Chapter 179 - Edward Knows Alicia's Cup Size

Edward sighed internally when Mandy came back with an armful of books for Scarlet to look through as references for her research. However, he was also happy that the awkward tension between them was now over with the additional presence of one more person.

Writing references and citations was something Scarlet was new to and struggled with. Edward noticed that his crush was good at piecing together a report for the assignment but only struggled with the APA in-text citation and reference list. In fact, Scarlet was so lost that she didn't know what a bibliography was.

Mandy chuckled at Scarlet's confused expression and exchanged glances with Edward, silently communicating for him to seize the chance to help Scarlet out.

Edward sighed and stood up, startling the girls. Mandy and Scarlet watched as Edward went to his bag and grabbed his laptop out. Scarlet immediately recognised the brand of the laptop. Elfie liked to use something similar too and if she wasn't wrong, Edward must have modified the insides as well.

"Is that a custom-made laptop?" Scarlet couldn't help but blurt out.

Edward was surprised the girl would start a conversation with him but he was more than happy to answer her.

"How did you know?"

The writer grinned. "I have a friend who uses something similar. Do you also play games or code as a hobby?"

For a moment, Edward was wondering which kind of crazy idiot would use such an expensive and high-specs laptop for games. It wasn't a regular laptop bought from stores. This laptop was specially put together by one of the world's best and youngest hacker who worked with the Interpol from time to time. Calling Elfie's work of art a regular laptop was going to be an insult to what the hacker could do. This beast could run multiple servers on it and crack thousands of passcodes faster than you could praise the Lord. Then, he remembered that Scarlet was also friends with Elfie and paused.

"Does your friend also play games and code?" Edward raised a brow.

The writer thought for a while. Technically, Elfie uses it to test games and not play them. The new VR games that Jasper was designing at Kiwi Cat Studio needed some really insane processing power so only Elfie's laptop could handle it.

"I guess so. I'm not too sure but there's no mistaking it. You must be a really good coder as well if you have such a customised laptop. I can't believe this is my second time seeing something so amazing!"

Hearing that, Edward couldn't help but want to thank Elfie for coincidentally becoming the spark that he needed to start an actual conversation with Scarlet. Mandy watched as Edward and Scarlet went on about the differences between Edward's laptop and a store-bought one.

"You're so lucky you're a computer wizard. My sister and I often struggle. We used to have a friend who would help us out when the machine jams but now, we have to call for repair service if something happens," Scarlet sulked.

Edward grinned. "What a pain... Those repair guys don't know anything. If they can't fix it they usually reinstall the system and you have to back out everything to hope nothing is missing when they reinstall it or they tell you a part is broken and ask you to pay for a replacement. Sometimes they won't even bother fixing it and tell you to simply get a new one since technology becomes outdated very quickly."

Mandy smiled behind her file as Scarlet huffed in annoyance at being reminded of her latest visit to the computer repair 'expert'.

Edward laughed openly when Scarlet complained about the 'expert's' skills and told him that she would rather pay someone like him to help her with her laptop issues instead of finding a man who took fifteen minutes just to find the power on button.

Edward didn't take too long to think about it. "I can help you check your laptop if you want. You have my number, just let me know. We will be seeing each other more often on campus now that you've been deemed as part of gang Alicia. Speaking of which, why isn't she here yet? It's been an hour."

Scarlet nodded. Indeed, time flew when she was having fun. "I should finish up the last part on the citations. Mandy, how do I put the in-text thing again? I lost the tab..."

Mandy pretended to check her phone and quickly apologised. "Scarlet, why don't you ask Edward? He can teach you how to do citations although you might want to take notes. University reports will require citations for everything so it's best to learn now. Alicia just texted me, she says she can't carry the drinks up with the printouts."

Edward rolled his eyes. "No food and drinks allowed in the library. She should know this!"

Scarlet giggled when Mandy deadpanned that it wasn't Edward's first day knowing Alicia's character. "The rules don't mean anything to her. Also, you'd thank her later. She told me she got black coffee for the both of you."

