Everyone thought I faked the fall so I could grab the campus queen and pull her into my arms. Instead, I twisted midair, crashed into my childhood friend Lucy, and we hit the floor together. At the last second, she raised the watermelon in her hands. We froze.
Then she shoved me aside to check the fruit. Once she knew it was fine, she turned back with an awkward smile. “Huh, Jack? Are you okay?
”
I was completely speechless. She cared more about that watermelon than helping me up. “Lucy, is that stupid watermelon really more important than me? ”
Her face stiffened.
I could practically read the panic on it. Oh no, he called me by my full name. I’m in serious trouble. Emma, the campus queen, and everyone watching were stunned.
Their survival instincts told them this was a deadly question. “You’re more important. Of course you are. ”
The crowd was about to give her credit when she added one more thing.
“I panicked, too. It was totally an instinctive reaction. ”
She was done for. Some fearless idiot shouted what everyone else was thinking: “Instinctive reaction, huh?
”
I looked her up and down with a cold smile, reached out, and pinched her soft cheek. “Your body sure is honest. ” Then I grabbed the watermelon and walked out of the cafeteria without looking back. Lucy was left alone, mumbling, “I’m innocent.
I really didn’t mean to do that. My brain just short-circuited for a second. ”
Anna walked over and patted her shoulder. “Girl, your first answer was fine.
Everything after that just made it worse. ”
Back in my dorm, I thought about it. If not for that stupid dream last night, if I didn’t know I was living inside a novel, and if I wasn’t the hated villainous side character, today would have been a small accident. But in the dream, I caught Emma.
The story was becoming reality, and the plot had already begun. But I knew I wasn’t the Jack from the book. I never cling to a woman the way he did. I’d rely on myself.
The next evening, Lucy asked me to hit the food stalls with her. The moment I came downstairs, I saw her waiting outside the dorm looking like a walking snack rack. The outfit was so ugly it hurt my eyes. “Jack, my dear Jack, I know I messed up.
Please stop being mad. Come on, give me a smile. ”
Students kept staring. One look at her ridiculous outfit made me want to disappear.
Forget it. Arguing with this little dummy would only make me look petty. “For the next month, you’re bringing me breakfast every morning. ”
“Yes, sir.
Your wish is my command, my dear Jack. ” She flashed an exaggerated brilliant smile. I raised the stakes. “First, run two laps around the track, then do twenty sit-ups.
”
“What? There’s a workout punishment, too? Then how about I buy you breakfast for six weeks instead? ” Lucy started bargaining, looking up at me with puppy dog eyes.
I admit she was adorable, but with snacks hanging all over her, I could barely look at her. “Are you telling me what to do? ”
“Wouldn’t dream of it. Absolutely not.
” Lucy instantly backed down, tucked her neck, handed all the snacks to the dorm supervisor, and stood at attention. “I promise I’ll complete the mission. ”
We cleaned out half the food stalls before heading back to school, completely satisfied. After a quick shower, I got comfortable in bed and tried to remember last night’s dream.
I reviewed the book’s plot. First, knock into the female lead. Second, run into her at the library. Third, meet her on the track and pursue her so aggressively it bordered on harassment.
The dream was a mess, and I ran into the female lead way too many times. Bottom line: every single chance encounter had been carefully planned. Once I realized that, I relaxed. In the book, I tracked the female lead’s entire schedule.
As long as I didn’t arrange anything on purpose, she and I were in different classes and had no reason to cross paths. The odds of running into her were tiny. That thought put me completely at ease, and I slept straight through until morning. The next day flew by, and first period that afternoon was PE.
Before class, everyone gathered under the trees talking about that night’s class officer election. I was talking to Tom when someone suddenly tapped my shoulder. I turned and saw Lucy flashing her little teeth. “Jack, what a coincidence.
Our classes actually have PE together. ”
I turned to Tom. “This is Lucy, my childhood friend. ” Tom greeted her with a goofy smile.
Lucy pulled me aside. “Jack, we already ran in PE today. Can that count as one of my laps? ”
“Sure.
Then make it thirty sit-ups. ”
“I’ll head back to my group. If I have time later, I’ll do the sit-ups. If not, I’ll make them up tonight.
