Carmelo's face darkened, and he turned to glare at the guy. "You said that?"
The guy protested, "No."
"Oh," I said, pretending to pull out my phone, "I didn't just film one clip. Let me look for more."
The guy panicked, turning to run away. His reaction was already an admission.
Carmelo huffed, "Alright, break it up! Training time!"
"Sir." I approached him. "Did you forget something?"
"What?" Carmelo frowned.
I pointed to Bruno, who had already silently begun organizing his racquet. "You haven't apologized to him yet. You wrongly accused him in front of so many people. Don't you owe him an apology?"
Not far away, Bruno paused, looking up.
"Where did you come from? Don't delay our training. Everyone who's not involved, get out," Carmelo spat, storming off.
I pressed my lips together, quietly wiping his saliva off my face. Bruno gave a barely noticeable smile, but I caught it.
"Are you laughing at me?" I asked.
He quickly returned to his neutral expression. "No."
I pouted. "I don't care. Anyway, I helped you today. You owe me a drink."
Bruno glanced at me and nodded. "Alright."
[What's going on? They look like a sweet couple.]
[This is so weird. What's with all the eye contact between them?]
[It's a bit strange. Wait and see what happens.]
[Jedediah and Georgia haven't even met yet, and these two are already dating?]
...
Sitting in a coffee shop outside the school, Bruno handed me the coffee I ordered.
"Thanks," I said.
His expression was as cold as ever, and I finally understood that he was born that way. His cold demeanor was just natural.
"Do you play tennis every day?"
"Not really."
"When's the next time you're playing? I want to watch it. You look pretty good playing tennis. Where do you have classes? We might not be far apart. You don't seem that close to your classmates. Are they jealous of you being good-looking and good at tennis? Why aren't you talking? By the way, do you remember my name?"
"Are you naturally this talkative?"
I shut up and took a sip of my coffee. Bruno looked out the window, his expression still blank.
He was like a mannequin, and I was so curious about him. I had a lot of questions, but he wasn't quite responding.
Out of five or six questions, he'd answer maybe one. It was better than nothing.
I stopped mid-sentence, catching a glimpse of something outside the window.
Across the street from the coffee shop was the west gate of our school. An ambulance was parked there, and a group of male students in basketball jerseys were struggling to carry someone over.
I recognized that person immediately—Jedediah. Back at school, I asked around and figured out what had happened.
Jedediah had been in a bad mood these past couple of days. During a game that day, he argued with an opponent, and in the heat of the moment, someone pushed him.
He collided with the stairs nearby and broke his leg. His injury was one thing, but they were supposed to represent our school in a basketball tournament next week in a neighboring city.
Now with his leg injured, he couldn't go.
"He's been a bit unlucky lately."
"Well, it's his own fault. Collisions happen in sports, but he had to argue."
"He's probably feeling bad right now. Do you think we should send him a message to cheer him up?"
I didn't leave right away, just sat quietly nearby, listening to his teammates and classmates talk.
"No need. He told me once that he has an online girlfriend. She knows how to cheer him up, talk to him, and even sing to him. She provides all the emotional support he needs, so we don't have to join in."
"True."
After hearing some gossip, I got up to leave.
Back in my dorm, I sat for a few minutes, clearing my mind before pulling out my phone. I opened Jedediah's chat, but the barrage started rolling in with sarcastic remarks.
[What is Monica up to? Clinging to Jedediah ever again?]
[Wow! She's chasing Bruno and now going after Jedediah, too? She is something else.]
[Ugh, can't she just stay out of it? Jedediah's injury is the perfect chance for him and Georgia to get closer.]
I blinked. "So, that's how it is."
In that case, I'd play along.
I clicked into Jedediah's profile and deleted him.
Jedediah had been feeling down.
It seemed like the universe was conspiring against him. Everything was going wrong. Worse, he ended up in the hospital yesterday.
Looking at the cast on his leg, he let out a deep sigh, trying to calm the frustration bubbling inside him.
Bored, he scrolled through his phone until a message popped up.
Gigi: [I heard you were in the hospital? What happened? Is it serious?]
Just thinking about her gentle demeanor made him smile. He felt a little better, quickly typing a reply: [I hurt my leg. Have to stay in the hospital for a few days.]
As expected, Georgia offered some comforting words. Jedediah appreciated her kindness, and soon, he found himself typing more than he intended.
Jedediah: [It's a shame. I was supposed to go to Elisugate next week for a competition.]
Jedediah: [Can't go now. I don't know if our school will win.]
Jedediah: [I couldn't sleep last night. Didn't fall asleep until 5 AM. I'm so tired.]
Jedediah: [And the hospital food? Lol, it's worse than the cafeteria at school.]
He rambled on, hoping Georgia would keep him company and ease the gloom in his heart. But he noticed that her replies were getting slower, her words more perfunctory.
Eventually, the conversation ended with a simple: [Rest well.]
Jedediah felt even more irritated. Suddenly, he realized that Georgia wasn't as great as he'd imagined.
Then his mind wandered to me. If it had been me, we would have had a much more engaging conversation.
I always knew how to make him laugh, and I had a sense of timing. Conversations with me were always easy and carefree, making him happy.
Although he'd added me as a friend by mistake, he didn't regret it that much.
Sitting on the hospital bed, he nurtured all sorts of thoughts.
Maybe it was the loud snoring from the old man in the next bed or just his own restless mind, but Jedediah felt an urgent need to talk to someone.
Without thinking, he opened the chat with me.
He typed cautiously: [Are you there?]
A second later, a red dot appeared, followed by the prompt: [You haven't added her as a friend yet.]
Jedediah clenched his phone, while I looked at Georgia's latest post, bursting into laughter.
The caption read: [Refuse to be an emotional trash can.]
I liked her post, and she started a chat with me.
Gigi: [Ugh, I'm losing interest in my crush.]
She shared her issues with Jedediah, full of disbelief.
Gigi: [So much negative energy. How can anyone be so bad at conversation?]
I teased her a little, and she seemed to cheer up.
Gigi: [I've got a certain guess. Are you Monica Lovell from the Department of Statistics?"
I: [Wow, you figured it out?]
Gigi: [Your nickname gives it away.]
That was true. Only someone like Jedediah, who was a little scatterbrained, would mistake people so easily.
Gigi: [I heard you've been close to Bruno Johnson lately.]
I: [Yeah, I'm chasing him.]
Recently, I had been visiting Bruno a lot—sometimes bringing him water, other times taking pictures of him. I didn't hide it, and plenty of people had noticed.
Gigi: [Maybe you should find someone else?]
I: [Why?]
Georgia paused, then sent a long message: [I heard that he has some psychological issues. My friend's roommate saw him by the lake one night, killing a cat.]
I was shocked.
Over the past year, there had been several reports of dead cats turning up on campus. But the person responsible was careful—always choosing areas with few people, using blind spots where the cameras couldn't catch him, and never leaving any trace.
I wondered if Bruno was really the culprit, but things didn't add up.
I: [Are you sure it was him?]
Gigi: [There's no solid evidence. That night, it was dark, and she only saw him crouching by the dead cat. She didn't see him do it, but he's still a prime suspect. You should be careful and keep your distance from him.]
Georgia was being kind, so I didn't argue with her. Instead, I replied with a few simple words and exited the chat.
Then my eyes caught the barrage of comments.