Hearing that coffee was on the way, Scarlet perked up. She was feeling sleepy from the cold even though she was wearing Edward's jacket. Coffee sounded great now and she couldn't wait. Edward noticed the eager expression on Scarlet's face and smiled. The writer was small even for her age and that expectant expression only made her look younger.

Mandy left quickly and Edward turned to Scarlet. "You shouldn't do that," he told her.

"Do what?" Scarlet blinked. Did she break any rules?

Edward snorted and rolled his eyes. "If you give Alicia such an expectant look, she will never let you get away with it. That woman is crazy and if she sees that you're being cute, she's going to smother you to death with her F-cups."

It took a while for Scarlet to understand what F-cup meant but when she did she blushed. "H-How would you know the size? Are you dating her or...?"

The words "secretly a pervert" hung in the air and Edward blushed at Scarlet's misunderstanding. While it was true that all guys were perverts, he didn't want Scarlet to have such an image of him. Besides, who would date that psycho?!

"Me and her? You've got to be kidding... there's no way I'd be dating her even if the world ended. Besides, she's not my type at all. I don't like girls who go around announcing their bra cup size like she does."

Scarlet's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets in shock. "S-She announces it?"

Edward's soul nearly flew out of his mouth as he recounted the traumatising bold introduction Alicia made on their first day of the class. "Not just her bra cup size. She announced that she's single and ready to mingle but not looking for a serious relationship. That woman introduced herself as she was reading out from her Tinder profile. I don't know who let her in the school but don't you dare get corrupted by her!"

Scarlet giggled when Edward warned her about Alicia with seriousness. Knowing that Edward wasn't dating Alicia made her feel slightly better. Still, since Edward started talking more and opening up to her more candidly, Scarlet decided to push it and find out a little more.

"If you don't like Alicia, then do you have a girl that you like? Or a type that you prefer if you're not dating anyone..."

For a minute, Edward couldn't believe how forward Scarlet was being with him. When the media claimed that Liu Xiu Wen was the most unpredictable celebrity, they were right. Scarlet wasn't faking anything in the university but even so, Edward was still having a tough time following her pace and thought pattern.

"Ahem... why do you suddenly ask?" Edward turned away to hide his embarrassment at being so suddenly taken by surprise.

Scarlet saw the tip of Edward's ears turning red and also looked away, blushing furiously as if she said something wrong. Her voice raised itself by two pitches as she dismissed the question and changed the topic to how to do APA citations.

Edward sneaked a glance back to the fl.u.s.tered girl and smiled with a soft look in his eyes. Instead of answering the answer about citations, he replied to her previous question.

"I don't know."

"Huh?"

Edward sighed. "I said I don't know the type of girl that I like. However, I am single."

Curious, the writer asked why he didn't know and Edward looked her in the eye.

"I don't know the type of girl I like because I already know who I like. I just haven't gotten the chance to know her better to answer your question about the type of person she's like. However, if I have to put it into what I think she's like, she would be small, cute, strong and bright like the sun. Her existence gives me strength and her vulnerabilities make me want to protect her. Unfortunately, she's not ready for anyone else to get close to her heart so I'm currently waiting for that opportunity. Should she be willing to open that door, you will be the first to know what my type is."

Scarlet's heart was pounding as she listened to Edward's serious answer as his eyes searched hers. While Edward wasn't referring to anyone in particular, the writer felt both happy and worried at the same time. Edward's relationship status was still single but for some reason, Scarlet felt like his heart already belonged to someone else. Did she still stand a chance?

At that very moment, the door flung open and Alicia announced that coffee was here before dumping a heavy stack of fresh printouts in front of Scarlet.

Edward glared at her.

"What?" the social butterfly asked and looked at the unofficial couple in confusion while Mandy sighed at the back. Clearly Alicia had ruined an important moment. It wasn't going to be easy to fix Edward's mood for the next few weeks.