Chapter 19: The First Visit to the Boys' Double Dormitory

Anna's POV

Tina stormed over to Nick, looking pretty ticked off. "Nick, look at the mess Anna's made. Emma had to explain everything to Ms. Harris and the president for ages."

Emma, hanging onto Tina's arm, tried to smooth things over. "Tina, don't blame Nick. It's not his fault."

I glanced at Nick, feeling like something was off.

He was dressed like Nick, but his eyes were colder, like a sleek predator annoyed by an intruder.

"Forms," he muttered, clearly irritated by the noise around us. Even though his voice sounded like he just woke up, it oddly made me feel calmer.

I showed him both the electronic forms and the paper ones so he could compare them.

When I accidentally brushed against his hand, it felt like touching a pianist's—slender and elegant, almost mesmerizing. I quickly pulled my hand back.

He glanced at the forms for less than a minute before putting down his phone and rubbing his eye with those long fingers. His eyes were a bit red from staying up late. Even though his movements were slow and lazy, they had a certain elegance and charm.

Then he casually said, "Calculation errors are on the first page, line 8 and line 15, and on the fourth page, lines 32, 36, and 39. Input errors are on the second page, lines 17 and 24, and on the third page, line 31."

I was stunned that he could spot all the mistakes in eight pages with just a glance. I was almost sure he wasn't Nick, but Leon, the youngest of the Allen triplets.

He always looked at others with a kind of impatient arrogance, but when he looked at me, it was different. "There aren't many errors. Go fix them and listen to my results."

I cut him off, "Wait a minute."

Then I walked over to Emma in the middle of the crowd. "I only did the last three pages. The first five were yours, so those mistakes are on you."

Everyone's eyes were now on Emma, and Sadie looked pretty annoyed.

Emma panicked, her face twitching as she tried to explain, "Anna, you're lying; it's not like that at all..." She was shouting, trying to cover up her own panic.

I pulled up my phone and the email. "The forms you sent me have records. Let's compare them."

At that moment, Leon turned to me and said, "Troublesome, just ask directly."

Then he looked at Emma, his voice icy. "Apologize to her now. I'm in a hurry."

Emma, who had been holding her ground, suddenly deflated. "I'm sorry, Anna. It was my mistake. Tina, I..."

As Emma kept talking, her face grew more and more grim, and everyone in the room started looking at her differently.

She looked to Tina for help, but Tina just glanced at her and then turned away, probably not wanting to get involved.

Leon, looking impatient, walked straight out of the office.

I wanted to follow, but Sadie called me over.

Sadie smiled, looking much friendlier. "Anna, I see you and Nick get along well. There's something tomorrow that needs both of you to handle together."

"Ms. Harris, I..." I started to refuse instinctively. If something needed someone close to Nick, it probably wasn't going to be easy.

But Sadie cut me off, "Take this list. I'll save your number and call you after I finish eating."

With everyone watching, I couldn't really say no, so I took the materials.

After talking to Sadie, I realized this task was a real pain. No wonder she wanted Nick to handle it.

As freshmen, we had no clue about the rules of the International Collegiate Technology Innovation Competition—they were super complicated.

Today, my classmates were stressing about what kind of tech innovation freshmen and sophomores could even come up with. Turned out, each team could request a project from the school's professors, all of which were ongoing in their labs.

Sadie handed me a list of professors and wanted us to get projects from the most reputable and capable ones.

Considering the competition was only three months long—a blink of an eye in research terms—she insisted the project had to be something that could yield significant results and be high quality. She kept emphasizing how important it was to communicate well with the professors.

I knew that, but the professors wouldn't care about what I had to say. I figured Sadie picked Nick because of his good family background and social skills, and wanted me to team up with him.

So, I reluctantly dialed Nick's number and explained everything.

"I can agree, darling. Bring the stuff to my dorm and have dinner with me. I'm at a party now. Let me know when you arrive, and I'll come back," Nick chuckled over the phone.

I nervously clenched my palms. "Your dorm? I'm just joining you for dinner; I can leave right after, right?"

Nick replied, "Of course."

He hung up quickly, leaving no room for negotiation.

Nick rarely stayed in the school dorm, and I hesitated at the door for a while before entering the boys' dormitory building.

Under the curious stares of passing guys, I pressed the elevator button.

Even though both boys' and girls' dorms often had parties and visitors of the opposite sex, it was my first time in the boys' dorm, and I felt super embarrassed.

I kept my head down, hoping no one would remember my face.

When I arrived, I pushed open the door. It looked like a two-bedroom suite with a living room. The table was set with a fancy dinner, flowers, and candles, probably from a high-end restaurant off-campus.

I sent a message to Nick, and soon someone came to the suite, but it wasn't Nick—it was another guy.

"You're Anna, right? Nick asked you to come to the party?" the guy said.

I nodded, a bit confused, and saw that Tina and Emma were there too, along with my cheerleading captain, Ella.

Turning around, I noticed Isaac was there as well, with two people adjusting the sound system next to him.

Isaac's hand casually fiddled with the control panel of the sound equipment. Surrounded by a circle of people, he seemed completely indifferent to their presence.