Chapter 168 - New Kid at School

Scarlet was nervous. Although the drive from the apartment to her university took only ten minutes, the girl set her alarm two hours earlier before her first class. It was six in the morning and Scarlet decided to make some simple breakfast before she showered. Last night, she had been too nervous to sleep. The school prepared a three-day induction day-camp activity for all bridging course students from across the board. That meant that Scarlet would be meeting students from other faculties and courses as well.

The philosophy major only had about sixty students every year so the chances of finding someone who would be studying the same thing would be rather rare. The writer heard that there was only one lecturer in charge of the entire year's cohort for philosophy and the writer was slightly nervous about meeting the lecturer-in-charge after the camp was over.

Still, Scarlet tried to be optimistic and hit the gym for a short morning jog before taking a shower and having her breakfast. When she was done with everything, there was still a good forty-five minutes before the class started. Scarlet didn't want to go too early because she didn't want to wait awkwardly alone at the meeting venue with nobody to talk to.

Jedd: Wakey wakey! Don't be late on your first day!

The writer smiled at the reminder text. Jedd was rather considerate and it was the exact distraction that she needed right now.

Frost: What are you doing up so early?

Jedd: Morning lecture. It's a compulsory one so I can't skip today. Are you excited about your induction camp? I heard that it's very fun. I regret not signing up for it last year. The introduction camp for first years isn't as fun as the induction camps. I bet it would have been worth the extra money if I signed up.

Frost: You have to pay to attend this?

Jedd: If you're not from the bridging program then yes you have to. I guess you're privileged in a way that you don't have to pay to attend this. The people in the induction camp are usually more fun than the ones in the introduction camp. Mostly because these are the kids who've seen more than just books before they attended university.

Frost: What do you mean?

Jedd: I mean most people who take bridging programs are doing it because they didn't apply straight out of high school. It's a refresher course after all. Many of the people who attend the bridging course are either a.d.u.l.ts who've had some work experience and want to further their studies, those who came out from national service, those who are from the smart streams or people coming from overseas. They're the more 'exotic' creatures on the campus and you can usually find the cooler company there.

Scarlet blinked. She didn't know that but now that Jedd mentioned it, Scarlet didn't know if she should be more excited about meeting people of similar types to her or worried that someone might actually recognise who she was.

Frost: I guess I will enjoy it??? Do you think we would be asked to do any physical games? I don't think my stomach feels very well today. I haven't been to school in such a long time that thinking about it makes me feel nervous.

Edward blinked. For someone who had no problem standing on a stage in front of thirty thousand people or being in front of a camera all the time, this was weird. It sounded like a panic or anxiety induced stomach ache from what Scarlet was saying and Edward wished he studied a little more about medicine to advise what kind of counter drug Scarlet should be taking.

Jedd: You know what? Don't think too much about it. If it makes you feel better, even if the entire campus judges you for it, I would never do that. If anything happens, send me a text. I'll be at campus all the way until three but I'll stay a little later to self-study in the library so if you need me, I'll be around.

Touched by Jedd's offer, Scarlet felt more reassured. Still, she was slightly hesitant about meeting up offline on the first day of school.

Frost: Thank you, knowing that you're there makes me feel a lot better. Let's hold the offline meeting for a while, shall we? Let me get accustomed to school life ^^"

Edward didn't push it and respected her wishes. They ended their conversation quickly as Scarlet had to prepare to leave. Claire was already waiting for the writer even though they still had twenty minutes before the meeting time. Scarlet decided to go a little earlier just in case she got lost on the campus.

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Heading to the campus earlier was a good idea. Claire wasn't allowed to accompany Scarlet so the writer had to find her way around. There were signboards pointing to the meeting location for first years attending the induction camp but Scarlet still managed to get herself lost. She simply couldn't find the stairs and was close to tears when there were only five more minutes before she was officially late.

"Are you ok?" someone asked and Scarlet turned around. How had that person snuck up on her without her noticing? The writer was shocked but also thankful that there was finally someone she could ask for directions.

"I'm sorry!" Scarlet squeaked and pushed up her fake glasses. The girl in front of her was rather tall and looked like a senior in the campus so Scarlet decided to give it a try.

"Do you happen to know where the indoor auditorium is? I've been looking for it but cannot find the stairs that lead to the third floor…"

The tall lady looked at the venue written on Scarlet's camp invitation card and laughed. "You poor thing… they should have included a map of how to get there. I still have some time before my lecture so I'll lead you there. It's quite a shitty design so many first-years like you get lost. Don't worry about it. The lecturers won't be mad even if you're late. The culture of this university isn't as strict as the others."

Scarlet thought that the senior was a nice person as she explained a lot about the different faculties and their buildings on the way to the auditorium. In the short ten minutes of their chat, Scarlet found out several things. The senior's name was Alicia and she was a first-year on campus studying psychology.

"Here we are," Alicia smiled and then turned to Scarlet.

"Since you don't look like you came to this campus with any friends, why don't we exchange numbers? This way you can call me if you run into any issues."

Scarlet didn't say that Alex would be attending lessons with her next month and accepted the kind gesture. She gave Alicia her number and only gave the senior her first name. She didn't want to cause a scene by telling people her actual last name but if she had to, she would use her old surname instead of her current surname.

Alicia was quite pushy and insisted on taking a wefie to commemorate their first meeting. Not wanting to be any later than she already was, Scarlet complied and smiled for the camera. With her disguise, it would be difficult for anyone to recognise her as the second daughter of the Wilde family or the singer of Britannia. Also, she might be popular as an actress in the East but Scarlet didn't think many Americans watched Chinese dramas. With that knowledge, Scarlet tried to convince her paranoid self to calm down and not regret agreeing to a wefie.

The writer left quickly and Alicia giggled. The new kid she found today was rather cute. With those thick-framed rectangular glasses and her tiny size, Alicia wanted to treasure such a cute junior.

Excited to share the news with her boring friend, the psychology student rushed off to her own lecture, not really caring that she was going to be twenty minutes late. With such a good photo and such an adorable creature, Edward would forgive her. Besides, it wasn't as if the lazy bum did anything for their project work. This was going to be payback. Feeling satisfied, Alicia captioned it "found a cute new kid lost today" and sent it to her boring friend.

Edward was half asleep when the phone in his pocket vibrated. It was rare for Alicia to be this late and he couldn't help but be curious about the excuse she came up with this time. To his legitimate surprise, he wasn't expecting to see a familiar face beside that tomboy in the wefie.

Although she was dressed in an oversized hoodie and cheap jeans with thick black-framed rectangular glasses, there was no mistaking her identity. The co-founder of Golden Frost and his only texting buddy was on the campus today so how did Alicia get to her before he did? This was simply too unfair.

She-devil: Jealous yet?

Edward looked at Alicia's follow up text and held onto his temper. Yes, he was jealous but he wouldn't let her have the satisfaction of knowing it.

Lazy Bum: Get your ass to the lecture hall before I tattle on you.

Satisfied with that, he set the phone to silent mode while Alicia spammed him with empty threats. Still, he couldn't keep all the red away from his face. Scarlet looked really cute in her 'inconspicuous' style and he liked it way better than her red carpet look.