Queen of the Campus

7

"If you're feeling down, just laugh it off!"

"Hahaha." Molly laughed for a while, then, feeling it wasn't ladylike enough, she managed to suppress her laughter. "Little brother, you're a good person." After saying that, she couldn't help but laugh again.

What's going on? Do I need you to tell me if I'm a good person or a bad person? Being poor and without a computer, I obviously can't understand the special meaning of "you're a good person." In my mind, I immediately labeled Molly as crazy!

Fine, fine, since you don't want to talk to me, I'll just watch the handsome guys' basketball game. I turned my head away again, watching them play with blank eyes.

"Hey, hey, Luke, are you angry?" Molly nudged me.

"No, it's normal that you don't want to be friends with me. You can't force these things." I turned my back to her, genuinely feeling disheartened. In textbooks, I'm taught to be a civilized and hospitable person, like a great nation. Who am I kidding? I've often been offering my warm welcome only to be met with indifference, and in the end, they didn't warm my backside, but I got the cold shoulder.

"Even if you're angry, I can't be friends with you. I heard you're not even 15 yet, you're too young," Molly continued muttering.

I got a little angry when I heard that. "Do we have to be the same age to be friends? I'm at most two years younger than you."

"Two years? You're barely up to my lips right now. Besides, I don't want to be in a relationship yet. I need to at least graduate high school or get into college."

I finally understood. So, she thought I wanted to pursue her.

I suddenly had an idea. If I said I never intended to pursue her, that I was just being presumptuous, that I was just being delusional, that I watched too many idol dramas, how embarrassing would that make a girl like me? Not only would she be embarrassed, she might even hold a grudge. Thinking about Tara before, I couldn't repeat that mistake.

"Um, Molly, I'm sorry, I've thought it through. I also think now isn't the time to be in a relationship. After all, we're both still young. How about this, I'll consider you my older sister." If she rejects me now, I promise I won't say another word to her.

Molly gave me a suspicious look. "You promise you don't have any other intentions? There was a guy who pursued me before, but when he refused, he wanted me to be his sister. I felt sorry for him, so I agreed. But he thought I was giving him a chance and wouldn't give up. In the end, we couldn't even be classmates anymore."

"I can't guarantee that. How can you guarantee something like that? Nobody can guarantee what will happen in the future. Since you don't want to, let's just forget about it." I really regretted suggesting that. Just be direct, I could accept that. Did I have to go through all this trouble?

"Hmph, that's your honest opinion. If you had agreed so readily, I would have been suspicious. I knew it! How could you give up on a pretty girl like me so easily? Okay, I reluctantly agree, but if I find out you have other intentions, we can't even be classmates anymore!"

Oh no! It actually happened! I was about to give up, God!

Maybe this is just an unexpected twist of fate!

I think Molly really treats me like a younger brother because she often tells her girlfriends, "This is my little brother," and "None of you can bully her." The girls around her laugh, and I admire her popularity because I can tell they only talk to me because of Molly. When Molly isn't around, or when we bump into each other on campus, they act like they don't even see me.

It's good that this is happening; I wanted to interact with boys anyway. But the first boy I interacted with was clearly not the one I wanted.

It was a long break between classes. Molly and her group of girlfriends went to the restroom together. I lay on my desk, ready to watch the basketball game on the field.

"Hey kid, you've been pretty cocky lately!" a voice suddenly rang out behind me. I turned around and saw a boy nearly 1.8 meters tall standing behind me. So tall at 16; I was incredibly envious. Although he was in my class, I still didn't know his name. I only know the five girls in my dorm, though we don't talk, and a few others like Sophie and Molly. Others might have heard the name, or even seen the person, but the name and appearance didn't match.

"Who are you?" I blurted out abruptly, and as soon as I said it, I knew I was in trouble. My attention had just been diverted, and my mind wasn't quite clear yet.

"So arrogant, you don't even recognize our Brother Qing," a sleazy-looking boy yelled. Judging from his cocky manner, he was clearly a lackey, and I couldn't really do anything to him.

"Sorry, Brother Qing, I was sleeping just now and didn't see who it was. Please don't be offended!" Actually, he had no idea whether I was asleep or not; I had my back to him, and I was sure he couldn't expose me. But I was still scared. He was a full head taller than me; I looked like a complete kid next to him, and I was against the wall—I couldn't run away even if I wanted to.

"Who the hell is your Brother Qing?" the sleazy guy thought he should put on a good show in front of the boss. "With your pathetic appearance, I can't even be bothered to talk to you."

What the hell did I do to deserve this? It's only been a few days since school started, and I felt an uncontrollable rage welling up inside me. It was like a passenger who obeyed traffic rules being hit by a drunk driver—the fire in my heart was sizzling. I glared at him, but didn't say a word.