5
That night, I went all out getting ready in the dorm.
I scrubbed myself head to toe and specifically treated my hair.
I pulled out all my clothes and planned my outfit, aiming to appear beautiful before Caleb tomorrow.
I even gave my roommates a heads–up, telling them I might wake up a bit early tomorrow and to please bear with me if I made too
much noise.
My roommates all said they didn’t mind and enthusiastically offered me outfit and makeup advice,
But I never expected that the moment I stepped out of the dorm building, I’d see Caleb waiting for me, wearing a white shirt and holding several paper bags.
My roommates all gave me knowing glances, saying they had no intention of being a third wheel, then abandoned me and walked ahead.
I smoothed my hair and quickly walked over.
I primly greeted him: “Good morning.”
Caleb also smiled gently and greeted me: “Good morning. What do you want to eat? I bought a lot; you can share with your roommates.”
“Do you have breakfast pastries and coffee?”
Caleb pulled out a breakfast pastry and coffee from one bag, then handed me the remaining paper bags: “Go share these with your
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Caleb pulled out a breakfast pastry and coffee from one bag, then handed me the remaining paper bags: “Go share these with your
roommates first.”
I quickly caught up with my roommates, handed the paper bags to them, and told them to distribute them amongst themselves.
Caleb’s class was in a different building than mine, so he walked me to my building but didn’t go inside.
When I arrived at the classroom, my roommates had already saved me a seat.
Chloe, the most outgoing one, even took out her breakfast and said while eating, “Breakfast from my roommate’s boyfriend, getting some perks! It tastes really good.”
I playfully gave her a look and shoved another pastry into her mouth: “Just eat yours.”
The boring Political Science class, which made me feel drowsy, passed in a haze.
My roommate took my book back to the dorm for me.
I stood downstairs from the teaching building, waiting for Caleb to pick me up.
Bicycles whizzed along the campus paths. An occasional breeze brought a refreshing coolness. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, leaving dappled patterns on the ground.
I gently wrapped my arms around Caleb’s waist, looking up at the man in front of me, a nameless emotion stirring in
my
heart.
In the underwater restaurant, the tables, chairs, floor, and even the flowers were all in shades of blue. The romantic and exquisite decor blended harmoniously with the swimming fish.
Caleb didn’t talk much, but no matter what I said, he would respond.
Even if some of my words sounded silly or outlandish, he never mocked me.
And he never made decisions for me, always respecting my choices.
I used to only dream of a boyfriend like this.
During the time I spent with him, I felt like I was floating on a cloud, light and free.
But the moment we returned to school, I was jolted back to reality.
As soon as we entered campus, people started pointing and whispering about me.
Something had happened that I didn’t know about.
A pretty girl rushed up and pushed me away from Caleb.
Caleb quickly steadied me, his thin lips pressed tight, his aura turning cold. Anyone could tell he was angry.
Caleb asked coldly, “What do you think you’re doing?”
The pretty girl seemed a little scared, but she still mustered her courage and said, “Caleb, you’ve been fooled by this woman. She’s manipulative and juggling multiple guys, a total player. Jaxon himself exposed her on the school forum!”
Hearing that, I didn’t bother with the pretty girl.
I logged onto the school forum. The most eye–catching post was titled: “School Hottie’s Simp? No, call me the Queen of Players.”
It showed five intimate photos of me with men of different ages.
And pictures of me getting out of various luxury cars.
It even came with captions: which year, month, and day, and at what location.
It sounded so incredibly convincing.
If I hadn’t been the person involved, I would have almost believed it.
The poster wasn’t named, but many people recognized the account.
It was Jaxon’s friend, Leo, and many of Jaxon’s other friends were hyping it up in the comments, confirming my alleged misdeeds.
I was trembling with rage.
Jaxon, that jerk.
Caleb soothingly stroked my head: “I believe you. You’re not like that. I’ll definitely help you clarify this.”
I managed to suppress my fury and called Jaxon.
“Where are you?”
Jaxon’s voice was still so condescending: “What, couldn’t resist coming back to me, huh? Didn’t you say we were going ways?”
