"You..." I stared at him blankly, unable to speak for a moment.
Wesley's lips curled into a smile, looking gentle yet slightly creepy. "You seem quite surprised to see me."
Perhaps it was because of his striking resemblance to Sophia that I always felt he harbored ill intentions.
Before I could react, he smiled and walked away.
I frowned as I watched his retreating figure, a peculiar feeling gnawing at my heart.
Suddenly Raymond's stern voice came from behind, "What are you standing here for? Hurry up and get back to the classroom."
Hearing this, I immediately furrowed my brows and quickly left.
Back in the classroom, Amelia noticed my troubled expression and asked with concern, "Did Mr. Carter give you a hard time?"
Still feeling a bit nauseous from the rough sensation on the back of my hand, I shook my head, not wanting to talk about Raymond. "Amelia, do you know who I saw when I walked out of the office just now?"
"Wesley." I was about to be surprised at how she knew when I saw her staring straight at the door, where a boy was standing by Chase.
Not only were the two of us surprised, but others were as well. Wesley and Sophia looked remarkably similar. If Sophia's features appeared somewhat too rugged and not quite feminine, then those same features seemed perfectly suitable on Wesley.
Chase clapped his hands and announced, "Everyone, quiet down. Let's welcome our new classmate." He smiled at Wesley and said softly, "Now you can introduce yourself to everyone."
Wesley's seemingly nonchalant gaze fell on me, and a faint smile appeared on his delicate face. "Hello, everyone. My name is Wesley Brown. I'll be your classmate from now on. I hope we can get along well."
I felt like that last sentence was directed at me.
We were already halfway through the semester when a new student suddenly arrived. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I had a feeling that Wesley came specifically because of me, fearing he would get revenge on me for Sophia.
Then Chase spoke gently, "Alright, class is about to start. Find a classmate to share a textbook with for now. I'll have your books sent to your dorm later."
Wesley nodded and then walked off the podium, heading straight towards me. Just when I thought he would choose me as his classmate, he changed direction and sat next to a boy.
With such a strong presence next to me, I couldn't focus on what the teacher was saying at all. Content that I never had trouble understanding before now seemed like it was written in a foreign language.
After class, Wesley got up and left the classroom as if nothing had happened.
Seeing this, Amelia grabbed my hand and quickly followed him before we came to a quiet place.
"What exactly do you want?" Amelia stared at Wesley and questioned.
He smiled faintly. "I'm just here to attend school. What else could I be here for? To take revenge on you?"
"Everything you went through before was his doing," Howard suddenly said dropping a bombshell on me.
I immediately frowned, fully believing Howard's words. "Was my hospitalization your doing?"
Wesley raised an eyebrow, glancing at something beside me. "I don't know what you're talking about. If you possess any evidence, please present it; otherwise, your statement amounts to defamation." He seemed calm and composed, his smile never changing.
Seeing him deny his actions, I felt a surge of anger gnaw at me.
"Don't worry, I won't be like my sister." He suddenly said something inexplicable.
My heart skipped a beat, and I stared at him. "How much do you know about Sophia?"
I had too many questions about the tattoo on my body, but I couldn't ask them in front of Howard.
"No comment." He left those words and walked away, pushing past me.
Wesley's arrival left my mind in turmoil.
After deciding to move out, I only took some daily necessities when packing up in the dorm.
Amelia asked with concern, "Are you really going to move out?"
I looked at her helplessly. Given my current situation, staying in the dorm would be troublesome.
"What? Karena, are you moving out?" Just returning from the class, Isabella was surprised to hear my conversation with Amelia.
"Yes, it's inconvenient to stay in the dorm. I want to prepare for grad school, so my mom rented a place for me to focus on studying." The lie I made up sounded flawless.
"You're already preparing for grad school in your freshman year?" Isabella asked in shock.
I continued packing and smiled while saying, "The current courses aren't too demanding, so I might as well get a head start."
"That's great. Is Amelia moving out with you?" Isabella asked.
"No." I bent down to pick up a few books from the floor, and as I straightened up, Isabella's expression changed.
"Did you get a boyfriend?" Seeing her teasing look, I was taken aback.
She winked at me and pointed at my neck. "I saw it."
Suddenly realizing what she meant, I instinctively covered my neck. This morning, I had used concealer to cover the marks on my neck. With all the sweat from running to the school gate, the concealer must have worn off.
Isabella teased me, "No wonder you didn't come back last night."
My face turned red with embarrassment.
"Alright, don't give her a hard time. Look, she's turning red." Amelia spoke up for me, covering up my boyfriend story.
I took the concealer to the bathroom and looked at the red marks on my neck in the mirror, feeling extremely embarrassed, thinking Howard might be a vampire, given his penchant for biting my neck.
Worried that the concealer wouldn't work, I found a collared shirt in the wardrobe and put it on.
With classes in the afternoon, after packing up at noon, I didn't go home and went to the cafeteria with Amelia.
In the cafeteria, I ran into Wesley again. Sometimes I wondered if he had a tracker on me, or why did we always run into each other?
I planned to ignore him, but he sat right next to me.
"Sorry, this seat is taken." I frowned and reminded him.
But he suddenly asked, "That strange thing isn't following you anymore?"
I was taken aback, wondering if the strange thing he mentioned referred to Howard.