”
As soon as Lucy left, a girl named Sophie walked over to her. “Is that guy from class four? Your boyfriend? ”
“What boyfriend?
We haven’t even thought that far ahead. ”
Sophie smiled softly, making no effort to hide the way she looked at me. “So, you’re not dating? That makes things much easier.
”
Tom and I were talking by the sports equipment when someone suddenly screamed in the distance. Before I could react, a basketball came flying straight at me. I was about to catch it when a girl suddenly jumped in front of me. She lost her balance, crashed into me, and knocked me to the ground.
I scraped my palms in the fall. When Emma saw the bloody mess, a flash of concern crossed her usually cool eyes. Just my luck. This was bad luck on top of bad luck.
The track is basically a danger zone in every campus romance story. How did I forget that? I’m such an idiot. “Are you okay?
I saw the basketball flying at you and didn’t think. I just wanted to keep you from getting hurt, but I still ended up hurting you. Let me take you to the nurse’s office. ”
Tom immediately went off on her.
“Don’t you know your own limits? If you hadn’t jumped in, Jack would have caught the ball himself. Instead, you slammed both yourself and the ball into him. Good thing he didn’t hit his head.
”
A crowd had already gathered. Emma normally hated physical contact with guys, but this time she crouched down and helped me up. I quickly pulled away and scanned the crowd. “Where’s Lucy from your class?
”
“She’s not here. ”
I didn’t want anything to do with Emma, so I struggled to walk on my own. Tom immediately held me down. “Stop trying to act tough.
This campus is huge. It’ll take forever if you hop there by yourself. Emma is willing to help you, so quit being awkward about it. ”
I sighed, then suddenly got an idea.
I pointed at a chubby girl standing outside the crowd. “Excuse me, could you take me to the nurse’s office? ”
Anna froze on the spot. Her face turned bright red, and she had no idea what to do with everyone watching.
“This campus is huge, and I don’t know where the nurse’s office is. Could you please help me? ”
Emma frowned when she heard me. What’s gotten into Jack?
I’m standing right here, but he won’t let me guide him. Why ask a total stranger instead? Did I do something wrong? Under everyone’s jealous stares, Anna led me toward the nurse’s office.
When she noticed I was walking too slowly, she came over and helped support me. Emma, Sophie, and a few others followed us. Tom and the guys wanted to come, too, but I turned them down. A whole crowd would have been way too dramatic.
We finally reached the nurse’s office. Anna carefully helped me onto the bed and thoughtfully rolled up my sleeves and pant legs. The school nurse examined me and asked, “Oh, you poor thing. How did you get hurt this badly?
”
“Um, he got hit by a basketball,” Sophie quickly explained. The nurse nodded. “Besides your knees and palms, does anything else hurt? ”
No one said anything.
The pain in my palms had taken all my attention, so I hadn’t even noticed whether anything else hurt. The nurse looked at us. “I’ll give him a full exam. The rest of you, please step outside.
”
A little later, the nurse finished the exam and started treating my wounds. The moment a cotton ball soaked in antiseptic touched the raw skin, a sharp pain shot through me. I didn’t make a sound. I held it in until the pain became unbearable, then finally let out a low groan.
My stubborn expression left the girls staring. Anna gently tried to comfort me. “Jack, if it hurts, just say so. You don’t have to tough it out.
”
The nurse finally finished treating the scrapes and bruises on my knees. My palms had taken the worst of the fall, so both hands were wrapped up like two giant white buns. “I need to put medicine on his back now. Maybe you girls should step outside again.
”
The moment they heard she had to treat my back, all three girls blushed and quietly stepped out. A little later, the nurse called them back in and gave them a serious warning. “Be more careful when you play ball. You can’t ignore another student’s safety just because you’re playing a game.
Look at him. How is he supposed to eat or write for the next few days? And don’t let his wounds get wet. Keep an eye on him and bring him back in two days to change the bandages.
”
Finally, the nurse turned to me. “I got you some medicine. Remember to spray it on your knees and back every day. ”
After giving us all the instructions, the nurse finally let us leave.
Sophie quickly cut in. “Anna, you’ve done enough. Let me help Jack now. ” She reached out to take over, but Anna thought she was only being polite and waved her off.
