Chapter 4: Chapter 4

Bewilderment drew visibly in him as he gaped at the woman beside her. She might look different and wore rather a distinctive style, but her semblance with that annoying nitwit who helped him was clearly identical.

Notably, as he eyed her from head to toe, he was stunned to see her wearing a genteel and lady-like two-piece suit, which was the complete opposite of her black leather jacket and tight pants.

“So, are you?”

He noticed the faint twitch in her eyes.

“Whatever do you mean?” she awkwardly stuttered, like something had caught her off guard.

'She’s a student here? So, are we the same age? But didn’t she call me kid last time?!' Grayson thought while his eyes were transfixed on her. He never thought he’d see her again or even be in the same class with her.

His eyes dropped ineluctably to her smooth, fine legs, making his thought process stop for a while. Grayson’s eyebrows raised in disbelief, batting his eyes for a clear vision.

'At least this hotch got some nice gams.' He pondered while he scrutinized her. To his surprise, and even though he couldn't admit it, the girl was a dime piece.

Then, all of a sudden, his musings were cut off by her surprisingly direct and outspoken voice.

“Well, you kind of look like you need help that day, but then you whacked me after like I was a swot getting in your way. Didn’t realize you don’t need one.” She shrugged as if it was not a big deal.

'Whatever, I don’t care.' Aggravated, he didn’t respond as he shifted his position away from her.

'Ah, shit. Where was I again?' Grayson asked himself while scanning the book he was reading. It was the first time for him to lose any focus, lest he be distracted by a woman who badgered him to death. He couldn’t explain this odd feeling, but it ticked him off.

Meanwhile, another student came over to her. “Hi! You seem new here! I’m Nancy, by the way,” Nancy Mormount introduced herself.

Kendall did the same, extending her arms to Nancy. “Err—yes. Hailey.”

Grayson lightly gurgled as he heard her. 'She doesn’t look like a Hailey, more like a Schwab rather.' On the other hand, he continued listening to their conversation, while feignedly skimming through the paragraph of the page without comprehending any of it.

Nancy grabbed Kendall's hand and shook it briefly. “You’re ready for the exam?”

Her question made Grayson turn around.

Kendall gasped lightly in shock, as though she didn’t know about it. Then, in an instant, her face changed back into an animated look. “Yeah, right! Completely forgot about it, but yeah, it’s all good, pfft. I studied last night—just so you know.”

She attempted to laugh about it.

Nancy gave her a weird look. She then sighed, ignoring Kendall’s peculiar response. “Hmm yeah. But you know, just in case something happened, you can ask Prof. Blint to excuse you from midterms, since you’re new.”

“Really, can I do that?” Kendall’s eyes lit up.

Nancy was about to answer when Grayson intervened. “No. He doesn’t care if you’re new or you came from another class. He’s never lenient and strict regarding exams, so if I were you, I’d better study while there’s still time.”

The hope on her face plummeted rapidly like lightning.

*****

'Why the fuck they haven’t told me there is an exam? If I only knew about it, perhaps I would have even studied. But yeah, that won’t work because clearly, my relationship with any numbers is purely chaotic.' Kendall slumped her back to the stiff wooden seat and clamped her legs over the other.

'Whoa! I can feel the wind in my thigh. Why does this skirt have to be so short? I can literally feel like my butt is exposed.' She released her legs above her thighs and tried to sit properly.

Meanwhile, Grayson, who was seated on her left side, stared at her with a conundrum.

"Yes?" Her brows rose.

Grayson shook his head, veering back in front.

'Ugh, how am I gonna pass this exam?' She didn’t know it was their midterm exam today and her being an idiot in accounting, she already surmised that she would fail. However, the good thing was that her partner, Inspector Green, was just an ear away from her.

With that in mind, while playing it coolly like a normal college student, Kendall subtly coughed on the mic. “Ugh, God! This allergy is killing me.”

Grayson just lifted his eyebrow as he took a glance at her.

At once, Inspector Noah Green replied, “Got it. Check your bag. There’s a pen there that has a camera. Focus that on the exam questions.”

Kendall crooked a sly smile. While sitting down beside Grayson, she delved through her bag to look for the said pen. After a couple of seconds of incessantly searching, she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw the pen lying in the back pocket of her bag.

Just as the class started, Professor Blint greeted the entire class. Placing the books on the desk, he went to the board, scribbling the start and the end time of the exam.

He then wiped the excess powder of chalk in his hand by rubbing them together. “Get your answering booklets and we’ll start in—” looking at his watch, he continued, “two minutes.”

Kendall was surprised again that she instinctively hissed through her mic. “Booklet?!”

She heard Noah scoffing from the line. “Ah, sorry, Whitlock! Forgot to mention it to you. It’s also in your bag beside the pen. Just find it there.”

