Even Top Students Fail

Mischievous Minds

Lilith returned to her dorm, freshened up, and flopped onto her bed. William's dejected words from earlier nagged at her. She texted him, "Out of class yet?" Past 9 PM, First High's evening study hall should've ended. Half an hour passed with no reply.

She kept checking her phone but didn't dare call. If a teacher doing room checks heard the ringtone, it'd be disastrous - First High banned student phones. She texted again: "Still mad at me?"

On the other end, William received Lilith's text and grinned, rolling over in bed. He hadn't been at school today. It was Christmas Eve, his birthday, and he'd come home to pay respects to his grandfather as the eldest grandson.

His family had sent him to his room after dinner, knowing his intense studies. He'd planned to call Lilith, rarely getting privacy at school. He hadn't expected her to be out with dormmates. So William decided to play along. Feeling powerless? Looking down on himself? Ridiculous - he wasn't that weak. Besides, he doubted Lilith would be interested in anyone else.

But Ryan was right - men should show vulnerability sometimes, often yielding unexpected results. Sure enough, Lilith had quickly surrendered, when just days ago she'd been defiant. William resisted calling her back. He had to teach her a lesson this time. Without punishment, she wouldn't learn.

William didn't mind Lilith interacting with male students, but socializing with guys who had designs on her was unacceptable. Today it was just a meal, but tomorrow? Who knows. In college, many guys with too much free time focused on wooing girls.

But Lilith's naivety meant she couldn't tell who was interested. Like when Carson treated her to several meals, and she thought he was just a senior looking out for a junior.

After that, William felt lucky. At least Lilith knew he liked her, and probably liked him back, even if she often annoyed him.

Lilith had no clue about William's scheming thoughts. After waiting longer with no response, she felt disappointed. He seemed really angry this time. But she couldn't call him at this hour either.

As she fretted, Alice and the others pushed open the door. MIT had an 11 PM curfew. If you came back late and could convince the dorm manager to open up, that was your own ability.

However, Lilith's building manager was eccentric, nicknamed "The Legend." Extremely strict about curfew, she wouldn't even let people from other buildings use the bathroom, let alone at night. Once when Amy came back late, the manager lectured her for an hour after letting her in. Since then, even fun-loving Amy made sure to be back by 11 PM sharp.

Seeing them enter, Lilith sat up. "You're back. Had fun?"

"It was great. Owen looks proper but has an amazing voice. Ian was nice too. But Adam got totally played by Emma, yet kept coming back for more," Alice laughed. Emma, aloof as usual, said nothing and went to wash up.

Amy seemed upset with Lilith, barely looking at her, making Lilith feel awkward.

But after a few attempts to chat, Amy came around. She wasn't really angry, just felt Lilith had been inconsiderate. Now that Lilith was making an effort, she let it go. Living together, small frictions were bound to happen - everyone had to compromise to keep the peace. In the next dorm, a girl who always had to be right had already fought with her roommates several times. Now she was always alone.

After Christmas came New Year's, then final exams. Universities usually let out early, with exams finishing by mid to late January before winter break. Lilith had planned to go home for New Year's, not for any reason, but because William hadn't contacted her since that day, making her anxious.

However, perhaps from being out in the cold too long on Christmas Eve, Lilith caught a cold and even had a slight fever. She wasn't in a condition to travel. With only three days for the round trip, it'd be too tiring. Plus, with finals approaching, studying was intense. So Lilith could only call William herself on New Year's Day - even cram schools took the day off.

"Hello," William answered. After all, playing games was one thing, but going too far wouldn't be good.

"Hi, are you off today?" Lilith asked cautiously. Her voice was congested, and she coughed a couple times. Actually, her cough wasn't that bad, but Lilith exaggerated it a bit.

Hearing Lilith's condition, William sat up and said, "What's wrong? Caught a cold?"

"Yeah, been sick for a few days. Even had a fever and cough at first. Better now," Lilith said, making her illness sound worse, with a hint of coquettishness. Hearing silence, she continued carefully, "Still mad at me?"

Still mad? William smiled wryly. For all his scheming, this girl had her own tricks. He'd only wanted to teach her a lesson, but she'd ended up sick. William hadn't really been angry to begin with, and now he certainly wasn't. But he was upset she'd made herself ill, so he said harshly, "Caught a chill from being vain about your looks?"

Hearing his tone change, Lilith sighed in relief. Things seemed okay now. "Of course not, I dressed warmly. Lots of people are getting sick now. By the way, when's your winter break? We're off in mid-January. I could visit you at school then?" Lilith added, trying to curry favor.

"Whatever you want," William said haughtily.

They tactfully avoided discussing that night, and started chatting about other things. Lilith occasionally mentioned her roommates, telling William funny incidents. William didn't remember much else, but he certainly noted everything about Amy - from dragging Lilith out to socialize to her general behavior, William disapproved of it all.

William wouldn't stoop to driving a wedge between Lilith and her roommates, but he made no effort to hide his dislike of Amy. His blatant disdain amused Lilith. To be honest, compared to Amy, she found it easier to get along with cold, acerbic Emma.

After this call, they officially restored diplomatic relations. Although they still only called once a week, it was completely different from the semi-cold war state before.

Perhaps it was time, or her improved mood, but Lilith's cold quickly got better. She threw herself back into preparing for finals, barely going back to the dorm. Alice teased, "And you said he wasn't your boyfriend. His call worked better than any cold medicine." "Right, have him come treat us to a meal. We'll find an even better place than Fish Fragrant Garden," Amy chimed in, always enthusiastic, especially after seeing William's photo. Lilith blushed furiously. Even aloof Emma had a hint of a smile.

"Too bad about senior Owen though, such a handsome face wasted," Amy laughed. After that outing, Ian had privately asked if Lilith was interested in Owen. Unfortunately for Owen, no matter how handsome, Lilith was taken.

"Don't talk nonsense, he never said anything like that," Lilith protested. Although Owen had called twice and asked her out, Lilith was sick and preoccupied with making William happy, so she'd declined. Even if slow on the uptake, she could guess Owen's intentions by now. While she wouldn't reciprocate, she didn't want Amy teasing her about it.

Seeing Lilith's reaction, Amy zipped her lips and said no more.

The following days passed in a blur of intense exam prep and testing. MIT's courses were rigorous, and some students who'd relaxed after entering university found themselves in a tight spot during finals. But Lilith had no such worries - always a top student, having studied many courses in her previous life made learning much easier now.

With finals over, a weight lifted off their shoulders. Lilith, Jennifer, and David bought train tickets, planning to travel back to S City together.