“I’m not tired. It’s okay. ”
Emma had already noticed something was off about me today, but she wasn’t sure if she was imagining it, so she stayed quiet and let the two of them argue. Just then, Lucy came charging over, slamming into the doorway so fast the nurse nearly dropped the spray bottle.
Her hair was a mess, her face was flushed from running, and she was still wearing the tragic expression of someone who had sprinted across campus with a guilty conscience and very poor stamina. The moment she saw my bandaged hands, her eyes went wide. “Jack, who turned you into a limited edition steamed bun? ”
The nurse coughed.
Anna lowered her head. Even Emma’s lips twitched for half a second. I lifted both hands slowly. They really did look like two white buns.
“You arrived late. The watermelon would have come faster. ”
Lucy froze. “I was doing the sit-ups.
Then I heard you were in the nurse’s office. Then I ran here. Then I got lost because the hallway smelled like fried chicken from the cafeteria and my feet made one wrong decision. ”
“Your feet?
”
“My whole body is under investigation. ”
The nurse turned away, shoulders shaking. Sophie, however, did not laugh. She moved forward quickly, face full of gentle concern that looked freshly ironed for public display.
“Jack, Lucy is too careless. Your hands are hurt like this, and she still came so late. Let me help you back. ”
Lucy’s face dropped.
That tiny change in her expression made something in my chest go cold. Lucy could be ridiculous, greedy for food, and tragically loyal to fruit, but she had run here for me. She was panting so hard her words came in pieces, and Sophie still tried to step on her guilt like it was a stage. I looked at Sophie.
“Lucy may rank watermelon above me in crisis situations, but at least she doesn’t apply for nurse duty like it’s a beauty pageant. ”
Anna pressed her lips together, fighting a smile. Sophie stiffened. “I was only worried.
”
“Wonderful. Please worry from a safe distance. My bandages are already crowded. ”
Lucy blinked at me, then straightened with revived courage.
“Yes, safe distance. Medical buns need air. ”
“Do not call me medical buns. ”
“Sorry, limited edition medical buns.
”
The nurse finally laughed out loud. I turned to Lucy. “Since my hands are injured, your punishment has changed. ”
Lucy immediately stood at attention.
“Please be merciful. I am young, weak, and recently chased by a hallway fried chicken. ”
“For the next week, you bring breakfast, carry my notes, open water bottles, and keep all fruit at least three meters away from medical emergencies. ”
Lucy nodded solemnly.
“Mission accepted. Feed Jack without losing fingers. ” She grabbed my medicine bag with both hands as if carrying national treasure. Emma stood near the door, watching the scene with a look I could not read.
In the original novel, this would have been her moment. The injured villain would be moved by her kindness, then begin chasing her harder. The air should have wrapped around us like romance. Instead, Lucy was arguing with the nurse about whether porridge counted as a liquid.
The plot was like a bad group project. I had done none of the work, but somehow my name was already on the failure. As Lucy and Anna helped me out, I caught Tom peeking from the hallway with his phone raised. “Are you recording me?
”
Tom lowered the phone by three centimeters. “No, Jack. I am preserving evidence and your dignity. ”
“My dignity is in bandages.
”
“Exactly why preservation matters. ”
The next morning, breakfast punishment became campus history. Lucy arrived outside my dorm carrying so many bags of food that she looked like a delivery app with legs: soy milk, porridge, buns, eggs, dumplings, fruit cups, and one suspiciously hidden slice of watermelon wrapped in plastic. I stared at the watermelon.
Lucy slowly pushed it behind her back for emotional closure. “Throw it away. ”
“It has done nothing wrong today. ”
“It has a record.
”
Tom appeared beside me, saw the food mountain, and whistled. “Jack, are you injured or hosting a breakfast summit? ”
Lucy opened a container and held a spoon toward my mouth. “Open mouth.
Patient number one. ”
“I am injured, not a baby bird. ”
Then she stopped, looking betrayed by porridge. I had not even chosen breakfast yet, and the campus had already assigned me three girlfriends and a criminal motive.
