Maya Brooks clicked her tongue in disgust and sneered, "I don't know what girls these days are thinking. Who wouldn't be better than him?"
Ryder glanced at her.
"What are you looking at me for?" Maya Brooks crossed her arms over her chest and stared back. "Am I wrong? Look at my Ri - Ri. She has sharp eyes and is never confused by superficial looks."
Ryder raised his eyebrows and let out an "mm", and the girl's face tinged with pink suddenly popped into his mind. He lowered his eyes and smiled faintly, casually, "Is that so?"
Aria didn't know that the topic here had involved her.
She didn't like crowded places, so she asked Sydney to go first. After the classmates in the class had taken their things one after another, she walked over. She had just taken a few steps towards the door when she saw Maya Brooks and the others.
Coincidentally, Maya Brooks waved to her, "Ri - Ri."
Aria thought for a moment and walked over.
Just as she was about to say something, Ryder suddenly spoke, his voice lazy, low and sexy with a hint of laughter.
"Ask her, is that so."
Aria looked down at him in confusion, her clear almond - shaped eyes flickering. "Is what so?"
Ryder didn't move. Leaning his head against the tree, he looked up at her. After a moment, his Adam's apple rolled slightly, and he curled his lips into a smile. "Do you not like me?"
Aria was stunned by this question.
She was taken aback. "Ah?"
Maya Brooks hugged Aria's arm. "Don't mind him. Just tell the truth. This guy is shameless just because he's good - looking."
"..." Aria blinked, looked at her best friend, then glanced at Ryder. She felt this question was impossible to answer.
Apparently, Ryan Bennett and Finn Alvarez thought so too.
Suddenly, they remembered that this girl had always been aloof towards Ryder.
The two of them exchanged a look, assumed a stance of watching the show, and stared at Aria with great interest, waiting for her answer.
Aria was silent for a long time and chose a compromise answer. "Well... I don't dislike you."
Ryder: "Tsk."
Maya Brooks took not disliking as not liking and triumphantly said to Ryder, "See? What did I say?"
Aria: "?"
No, that's not what she meant!
Aria immediately looked at Ryder nervously.
Ryder looked back at her leisurely, snorted softly, and didn't say anything. He took an ice - cream cone from the bag beside him and handed it to her, chuckling, "All right, you've worked hard."
Aria lowered her eyes. It was a Cornetto.
She couldn't figure out what Ryder meant. She reached out in a daze to take it, held her water cup and folding stool in one hand, glanced at him, and then slowly peeled off the wrapper.
Ryder waited until she lowered her head and took a small bite before leisurely retracting his gaze. He stood up, propping himself up with his arm, picked up the things in Aria's hand, weighed them, tilted his head, and said, "Let's go."
After saying that, he didn't wait for anyone and walked straight towards the door.
The others looked at this scene in surprise.
"?"
Aria was also stunned. It took her more than ten seconds to come back to her senses as she stared at the back figure walking in front.
Holding the Cornetto, she stared blankly at the things that suddenly appeared in his hands.
Ryan Bennett: "What's going on?"
Finn Alvarez just shrugged. "Why don't you take a guess?"
Maya Brooks: "..."
Maya Brooks turned her head to look at her best friend, who was already dumbfounded. The girl's eyes were wide open in surprise, clearly not reacting. Her delicate and beautiful face was dull and confused.
Maya Brooks' eyelids twitched slightly. Then she turned back and stared at Ryder's back, narrowing her eyes.
Something was wrong.
This guy was acting strange.
It was always him who bossed others around and bullied them. When did he ever take the initiative to carry things for someone else?
"..." Maya Brooks murmured.
She now had reason to suspect that this guy had his eyes on Aria.
And she had sufficient evidence!
Giving a girl an ice - cream out of the blue and carrying things for her, was this normal?
"Let's go. If we don't go, he'll be out of sight." Finn Alvarez lowered his eyes to look at Maya Brooks' thoughtful expression, and subtly blocked her line of sight. "Are we all going for lunch?"
Ryan Bennett thought to himself, your circle is really complicated.
He probed, "Is our Brother Si interested in the little beauty?"
"Shut up!" Maya Brooks glared at him angrily. Was being liked by him a good thing?
She didn't claim to know Ryder very well, but one thing was for sure. There were so many people who liked him, but which one of them ended up well?
Although they were nominally like plastic siblings, she really didn't want her good friend to step into his pit. Didn't she know how capable Ryder was?
Some men were like this. No matter what, you couldn't deny that he could make girls willingly flock to him and sacrifice themselves for him just by crooking his finger.
She had seen too many such people.
Maya Brooks took Aria's arm. "Come on, let's go have lunch."
Aria sighed. "Let's go."
The Cornetto in her hand was about to melt, so she quickly took a bite, thinking that she would come back to get her things after lunch.
Although she had clearly interacted with that person more these days and got a bit more familiar with him, she still couldn't figure out what he was thinking at all. She couldn't see through him.
"Listen, honey. You mustn't be bewitched by Ryder. Looks are just external things, you know?" Maya Brooks said as they walked, trying to warn Aria. "You've seen it with your own eyes over the years. Don't say I didn't warn you."
"Come on, of course I know! What are you thinking?"
"I'm just afraid you'll be blinded by good looks for a moment." Maya Brooks poked her head. "He has too many things weighing him down. An ordinary person can't hold him back. Even if you have a crush on him, don't fall in love easily, okay?"
Who didn't have a crush during their puberty?
Maya Brooks also had a girlish dream of love when she was thirteen or fourteen.
But she saw things clearly. She was a realist and always knew what was best for her. So she nipped that dream in the bud at the very beginning.
A dream that wasn't certain, no matter how beautiful it was, was better off not having.
"Yeah." Aria replied vaguely, biting the ice - cream. "I know."
Maya Brooks had never mentioned Ryder's family affairs, so Aria naturally didn't know. She only knew that he had a twin brother.
As for whether it was heavy or not, and whether she could hold him back, Aria pursed her lips.
The sweetness of the Cornetto spread on her tongue, then melted into a slowly dissipating bitterness. In fact, those things didn't matter to her.
It was already too late anyway.
The cafeteria was indeed crowded. There were people everywhere, and there was hardly any place to stand. Besides, the cafeteria at Harvard University was cheap and delicious, so students generally didn't even bother to go to the restaurant.
It wasn't that the food in the restaurant wasn't good, it was just expensive.
Aria was a bit shocked.
It had been a while since she had seen such a crowded and grand scene.
"Amazing, amazing." Ryan Bennett exclaimed.
He stroked his chin. "The last time I saw such a scene was when I was invited as a special guest to the opening ceremony of the Great Hall of the People to hold the stage."
Finn Alvarez: "..."
Ryder, who was walking in front, heard this and turned his head to glance at him. He said sincerely, "Be careful of your waist."
Maya Brooks: "Pfft!"