“How about this: apologize to me, take back all those nasty things you said, and I’ll give you a chance to see me.”
I was already fuming, and then I heard that brain–dead talk.
I simply couldn’t hold back: “You brain–dead idiot, answer me! Where are you?!”
Jaxon seemed to sense something unusual in my tone and answered seriously: “First canteen, second floor.”
Knowing his location, I stormed towards the canteen, seething with anger.
Caleb followed carefully behind me.
our separate
When we reached the second floor of the canteen, Jaxon was still flirting sweetly with Luna, and his friends were laughing and
chatting.
They all looked perfectly innocent, you couldn’t tell at all that they had done something so despicable to a girl.
Something in my brain just snapped.
I lunged forward, gave Jaxon a punch, then followed up with a flurry of blows.
The people around me must have been startled, because they all froze and no one came to intervene.
“Elara, what the hell are you doing?!”
“I thought you just talked like an ass, but I never thought you’d stoop so low!”
“What did I do to you?! If you hit me again, I’m hitting back!”
“You jerk, go to hell!”
Jaxon tried to dodge, but he couldn’t withstand my wild, unorganized strikes and was quickly knocked to the ground.
Only then did people come forward to pull us apart. Caleb put his arm around me from behind, patting my back to soothe me.
By the time I calmed down, Jaxon had also been helped up.
“Elara, if you don’t explain what happened today, I won’t let this go!”
After that outburst, my rationality returned.
Jaxon might say terrible things, but he’s not usually this low, is he?
This probably wasn’t Jaxon’s doing, and he likely had no idea.
Otherwise, even if it was to save the world, there’s no way I would have tolerated him for three years.
But this beating? He totally deserved it. He chose his friends poorly, he totally deserved that.
I pulled up the forum post, threw my phone at him: “See for yourself!”
Jaxon’s face grew darker and darker as he read. I saw him lose control and nearly smash my phone.
! quickly stepped forward and snatched my phone back.
Jaxon, without a word, punched one of his friends.
“How could you do something like that?!”
His friend looked at Jaxon, shocked: “I was just trying to vent for you! You’d been drowning your sorrows for days, weren’t you
annoyed with Elara, that simp?”
Jaxon grabbed his friend’s collar: “Who the hell told you to vent for me?! I haven’t laid a finger on her since we were kids, how could you insult her like that?!”
“I insulted her? How are you any better? How did you talk to her? Always ordering her around, always mocking her!”
“Besides, if it weren’t for you, would I have targeted her? What’s going on now, don’t tell me you actually like her?!”
Jaxon said nothing, implicitly confirming it.
His friend cursed loudly: “Damn it. Being your friend is the worst luck ever.”
I ignored their drama and stated directly, “I’ve already reported this to the police. Get ready for a criminal record!”
Jaxon’s friend loudly pleaded, “I’ll apologize publicly, I promise it won’t affect your reputation. Can’t we settle this privately?”
Seriously, dude, why are you caving so fast?
If I involved the police, while this guy would get a criminal record, it would still have some impact on my reputation.
Settling privately could best protect my reputation, but the lesson for him would only be temporary.
I silently pondered. Caleb held my hand by my side, like a pillar of support.
With that, I pulled Caleb away.
I contacted the school forum administrator to delete the post.
I also had the police verify that everything stated in the forum was defamation.
As for those who spread false rumors about me, the main perpetrator got a criminal record, and everyone else received major demerits from the school.
Luna was also implicated. Although there was no direct evidence proving she instigated it, Jaxon’s friends uniformly blamed her, ruining her reputation.
As for Jaxon, he disappeared from my life and never resurfaced.
Caleb stayed by my side, accompanying me through that entire period.
Honestly, the incident didn’t really affect me.
But now that I was with my boyfriend, I wanted to spend more time with him.
I enjoyed our time together, was pleasantly surprised by his occasional small gifts, and appreciated his constant thoughtfulness.
Of course, I wouldn’t just enjoy without giving back. I also made time to attend classes and study with him, go for morning runs together, and create small surprises for him in our daily lives.
Just as I was bubbling with happiness every day, Jaxon reappeared like an unshakeable ghost.