By lunch, the campus forum exploded. Hot post number one: Jack rejected Emma to play hard to get. Hot post number two: poor Anna used as tool in love triangle. Hot post number three: childhood friend Lucy acting like servant while Jack enjoys attention.
Hot post number four: basketball incident possibly staged. I stared at my phone in the cafeteria. Tom leaned over my shoulder. “Wow.
According to this, you are dating Lucy, using Anna, chasing Emma, and manipulating Sophie by existing. ”
“I am tired. ”
“Emotionally or narratively? ”
“Both.
”
Lucy read the post about being my childhood servant and slammed her milk tea onto the table. “Servant? I charge breakfast tax. ”
“Your financial dignity is inspiring.
”
Anna sat across from us, face red with embarrassment. “I’m sorry. I didn’t expect helping you to become this. ”
“You did nothing wrong.
”
She sighed. “I thought campus romance was supposed to be sweet. Why does this feel like group project fraud? ”
Tom lifted a chip bag.
“Because nobody read the instructions except Jack, and even he is trapped in the wrong book. ”
Lucy leaned closer. “Do you really think someone is doing this on purpose? ”
I looked toward Sophie’s table.
She was whispering to two girls while occasionally glancing at us. “Yes. ”
Lucy narrowed her eyes. “Then we gather evidence.
”
I turned back to her. She looked serious. Actually serious. No snacks in hand.
No bargaining. No watermelon defense. “I may panic, but I panic with evidence. ”
That was the most terrifying sentence she had ever said while holding a milk tea.
That afternoon, Emma found me outside the library. “Why do you keep avoiding me? ”
“Dislike is too strong. I am simply allergic to plot.
”
She frowned. “Plot? ”
“Never mind. I only wanted to help yesterday.
”
“Then next time worry from a safe distance. My palms are still negotiating compensation. ”
Her face flushed. “I did not mean to hurt you.
”
“I know. ”
“Then why ask Anna instead of me? ”
“Because Anna was outside the crowd and not part of the drama. ”
“Did I do something wrong?
”
“Not exactly. ”
“Then why are you acting like I’m dangerous? ”
“Campus accidents keep happening around you. I am protecting my bones.
”
She stared at me. I walked around her and entered the library. The next plot trap arrived three days later, right on schedule. Tom sat two tables away with his phone ready.
Anna was near the window pretending to read while watching the shelves. Lucy crouched behind a bookshelf holding a bag of chips she had sworn were silent. They were not silent. Emma entered the aisle five minutes later.
Of course, she reached for a book on the upper shelf. The stack beside it wobbled. At the same time, Sophie appeared at the end of the aisle with her phone already angled upward. Excellent camera placement.
Terrible plot writing. The books began to fall. Emma gasped and stumbled back. I stepped sideways, not toward Emma, toward the bookshelf where Lucy had panicked, slipped on her own chip bag, and launched herself out from hiding like a snack-based projectile.
I caught Lucy by the shoulders. The books hit the floor. Emma stayed upright. Lucy clutched the chip bag to her chest, breathing hard.
“I was protecting the chips. ”
The novel wanted me to catch the campus queen. Unfortunately, gravity submitted a better candidate. Lucy looked down at the crushed bag.
“Did they survive? ”
“You have learned nothing from the watermelon. ”
By evening, a clip appeared on the forum: “Jack humiliates Emma in library after rejecting her again. ” The clip showed me moving away from Emma, catching Lucy, and people laughing.
It cut out Sophie filming before the books fell. It cut out the chip bag. It cut out everything that made the scene less cruel and more stupid. Tom posted the full video in the comments within four minutes.
The forum turned fast. Why was Sophie already recording? The books were wobbling before Jack moved. Why is Lucy hiding with chips?
Why was Sophie filming from that angle? Tom commented, “I brought screenshots, timestamps, backup timestamps, and emotional support chips. ”
I replied, “You ate the emotional support. ”
Tom answered, “That is how support works.
”
By the night before the class officer election, anonymous posts had multiplied again. Now I was manipulative, arrogant, cool to Emma, using Lucy, embarrassing Anna, and turning the campus into my personal romance drama. Lucy came to my dorm that evening carrying a watermelon. I stared at it.
“No. ”
“Every investigation needs a mascot. ”
“Absolutely not. ”
Tom appeared behind her with a laptop bag.
