Queen of the Campus

22

Who do you think you are, interfering in Sophie's affairs! I remembered how Tyler slammed his fist on the table in anger when I hugged Sophie in class, and I finally understood why he was targeting me!

A thought flashed through my mind, and I had a plan. If I won, it would mean I'd get Tyler's help, and with Tyler, the other four in the dorm would help me too. Even if I lose, I'll still keep bothering Sophie. Don't call me shameless; I already don't get along with the five girls in my dorm. Thinking about it this way, I won't lose out either way! But beating Tyler won't be easy. Just the height difference—I'm not even 1.6 meters tall, while he's over 1.7 meters.

The only way is to use a surprise attack.

"Don't worry, if you lose, I won't tell Sweetie. You just need to keep your promise."

"That's not fair. The stakes are different. It'll be hard for me to beat you. Your stakes are roughly the same as mine. This kind of competition is boring. How about this: if I win, the four of you will listen to me from now on."

"Okay, but I'm afraid you won't have that chance. How about it, let's begin!"

"Okay." I agreed, quickly grabbing the arm-strength bar that Erniu had thrown on the table and smashing it at Tyler. It happened so fast that Tyler didn't even have time to react before I smashed the bar into his arm! "Ouch!" A sharp pain shot through me. Ignoring it, I kicked Tyler in the chest again. Holding the arm-strengthening bar, I looked at Tyler, who couldn't even lift his arm.

"I lost!" Tyler looked at me and finally uttered those three words!

Another successful sneak attack! Actually, while I was arguing with him, I was already thinking of a plan, and sure enough, it hit! This was the most gratifying victory I'd had since the start of the semester, because not only would they not retaliate, but they'd also have to help me in the future. I'd hit the jackpot! I've said it before, I'm no saint either!

"Damn it," Liu Bingren kicked me to the ground. "You f*****g cheated."

"If you can't play, don't play," I glared at him fiercely. "Anyone with eyes can see I can't beat him. You're clearly bullying me. Why can't I use anything? Besides, did you have a rule that we can't use anything?" I tried to struggle to my feet, but the patient kicked me again.

"Patient, come back! He's right, this was never a fair duel!" The patient glared at me again before checking Tyler's injuries.

I struggled to my feet. I'd lost count of how many times I'd been knocked to the ground. But I was used to it! "Are you alright?" I asked Tyler.

"Cat crying, crocodile tears!" Biaozi started mocking me again. I pretended not to hear.

"I'm fine," Tyler gave a wry smile. "I didn't expect you to be so cunning. But you're right, a bet's a bet. If you need anything in the future, just let everyone know."

"I don't care if he lives or dies," the patient said sinisterly.

"It doesn't matter. Just pretend we didn't win. As long as you guys don't bully me again."

"Damn, do you think we're like you? So cunning," Biaozi started again. "Big Brother said we'll help you."

I finally climbed onto the bed, took a deep breath—my chest really hurt! If we hadn't already reached an agreement, I really wanted to give the patient another beating; that kick would have been such a waste.

"Sixth grader, is it okay if I call you that from now on?" After a period of silence in the dorm after the lights were turned off, Tyler suddenly spoke up.

"Of course, I am the youngest!"

"Sometimes I really envy you," Tyler seemed to have suddenly opened up, "Actually, being young has its advantages. If you were our age, Sophie would never be this close to you. But, you're so young, girls aren't on guard, so it's much easier for you to get close to them than for us."

From Tyler's following explanation, I finally understood! Tyler has been pursuing Sophie since the second year of junior high, almost three years now, and Sophie still treats him no differently than she treats anyone else. Seeing a little kid like me getting so close to Sophie, even if he's very open-minded, he must feel uncomfortable.

Second year of junior high, so he's fourteen? But I only feel a little bit of innocent infatuation now, and he's already pursuing me—that's pretty precocious! After listening to him, I suddenly felt happy. It turned out he and Sophie had nothing to do with each other. Sophie asked Tyler to help her simply because she thought Tyler was a nice person! Others' painful memories made me happy.

But this is my true feeling, and I don't want to hide it!

I think I'm such a petty person! But at least I'm living authentically!

Crying and laughing, playing and joking!

"Xiao Liu, wake up." The next morning, Tyler actually woke me up, something that had never happened before. I smiled at him, feeling a little touched. Damn, how embarrassing, being touched by something so small. I quickly washed up and found the other five of us waiting for me. Chen Biao, though full of complaints, hadn't left.

When the six of us from the dorm walked into the classroom together, the loud reading aloud stopped abruptly. The class was clearly surprised. As soon as I sat down, Molly started asking, "What happened? Did you offend Tyler and his group last night and get beaten up, becoming their lackey?"

Seeing Molly's princess-like expression, as if she'd already expected this, well, let her be smug for now! I couldn't really be angry with her; we wouldn't be sitting together anymore anyway, so I could just bear it. "How did you know?" I pretended to be surprised, looking at her with great admiration! Molly glared at me, and I actually found it rather charming—how pathetic! "Everyone in class knows Tyler's chasing Sophie! You and Sophie were so clingy last night, no wonder he got angry!" I have to admit, Molly was quite clever; the scenario was exactly as she described, only the outcome was slightly different!