movement was casual.

Effortless.

Possessive enough to be noticed.

Not possessive enough to be questioned.

"We're not changing partners."

The girl looked confused.

"But everyone said—"

"They were wrong."

His tone left very little room for discussion.

The girl hesitated before nodding awkwardly.

"Oh, still if u ever want to change then i'll be there. "

"Good luck with Daniel."

A second later she was gone.

Silence.

Adrian's arm was still around Isla.

Neither moved.

Then slowly—

Very slowly—

Isla looked up at him.

"What are you doing?"

Adrian immediately removed his arm.

"Solving the problem."

"You just created twelve new problems."

"Only twelve?"

"You are unbelievable."

"Yet you're still my partner."

Isla groaned loudly enough for several nearby students to look over.

And somewhere across campus—

Noah's phone buzzed with three separate messages asking if Adrian Blake and Isla Bennett were dating.