“I support exhibit melon. ”
Anna lifted a notebook. “I wrote down what I saw. I don’t like being used in rumors.
”
Lucy placed the watermelon on my desk with both hands. “Evidence meeting begins. ”
“Why is the fruit on my desk? ”
“It calms me.
”
“It traumatizes me. ”
“Both can be true. ”
For the next two hours, we built our case. Cafeteria video.
Track footage from the sports field camera. Nurse’s office timeline. Library full clip. Sophie’s repeated phrases in anonymous posts.
Screenshots from classmates who had received messages from her asking whether Lucy and I were secretly dating. A recording Anna had made when Sophie cornered Lucy near the vending machines. The recording made me stop smiling. Sophie’s voice was soft but cruel.
“Jack will never choose a childhood friend who acts like a snack rack. Boys like Emma-level girls. You are just familiar to him. Familiar is not love.
”
Then Lucy’s voice, smaller than usual. “I know I am not elegant, but at least when I panic, I panic honestly. ”
I looked at Lucy. She was pretending to sort screenshots, but her ears were red.
Making Lucy sad should count as a campus safety violation. I closed the laptop. “Tomorrow, we let the election become the stage. ”
Tom rubbed his hands together.
“If the plot wants a public trial, we bring popcorn and evidence. ”
“No popcorn. ”
He opened his bag. “Too late.
”
The class officer election filled the lecture hall the next afternoon. Everyone came, not because they cared about class officers. Campus students could ignore important emails for weeks, but whisper the words romance scandal, and suddenly attendance became spiritual duty. Sophie stood near the front, dressed neatly, eyes red enough to look sympathetic, but not messy enough to look unstable.
Emma sat in the first row, quieter than usual. Anna sat beside Lucy. Tom controlled the projector like a man finally living his dream. I stood when Sophie called my name.
She faced the class, voice trembling. “I did not want to say anything, but this has gone too far. Jack has been causing misunderstandings with several girls. He rejected Emma publicly to make her care, used Anna to make Emma jealous, and kept Lucy around as backup.
The basketball incident may have been staged for attention. Someone like that should not have influence in our class. ”
Whispers rose instantly. Lucy jumped up.
“Backup? I’m not a hard drive. ”
Tom whispered, “Actually, with your snack storage, you are at least cloud backup. ”
“Tom.
”
I raised one hand. “Before we begin, let me clarify something. If I wanted to chase Emma, I would not have done this much cardio avoiding her. ”
The room laughed.
Sophie’s expression stiffened. Good tone matters. Whoever controls the first laugh controls half the battlefield. Tom connected the first video.
The cafeteria incident played on screen. Me falling, twisting midair away from Emma, crashing into Lucy. Lucy protecting the watermelon first. The whole room exploded.
Lucy covered her face. I said, “My first crime was protecting Emma from impact and losing to a watermelon on emotional priority. ”
Lucy groaned. “I said I was sorry.
”
“The fruit received faster medical attention than I did. ”
More laughter. Even Emma looked like she wanted to disappear into her notebook. Next came the track footage.
The basketball flew toward me. I lifted my hands, ready to catch it. Emma jumped in front of me at the wrong angle, collided with me, and we both fell. The video paused on my palms, hitting the ground.
Silence replaced the laughter. “Emma tried to save me from a ball I could catch and introduced me to pavement instead. Heroic halo, meet physics. ”
Emma’s face went pale.
She stood slowly. “I really did only want to help. ”
“I know. But helping badly still hurts when someone else bleeds.
”
She sat back down. Then the library footage. Books wobbling. Sophie already recording.
Me sidestepping. Lucy flying out with chips. Me catching Lucy. Books falling harmlessly.
Sophie’s cropped angle beside the full angle. At this point, the novel was not writing romance. It was filing accident reports. Tom clicked to the next slide.
Forum screenshots filled the screen. Same phrases. Same punctuation habits. Same posting times after Sophie left each scene.
Then classmate messages. Then Anna’s statement. Then the campus Wi-Fi login that matched Sophie’s account during three posts from the library. Building, simple, clean, ugly.
Sophie turned white. “That proves nothing. ”
Anna stood. “Jack asked for help.