Immediately, she took it out and placed it on her desk. When two minutes had passed, the exam papers were distributed. Since Kendall was already seated at the front, she instantly grabbed it and scanned through the papers.

She started to answer it with great difficulty, which was clearly reflected in her actions with the way she would swing her pen in a different direction just to capture the answers of her classmates. As for the other’s answers that she found hard to seize, Kendall had no choice but to read the questions slowly and loudly, like an elementary student so Noah could hear.

“What happens to the balance sheet when a business earns $1500, of which $800 is paid in cash and $500 is sold on credit?”

'The fuck do I know?' She groaned inwardly.

She read another question. “ABC Enterprise used $4,000 worth of supplies this fiscal year, but the expenses were not paid and are still on credit until the next term. What will be its effect on the business profit?”

'I have no fucking idea. And seriously, why would you loan when you know don’t have the means to pay? I mean, that’s why I don’t get these kinds of companies.' She thought while tapping her pen on the test paper.

Meanwhile, the man who was sitting beside her was starting to get irritated by her constant state of irrelevant blabbering. He would shake his head occasionally when he saw her doing something bizarre.

Out of desperation to finish the exam, Kendall turned her head sideways. She noticed everyone was on their paper looking like the exam was just a piece of the pie. On a side note, when she gazed back at Grayson, her eyes widened as she stared at him with awe.

'How did he answer it all in just thirty minutes?' She tried racking her brain to get some answers but was left with a dumbfounded thought.

As soon as she saw him passing the papers and storming out of the room, Kendall panicked, as her real intention swept up into her mind immediately. She yanked her pen briskly and answered the papers as best as she could.

Ten minutes later, she found herself simpering in victory as she stood up from her seat with the booklet in her hand. It was already hard for her to go back to college, lest to even answer an exam she completely had no idea of.

Along with the other students who were already done, she scrambled out of the room to search for Grayson. However, Kendall didn’t think it would get her over thirty minutes to find him. The University of Milanon is big and spacious for him to be spotted easily.

Disappointed, she raised her forearm to look at her watch. Kendall realized that it was already lunch and the man she had been searching for probably was at the food court or some food park, eating his lunch. She asked Noah.

“Where does Grayson frequently go during lunch break?”

A hazy background emerged from her earpiece. After a couple of seconds, Noah went back on the line. “He’s at Deli Lounge with some of his friends. It’s just three minutes away from the Alaric building. Head towards the north gate, then south, to your right.”

“Copy that,” she muttered while walking to the campus field. Right away, Kendall bolted to the said canteen where a lot of students usually hang around.

She examined the whole vicinity and located Grayson waiting in line. She friskily made her move to him as she took a tray from someone and stood beside him.

“What the fuck?! That’s my tray!” the man complained.

Kendall ignored him and focused on Grayson. “Hi!”

Grayson didn’t respond and kept his deadpan face.

Nonetheless, she was so persistent that she asked again. “Do you always have your lunch here?”

Still, he ignored her as if she didn’t exist at all. On the other hand, they got to the counter in just a minute, and the lady asked them. “What for you two?”

“Just the regular, thanks,” Grayson stingily replied while fishing out his wallet from the pockets.

The lady nodded and averted her gaze back to Kendall. “What about you?”

Kendall pointed at Grayson. “Same as what he is getting.”

The lady didn’t respond as she went back inside the kitchen, shouting their orders to the cooks. As soon as it was done, Grayson immediately paid for his food, moving to an empty table far away from the counter.

When Kendall noticed him walking away, she dropped her money on the counter. “Here’s the payment. Keep the change.”

“Whew, Whitlock! When have you become so lavish?” Green teased her on the line.

Kendall’s eyes flickered in annoyance. “Every time, except with you, Green. Anyway, not now. I’m chasing this git who’s always disappearing.”

Noah didn’t answer, and Kendall got back on following Grayson. When she spotted him, she asked immediately, “Can I join you? There are no other empty tables available.”

Grayson veered his eyes to an empty table beside him and went back to look at her with incredulity.

Kendall laughed uncomfortably. “He-he-he...” Scratching the back of her nape, she added, “I’m not used to sitting alone.”

Grayson’s jaw twitched. With his eyes dipped down in infuriation, he snapped. “Just because you saved me once doesn’t mean we can be friends. And please, stop following me. Are you a stalker?”

Taken aback, Grayson’s arrogance rendered Kendall speechless, but she tried to compose herself by keeping in mind the reason she was here.

Ignoring his unpleasant remark, she said. “You don’t owe me anything, and I won’t take it against you. If you want, we could forget that it ever happened. I apologize if you think I’m following you, but it’s just because I don’t know anyone here and you’re the only person I know.”

Grayson taciturnly replied, “I don’t need friends like you.”

Kendall was about to counter his denunciation when someone else arrived. She tilted her head, looking up at the guy besides Grayson.

'Looks like one of his friends.' She surmised.

