Chapter 9: Wasted efforts
Eiden came out of the washroom and headed straight to the cafeteria, which was still filled with people but had thinned out a bit. He had taken his sweet time stalking and recording Ruel’s scandalous activities, and even more time debating how exactly he should show the video to Lyra.
As he reached the cafeteria, he scanned the space. No sign of Deuel. Eiden looked around a little more, half-expecting his friend to pop up behind him again, but instead, his eyes landed on Sasha. She was sitting with her group of friends, chatting, laughing lightly clearly enjoying herself. She saw him too. For a brief second, they just stared at each other from a distance, exchanging unspoken words through their eyes. A familiar language only close friends shared. Eiden raised an eyebrow and gestured subtly toward her friends, his eyes saying: So, gonna introduce me or what?
Sasha, catching his meaning, smirked and stuck her tongue out at him childishly before continuing her conversation like he didn’t exist. "That girl," Eiden thought with an annoyed sigh. A little pissed, he grabbed his tray of food and began scanning the cafeteria once more for Deuel. But he still couldn’t find him. Resigned, he simply took a seat in the corner and began eating silently, watching people as they came and went.
His mind, however, wasn’t idle. He was still thinking about how to approach Lyra, how to strike the next blow in his ’steal-the-harem’ quest. But she seemed to be hanging around Linda the entire day. That made things awkward, if not downright impossible.
With a sigh, he gave up on the idea for now.
After finishing his food, he headed toward his class but then had a second thought. Maybe, just maybe, if he wandered around, something interesting would come up. A new chance encounter. A new quest. Something that could move the needle. With that in mind, he took a detour and started walking down unfamiliar paths of the campus.
He didn’t get any new quest notifications. Nothing special popped up. But he kept walking anyway. The college was huge a prestigious institution with towering buildings, elegant pathways, and enough corners to get lost in if you weren’t paying attention. Which is exjactly what happened. Eiden realized after a while that he was lost. But oddly enough, he didn’t panic. His class wouldn’t start for some time, and he could just ask around if needed. So he kept exploring, letting his feet lead him.
As he turned a corridor, he caught sight of Deuel again this time with a group of boys. He thought about approaching them. But then, his eyes fell on Eva. She was walking gracefully with her group of friends.
All of them were undeniably pretty, but Eva stood out. She shone. Even surrounded by gorgeous girls, Eva’s presence was almost luminous. There was a sort of effortless elegance to the way she moved, a natural air that made her impossible to overlook.