That is all. He did not flirt with me, use me, or make me part of anyone’s romance drama. ” She looked around the room, voice quiet but firm. “Kindness is not a confession.
Some of you should write that down. ”
Several people actually looked ashamed. Tom clicked again. The recording of Sophie insulting Lucy played.
“Jack will never choose a childhood friend who acts like a snack rack. ”
Lucy lowered her head. My voice turned cold. “Sophie, next time you write fanfiction about my life, at least give me better dialogue.
”
“I only posted what everyone was already thinking. ”
“Jealousy is not a printer. It does not give you the right to manufacture evidence. ”
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I just liked you. ”
“Then you should have tried honesty. It has fewer screenshots. ”
Someone laughed.
She looked toward Emma. “I was trying to protect Emma. ”
Emma finally stood. “No, you were using me, too.
”
Sophie froze. Emma’s hands tightened around her notebook. “I should have spoken sooner. ”
The lecture hall quieted.
I looked at Emma. “You did not write every rumor. But you stood under the halo and let other people polish it with my reputation. ”
Her eyes reddened.
“I think I liked being the one everyone protected. ”
That was honest enough to matter. Not enough to erase damage, but enough to stop pretending. “Why not me?
” Emma’s voice was barely above a whisper. I looked at her, then at Lucy, who was staring at the watermelon like it had court authority. “Because my life is not a prize for the female lead. ” Emma flinched.
“And because when the plot pushed me toward you, she was the only person stupid enough to protect the watermelon and honest enough to admit it. ”
Lucy lifted her head. Her eyes were wet. I turned fully toward her.
“I do not need a campus queen. I need the girl who knows when I am angry, when I am hungry, and when I am pretending not to hurt. ”
The lecture hall went silent. Lucy’s mouth opened, closed, opened again.
Then she ruined the most serious moment of my life: “So, breakfast punishment canceled? ”
I stared at her. Extended. “Boyfriend tax.
”
The room exploded. Tom screamed like his favorite team had won a championship. Anna laughed until she bent over. Emma sat down slowly, not smiling, but not angry anymore.
Sophie lunged toward Tom’s laptop. I stepped in front of her and caught her wrist before she reached it. “Careful. Touching evidence without permission is how villains speedrun consequences.
”
Lucy, in panic, grabbed the watermelon bag and swung around to protect the laptop. The bag bumped Sophie’s arm with a dull little thump. Sophie gasped as if struck by fate. Lucy froze.
“The watermelon acted in self-defense. ”
For once, I believed it. After that, the election was over before the votes were counted. Sophie lost so badly, even the blank ballots looked judgmental.
The class committee issued a formal warning for false rumors and harassment. Her forum account was banned. Her friends began taking three careful steps away whenever she opened her mouth. The nickname the plot department attached to her by sunset: she had wanted to write my villain arc, but she became a campus meme with poor grammar.
Emma withdrew from the officer race the same day. She apologized publicly, not dramatically, not prettily, just plainly. She admitted she had let people defend her when she should have corrected them. Some students still adored her.
Some stopped. That was fair. Emma lost the halo, not her whole life. Anna gained respect overnight.
People kept thanking her for saying kindness was not a confession. She looked deeply uncomfortable with popularity, which made me trust her more. Tom became known as the campus evidence goblin. He loved it.
Lucy became watermelon guardian. She hated it for eleven minutes, then started charging people one milk tea to use the nickname. Capitalism healed her quickly. The forum comments were worse than I expected and better than I deserved.
“Jack dodged the female lead and caught a watermelon arc. ” “Sophie wrote fanfiction and lost the election. ” “Lucy protecting fruit over men is peak survival instinct. ” “Emma’s halo took fall damage.
” “Tom’s screenshots deserve academic credit. ” “Anna is the only normal person and even she looks traumatized. ” “Watermelon guardian supremacy. ” “The plot tried.
Jack brought receipts. ”
Lucy and I read them together under the old tree near the track. She pointed at one comment. “Why does everyone focus on the watermelon?
”
“Because the watermelon has stronger character development than half the class. ”
“It was innocent. ”
“It betrayed me first. ”
“You are more important than watermelon.
