Felicity was right –– the group of male students that gathered behind the Computer Science Department stall were having a rather heated argument, and the center of it was none other than Vernon Lin.
"Are you fucking kidding me?! How could you mess up like this?!"
A short, stocky guy banged his hands on the long white table and shouted, his spit splattering around like venom.
The other guys joined him in collective dissatisfaction and almost simultaneously started their verbal attack, adding to an already-existing commotion. Meanwhile, Vernon, who had been sitting behind his laptop the entire time, was frantically typing something, nearly smashing the keyboard, occasionally checking his cell phone.
"Look at him, he does not even care! Hey, do you think this is below you simply because it's a side university project? Well, wait until Professor Taylor comes here, this is gonna affect his evaluation this semester!"
A tall, slim guy with black square glasses pushed Vernon's phone, to which Lin reacted with an angry frown.
"What do you mean you don't have the presentation ready?! Is this supposed to be a joke?"
As predicted by the stocky guy, Professor Taylor nearly ran toward the stall, holding a large iced coffee in his shaking hands.
"Vernon Lin, tell me your team is ready to present!"
As if exhausted by all the noise created by the people around him, Vernon let out a loud sigh and ran his hand through his already-messed-up hair.
"I gave the flash drive with the presentation to my friend by mistake and now he is not picking up his phone."
The professor followed Vernon's example and brushed his gray hair back in a big, dramatic gesture.
"Don't you have it backed up on the cloud? There's no way someone like you doesn't have a backup!"
Vernon's silent but dark face indicated that even someone like him was capable of making such ridiculous mistakes.
When that idiot Chastain slammed me against the wall, I had to replace my computer's hard drive. All I could think about for the past few days was the pain in my back, I completely forgot to transfer the files back to my laptop.
Professor Taylor finally lost his composure––disregarding both his surroundings and his own status, he removed the lid from his plastic cup and threw its remaining contents right into Vernon's face.
"I told you to be careful! I told you to only take on the tasks you can handle! Now not only did you waste the effort of your teammates, but you have also failed me! Do you have any idea what this screw-up means to my career?!"
Truthfully, Vernon didn't really care about what it meant for Professor Taylor or his teammates. They were the last people on Earth he was thinking about at that very moment.
What he did care about, however, was the fact that Felix had no presentation for their start-up pitch, and there was no way he could rectify that unfortunate situation in time.
Ignoring the ongoing chaos of their current misfortune, Vernon rose from his chair, grabbed his phone, and dashed away, leaving behind a trail of angry shouts and curses directed at him.
Jane followed him with her eyes and could not help but feel disappointed. Not in Vernon, of course, but in Professor Taylor, who, with that simple gesture of throwing his iced coffee into his student's face, had now lost all his dignity and glory in her eyes.
"What was that all about? Was that a professor? Man, people here are sure on edge!"
Felicity put on a fake disgruntled grimace, then looked at her friend, whose gaze was still fixed somewhere ahead of her, and tugged on her arm.
"Hey, are you alright?"
"Fel, I n-need to use the bathroom. G-go save me a seat, I'll m-meet you at the stage."
Not giving her friend a chance to respond, Jane ran away, leaving Felicity alone and completely flabbergasted.
"What... I don't even know where that freaking stage is supposed to be!"
***
"... It does not matter anymore... it's my fault, I fucked up... No, there is no way it will work. I won't be able to come in time, it will take too long to get a cab from here... It's over. I failed. Both you and myself. Sorry, Song."
Jane froze behind one of the cars in the campus parking lot as she overheard Vernon's phone conversation and could not help but feel both unreasonably curious and upset.
Who was Song? What had he failed? What was so important that he didn't even care about disappointing Professor Taylor? That guy was a mystery Jane was dying to explore, and it was consuming her.
Once Vernon's phone conversation was over, the young woman gathered all her courage, and stood in front of him, extending her hand with a pink pack of scented tissues in it.
"Are you al-lright? I... happened to see you earlier..."
Vernon, clearly surprised by Jane's sudden appearance, offered her a somewhat irritated look, then slapped her hand away, and almost growled like an animal,
"That's none of your concern. Leave."
Jane was not offended or surprised by such a response, she was talking to Vernon Lin, after all. However, she still could not stand being rejected in such a cold and obviously unnecessary manner.
She pulled her phone out of her coat pocket, swiftly typed something with the skilled movements of an experienced texter, and when the phone responded with a short vibration, Jane put her phone away, took a deep breath, and said, as confidently as she could,
"My car's p-plate number is thirty-three forty-f-four. If you need to be somewhere v-very fast, my driver will t-take you there."
Vernon finally raised his eyes and looked straight into the girl's face. Contrary to his expectations, Jane's expression was kind but stern, very befitting of a Princess who was showing the power of her grace to her subject.
He wanted to laugh at that overexaggerated confidence and yet, he could not. As if something was holding him back. It was strange. He was strange. Whenever he was around this girl, he found himself contradicting his own emotions and convictions.
"Jane!"
Both Vernon and Jane turned their heads in the direction of the familiar male voice and saw Charles Chastain approaching them with a rather angry expression on his otherwise handsome face.
Here comes the Prince. How predictable.
As Vernon brushed over that thought, Charles stood right between them, offered the guy a disapproving look, then grabbed Jane by the hand, and said in a very patronizing voice,
"Fel told me you went to the bathroom, yet you are here. Let's go, my team is presenting soon."
Jane, clearly confused by the sudden turn of events, peered at Vernon from behind her boyfriend's shoulder, while Vernon released an exhausted sigh and gestured for her to comply with her Prince's command and leave.
Not willing to wait for Jane's reply or simply stay there any longer, Charles practically dragged his girlfriend away, and when the two of them disappeared in the sea of other people, Vernon scanned the parking lot in search of the girl's car, then let out another discontented sigh, ran his hand through his dark, slightly damp hair, and smiled.
"Alright. Thank you, Your Highness."