Casey's feelings today are so happy because the dream she's always wanted has finally come true. Majoring in architecture. During the class, she was very attentive to what the lecturer was explaining. The opposite was true when she was in the management department. It turns out that if it's something you really want, surely when you live it will feel easier and more fun. It made her think, what if she could return to the real world and repeat her lecture period with a different major. Casey doesn't have a problem even if she has to repeat from the beginning again.
The problem may be her mother.
The second class ended, which meant that today's lecture also ended because there were only two courses that Casey took for today. Casey put her books back in her backpack. She didn't want to go home yet, there was something she had to do.
Namely returning the borrowed sweater to the girl.
Casey looked at the sweater neatly tucked away in a brown goody bag. Actually, she also did not know where to look for the owner of this sweater. She didn't have her phone number, and didn't know what class she was in. For now, she'd better go out of class to the cafeteria, maybe while walking she could meet Erica. Considering that the girl always radiates an aura, it must be easy to find.
Instead of meeting Erica, she saw Eric and a group of men walking in the opposite direction and would definitely run into Casey. Before that happened, Casey would have turned right, but she was unlucky.
She crosses paths with Erica. The girl was also with her friends.
"Gwen?"
"Oh... hi?" Casey said with a forced smile.
"You know her?" asked one of Erica's friends.
"Yeah..., we—"
"Ah, good afternoon, Senior!"
"Hello, hello, good afternoon everyone~"
Casey knew who she was greeting. If Casey turned around, she could cross paths with Eric and a bunch of his friends. Actually, she just needed to give this goody bag to Erica and after that, she could just walk away from them. However, the situation is a little uncomfortable.
"Senior, have you gone to the cafeteria? We were just about to get there!"
"Go ahead, Eric just treated us, haha!
"Wow, we also want to be treated by senior Eric~" said the girl with short wavy hair.
"Uh ... how long are you going to be here? Blocking us," said another girl in a whisper, with a condescending look. Erica nudged her friend's arm, as if disagreeing with those words.
"Don't be like that. Gwen, where are you going? Let's go to the cafeteria with us!" asked Erica in a slightly louder voice.
Eric, who had been busy with other words, finally turned to Erica and Casey. Eric started to approach Casey, making sure that the girl who had turned his back on him was someone he knew.
"Gwen—"
"I just wanted to return this. Thanks for the help yesterday," Casey said as she handed the goody bag to Erica.
"O—oh you're welcome." Erica accepted it with a bit of shock. Her gaze was hard to decipher, especially after seeing Casey smile.
"Then I'll excuse myself." Casey turned and looked directly at the man she had woken up this morning. Casey remembered that she had agreed with Eric to act normal, she finally tried to smile sweetly at Eric in front of Eric's and Erica's friends.
"Excuse me."
Without waiting for another response, Casey immediately rushed away from them to the cafeteria.
Having finally managed to escape from the vicious circle, Casey could breathe a sigh of relief as she took a sip of the mojito she had just ordered. The task of returning the sweater is done. Hopefully, she won't have anything to do with the girl whose name is similar to Eric's. It is a hope that is difficult to fulfill.
Casey prayed before eating the apple risotto that was in front of her. But before the wooden spoon full of rice entered her mouth, someone pulled up the chair beside her. Not even that, three people suddenly sat close to her.
"Can we sit here, Gwen?"
"Why ask when you've already seated yourself," Casey thought.
"Yes, you can," Casey answered halfheartedly. In her heart, she was already cursing these people with a slew of harsh curses.
"I'm sorry about that earlier. I didn't know you were Erica's friend. My name is Mora. Nice to meet you, Gwen," said the girl in a ponytail who had said sarcastically to Casey.
Again. Casey smiled fakely at them. "It's okay. Nice to meet you, Mora."
"I'm Hanna, we're friends from now on! Erica's friends are our friends too!"
"It's so nice to finally have more friends! We can eat together like this forever!" Erica, not forgetting the sweet smile that never left her beautiful face.
"By the way, the sweater you returned smells better than before! Thank you, Gwen!" Erica hugged Casey from the side, making the girl who had been trying to eat her food fail again because of the hug.
"Ahaha ... you're welcome. Erica, I'm having a hard time breathing ...," Casey whispered, trying to escape from Erica's deadly embrace.
"Hehe, sorry!"
"Anyway, I thought we could eat together with Eric." Mora opened the topic after ordering food. Casey, who had been ignoring their presence for a long time, had now stopped chewing. Occasionally, she drank her mojito little by little, to look busy.
"Huh, even earlier I was being sweet to them. But apparently, Eric is very busy, only his friends are free," said Hanna.
"Besides, it would be very awkward if we shared a table with them, right? I think I'd be better off at the same table with Gwen. You are with Eric and his friends, I'm too embarrassed," said Erica, joining the conversation.
"Hey, what the hell! Even though you've had a discussion with Eric, come to think of it, aren't you two compatible?" Mora raised her eyebrows with a smile, meant to tease Erica.
"E-eh! That's impossible! Which part do we look so compatible with? It's like heaven and earth, haha," Erica evaded modestly.
"Don't be modest, you two look alike from the name. It's only a one-word difference! is so handsome, friendly, and always surrounded by people, then you are the same. Aren't you the female version of Eric?" Hanna said.
"I agree with Hanna! Ah, but, doesn't Erica get along with Alan too?" Mora still maintains the topic.
"Oh! Is Alan the most handsome man in our class? He even scored the highest on the exam!"
Mora nodded in agreement, while Casey wanted to get off the table quickly.
"Erica is very lucky, her beautiful face is suitable for anyone to match," Mora complained enviously, cupping one cheek with a hand.
"You are also beautiful, really! I even envy Gwen because she has beautiful hair and eyes, and her skin is very white," said Erica as she grabbed Casey's arm to compare it to hers. It can be seen however that Erica's skin tone is lighter than Casey's. "See, right? Gwen's skin color is as white as snow!"
"Start looking for attention, this snake girl," Casey cursed inwardly.
Mora and Hanna could only stare at each other, because they didn't feel comfortable telling the truth. Casey immediately pulled his arm because it was uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Erica just smiled sweetly, not realizing that her words made other people uncomfortable, either unconsciously or on purpose.
"Oh, Gwen is closer to Eric too! The first day they ate here together, I was right, Gwen?"
Casey almost choked on her own spit. Didn't expect Erica to say something like that. Mora and Hanna were also wide-eyed in shock.
"Are you serious, Erica?" asked Mora. Erica nodded enthusiastically.
"You're close to Eric, Gwen?" Hanna asked, her body leaning in front of Casey, even if there were only a few inches between them.
"God, it's situations like this that I hate...." Casey grimaced inwardly.
Casey forced a smile. She remembered the agreement with her young master this morning. "We are friends but not that close, really."
"Eh? Really? Friends from high school?"
"Um ... just online friends before, and only met because of the same campus."
"Wow, you're so lucky!"
"T-that's exactly how it happens ..." Casey laughed softly but didn't dare look them in the eye, her palms were starting to sweat. Hope they don't smell the lie.
"Ah, it turns out that you two are really friends," Erica said with a sweet smile. However, her gaze was hard to decipher, as if she didn't like what Casey had said earlier.