”
That sentence had a delay. “I am improving. ”
That night I dreamed again. The campus appeared in pale pages.
The same as before. The cafeteria, the track, the library. Emma standing beneath soft light. Me chasing her like a badly written idiot.
Lucy in the background with snacks fading line by line. Then the page trembled. Ink began to run. The line where I was supposed to become the villain blurred until it disappeared completely.
A blank page opened in front of me. No command, no forced scene, no chance encounter waiting like a trap. Only space. The script did not disappear because fate was kind.
It disappeared because I stopped reading my lines. When I woke, Lucy was calling me. I answered with one eye open. “It is six thirty in the morning.
”
“Breakfast punishment. ”
“You are enjoying this too much. ”
“Boyfriend tax was your idea. ”
“I regret many things.
”
“Do you want buns or porridge? ”
I looked at my wrapped palms, then at the sunlight. “Buns. Limited edition steamed bun patient requesting buns.
”
“Understood. ”
“Lucy. ”
“Yes? ”
“Bring one watermelon juice too.
”
There was a long silence. “Jack, are you emotionally ready for that? ”
“No, but growth requires danger. ”
The campus festival arrived two weeks later.
Lucy ran a watermelon juice booth because she claimed a true warrior must face the battlefield where she once failed. Tom designed the sign. It read: Melon Guardian’s Redemption Stand. Anna helped with orders.
Emma passed by after lunch, bought one juice, and thanked Lucy quietly. Then she came to me. “I am sorry. ”
“I heard you the first time.
”
“I know. I just wanted to say it without an audience. ”
“That was better. ”
She looked across the festival grounds where Sophie was helping the committee carry folding chairs.
Nobody clustered around her now. When she said something sharp, no one laughed. Her power had been silence and gossip. Without both, she was just another student with too much lip gloss and not enough friends.
Emma lowered her gaze. “I let the story revolve around me too much. ”
“You do not need a villain to prove you are the heroine. ”
She looked up, startled.
Then she smiled faintly. “Maybe I don’t want to be one anymore. ”
“Good. The job seems dangerous.
Bad insurance. ”
She laughed softly and walked away. That closed her chapter. Sophie tried one last comment near the booth.
“Enjoying your little popularity show? ”
Nobody answered. Tom sipped watermelon juice through a straw and smiled. “Careful, Sophie.
The forum is closed for maintenance after your last personality update. ”
A few students laughed. Not with her, at her. Sophie turned red and walked away.
That silence was better than punishment. It was the sound of a rumor maker losing the room. As the festival lights came on, Lucy handed me a cup of watermelon juice. “For the record, you are more important than the watermelon.
”
I narrowed my eyes. “How much more? ”
She thought about it seriously. “At least two breakfasts.
”
“Romantic. ”
“Cheap, but romantic. ” Her face turned red. “I am on a student budget.
”
“Fine, three breakfasts and I accept. ”
“Two and a half. ”
“Lucy. ”
“Fine, three, but one can be porridge.
”
I took the cup from her. Our fingers touched. For once, she did not make a joke. Neither did I.
She looked at me, cheeks flushed, eyes bright under the festival lights. The girl who had saved a watermelon before me, carried my notes, gathered evidence, faced Sophie’s insults, and still somehow made every disaster feel less heavy. I took her hand. She stared at our linked fingers.
“Jack. What? ”
“My heart is doing sit-ups. ”
“Good.
It needs training. ”
She laughed, and I felt something in my chest settle into place. Not plot, not fate. Choice.
In the original story, Jack was supposed to chase the campus queen until everyone hated him. He was supposed to lose his friends, his dignity, and the girl who had always stood beside him with snacks in her pockets and terrible survival instincts. Too bad for the plot. I had already seen the script, and I refused to audition for villain.
Emma kept her crown, but lost the halo. Sophie kept her mouth, but lost the forum. Anna gained friends who did not treat kindness like background decoration. Tom gained enough gossip to survive winter.
And Lucy. Lucy kept the watermelon, stole my breakfast schedule, and somehow became the only person I wanted beside me when the story ended. The novel tried to write me as a joke.
I rewrote the punchline, held Lucy’s hand, and walked out of the campus romance trap laughing.