He was wearing a black shirt and washed-out jeans. His brown hair was a bit long at the branch of his neck and curly at the top.

“Who’s this?” he asked as he sat beside Grayson.

Grayson answered, “A nobody.”

He then dropped his utensils, gazing back at Kendall, intending to drive her out of the table. “Miss, can you please go because this table is reserved for me and my friends?”

Kendall poked her tongue lightly into the cheek and inhaled a long breath. Calming herself not to punch the git, she sweetly smiled and nodded. “See you later then.”

Grabbing her tray, she turned around them. “Ugh, if you weren’t my mission, I had already punched your fucking gut!” she hissed while stopping across the hallway.

Thankfully, she saw Nancy, the student she had just met from the previous class, waving at her.

“Hey, Hailey! I just got a seat for you,” she offered while tapping the vacant space beside her.

A smile was formed on Kendall’s face. Shaking her head to take off the anger seeping out of her, she heaved a sigh and ambled towards Nancy.

Kendall expressed her gratitude to her as she drew down her tray. “Thank you so much, Nancy. Really appreciate this.”

“Sure, no problem. So how was the exam? I was having a hard time with the problems, but thankfully I got it before the time ended,” she told her.

Kendall slightly bobbed. “It was fine. I think I got half of it right.”

Nancy’s eyes bulged in astonishment. “Oh my God, Hailey! The passing is eighty percent. More than half of the answers must be correct!”

Her jaw dropped. “Ah, well... Better luck next time?”

Kendall sheepishly chuckled.

Nancy sighed in defeat. “I wish I were like you. You’re so cool about it. I can’t even let my guard down, as my tuition depends on my grades.”

Kendall softly smiled in concern. “You’ll pass. I’m sure of it.”

“Thanks.” Her lips curved upward.

Nancy then curiously asked Kendall again, “Hailey, why are you following Grayson? Do you like him?”

'No way in hell! My god, he’s five years younger than me! He’s like a younger brother to me!' Kendall snorted.

“God, no! I don’t like him and there’s no way I would like a guy like him. He’s an annoying git who thinks so much of himself,” Kendall said with a chuckle.

Then, as Kendall turned her face to Nancy, she saw the latter's flustered cheeks.

Furrowing her eyebrows, she questioned, "Wait, do you like him?”

Nancy blushed again as she averted her gaze away from Kendall. She then tucked her upper lip before replying. “No... no!” she denied and continued, “And even if I like him, it’s highly impossible for him to like me. I’m—”

She stopped and sighed.

Kendall saw the pain of hopelessness in her eyes. She held her hand, brushing it slightly to console her.

Before she could reply, Nancy turned her gaze toward her and added, "Grayson's type is rich and pretty girls like Abigail or you. I'm nowhere near you guys.”

Kendall was astonished. "Me?"

Nancy nodded. "Yes, you. You dress so well and so pretty. I saw Grayson staring at you in the class."

She couldn't help but be flattered by Nancy's remark.'I guess Charlotte's work paid off.'

Kendall reached her shoulders and gripped them tightly. “Look, you’re not ugly if that’s what you’re thinking. You’re much better than those pretty girls because you have this,” she declared while pointing at the temple of her face.

Her disconcerting face suddenly morphed into a more pleasing one. "Thanks, Hailey."

“No worries! Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, but in the heart. Besides, you’re also pretty. So, stop pitying yourself for something that is not worth your time.”

Grunting, Nancy answered. "Yeah, you're right. I wish I could be like you, who is so at ease with yourself."

She only smirked at her response.

'Meh, not really. I’m even worse than you, kid.' Kendall commented to herself.

Then, a thought suddenly appeared on Kendall. Dropping her arms, she asked, “How old are you?”

Curiosity etched on Nancy’s face. “Eighteen?”

Kendall’s mouth gaped open as if she had realized something. “See! You’re so young. You still have so much time to mature."

'You guys are lucky that you're still so young! God, sometimes I miss being at your age.' She said to herself wistfully.

Meanwhile, Nancy chuckled at her response. “You’re talking as if we’re not the same age!"

Kendall paused as she realized what she had just said. She then tried to play it cool by snickering. “Yeah! We are, pssh! That’s what I meant!”

It was rather fortunate of her that Nancy just laughed it off.

After finishing their meals, Kendall queried Nancy regarding her next class. “What’s your next class?”

Looking at her phone, Nancy replied. “INTFILO at Busch Building. You?”

Instantly, Kendall felt relieved that they had the same class. “Thank God! I’m also in that class.”

Her new friend’s eyes glimmered with delight. “Great! I’ve just finished eating. ‘You're done with yours?”

Grabbing her bag, Kendall stood up and said, “Same! Let’s go?”

Nancy only nodded at her while inserting the straps of the bag into her arms. “Sure.”

Then, both of them walked out of the food court, heading toward their next class.