Chapter 23: Say Less

Sophie’s quiet gaze flicked up and met his.

A single beat of eye contact.

Up close, she was even more striking than the crowd’s reaction had suggested.

But Stan had made himself a quiet promise after the whole mess with Lily, no more simping. No more pleading. No more pouring himself out for a woman who wasn’t already interested. If someone didn’t want his attention, she didn’t want it, and he had better things to do than grovel for scraps.

He met her eyes steadily.

"Sophie."

His voice was calm, level, pitched just loud enough for her to hear clearly over the murmur of the crowd.

"I’d like to get to know you. Can I have your Snapchat?"

The courtyard went dead silent.

Every head in the three-deep ring of onlookers swung toward him at once. Phones that had been filming Sophie tilted in his direction. The air pressure seemed to shift.

"...Who the hell is this guy?"

"He actually has the balls to ask Sophie for her Snap? In public?"

"Dude. You can count the number of people on this campus with her contact on one hand."

"Is he a senior? Does he know who she is?"

Sophie looked at him.

And for the first time in a very long while, something small and unfamiliar caught in her chest.

The boy standing in front of her wasn’t what she’d expected. He was classically handsome in the way Peak’s usual heartthrobs were, chiseled jawline, great fitting hair, and there was this calm confidence, there was something about him. The way the tailored suit sat cleanly across his shoulders. The unhurried way he held himself, like the crowd around them barely existed.

The quiet directness in his eyes when they met hers. No fidgeting. No leering. No frantic energy.

He’d asked her the way a grown man asks a question, not the way a college boy begs for a scrap of attention.

For a second, just a second, she almost said yes.

Then she remembered where she was standing.

Dozens of people. Dozens of phones. Half the boys in this crowd were probably already livestreaming.

If she handed out her Snapchat to a random junior she’d never met before, no matter how well he wore a suit, the story would be across the entire campus before she got back to her dorm.

[Sophie Youngs gave out her socials to some random guy on the street.]

Every boy at Peak University would decide that all it took was a decent outfit and a bold line, and her quiet life would be over.

She couldn’t afford that.

So she schooled her expression into the cool, distant neutrality everyone expected of her, and gave him a single flat syllable.

"No."

The crowd exhaled around her, satisfied. ’Of course no. She’s Sophie Youngs. What did this guy expect?’

Stan didn’t flinch. Didn’t argue. Didn’t even look disappointed.

He just nodded once.

"Alright."

And he turned to leave.

Sophie actually blinked, her heart throbbed...

That wasn’t the reaction she’d braced for. The usual script at this point involved pleading, sometimes angry pleading, sometimes wheedling.

Some boys tried to grab at her sleeve. One memorable idiot had actually gotten down on his knees in the cafeteria. Every pursuer had at least tried a second move.

This one just accepted her answer and walked away. Shoulders relaxed. Pace unhurried. As casually as he’d arrived.

A strange, inexplicable tug pulled at her ribcage.

"Wait."

Stan paused mid-step and glanced back over his shoulder.

Sophie lifted her chin, recovering her composure the way a performer smooths her expression between scenes. She needed to give herself room to back out of this cleanly, she couldn’t just hand him her number now, not in front of all these people, not after saying no.

"If you really want my Snapchat..." She let the pause sit, choosing her next words with the careful deliberation of a woman who didn’t want to seem too eager or too available. "Buy a house in Four Seasons Garden. Then I’ll add you..."

She didn’t know what came over her, she didn’t know why she said that, but she could only watch as the crowd detonated into laughter.

"A house? In Four Seasons Garden?"

"Those start at over a million, easily,"

"Oh, Sophie’s ruthless. She knows he can’t afford it and she’s making him prove it."

"Bro. How’s a college junior supposed to pull together one-point-six million?"

"He’s asking for a Snap ID and she wants a house. What is this, a K-drama?"

To the public, It was, by unanimous agreement, an impossible ask. A polite rejection dressed up as a challenge, the kind of line a beautiful girl uses to let a boy walk away with his dignity mostly intact.

Sophie’s gaze was a bit conflicted, she really didn’t know why she said that...

At this point she knew that all hope was lost, she’ve chased away the one guy that managed to move her heart...

She didn’t believe for a single second that the boy in front of her could come up with that kind of money. He looked sharp, sure, but a house sharp? No.

At this point she knew she’ve lost someone she genuinely loved due to some dumb words of hers...

’What have I done...’

Meanwhile, Stan was shocked, on a normal occasion he’d be really asking himself who the fuck does she think she is, but as of right now, he really needed that rebate...

With that, he sighed inwardly and looked at her with a perfectly serious expression. "Okay."

Sophie’s brows drew together a fraction. "...What?"

"Four Seasons Garden." His tone was the same tone someone might use to confirm a lunch order. "I’ll buy one."

And before she, or anyone in the crowd, could find a reply, he gave her a small, polite nod and walked off through the parting ring of onlookers.

Sophie stood frozen for a long moment, genuinely at a loss.

’Could it be that there’s really a chance...’ She really hoped so, she had slight attraction towards him but in her mind he’s still a stranger...

She opened her mouth to call after him again. Then closed it.

Around her, the jeering had already started.

"Kid, wake up. You can’t afford Four Seasons Garden in this lifetime."

"Bro’s about to forget this conversation ever happened by tomorrow morning."

"A house. The guy just agreed to a house like she asked for a cup of bubble tea."

"Dreamer of the year, right here."

"Did anyone get that on video? Please tell me someone got that on video."