Chapter 991: Yes, I Am the Baseball
Nikki slowly turned around and got back on track. âYouâre right. He didnât even call me once, and when I called him twice, he said that he was busy with work. Now, he has time to go shopping with that girl.â
Monica was shocked. âYouâve already called twice? I didnât even call once.â
Nikki said, âAre you gloating?â
Monica was helpless. âYou could dream before, but I knew from the beginning that he felt nothing for my type. Am I not even more unlucky than you? He gave me a home run right at the beginning.â
Nikki: âHuh?â
Monica said, âYes, Iâm the baseball. I was sent flying with one hit. There wasnât even a chance for me to return to the field.â
Nikki opened her mouth, but was unable to refute her best friendâs metaphor, nor could she think of anything to say to comfort her.
âAlright, letâs go buy Christmas gifts. You canât be friends with all the handsome guys. These might be the only two times we run into him.â Monica pulled Nikki forward and comforted her.
As they talked, the two girls joined the crowd.
...
Unlike Elenaâs earlier âmisunderstanding,â Luke really did take her to see the sights of New York City in the afternoon.
After leaving Times Square, they went to NYPD HQ to see where Luke did battle.
Then, they went to the Brooklyn Bridge and the Hudson River in the southwest to look at the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island.
They didnât take the boat to the island. Taking a boat to the island in this weather wasnât great. They could only wait until the weather cleared up to go.
At five in the afternoon, Luke sent Elena back to her dorm.
However, after parking his car in a parking lot not far from the back entrance, he snuck into the college while Elena was distracting the young security guard.
There werenât any strict attendance requirements at the Paland Academy of Art, and since Christmas was approaching, most students left early.
Elenaâs roommate, for example, had already gone on vacation with her nth boyfriend, and wouldnât be back for at least a week.
A moment later, Luke finally entered Elenaâs dorm.
Previously, when his sister, Claire, entered USC, he had only looked around the campus and not visited her dorm.
So, this was his first time in a college girlâs dormitory.
Paland wasnât a very famous art school, and the rules werenât very strict either. The decorations in the dorm were quite unique, and the room was full of strange things.
Elenaâs roommate was a New Zealand girl who liked to âmake friends.â She rarely returned to the dorm.
Now, the double dorm was practically Elenaâs personal space. Her roommate would only come back to sleep for a night, or a day.
After analyzing the room with his Sharp Nose for a moment, Luke was no longer worried that his mild obsession with cleanliness would flare up.
Elena lived in an international dorm which had a better environment than a regular dorm. It also had its own ensuite, which was very convenient.
But this wasnât preferential treatment, since this dormitory was much more expensive than a regular one.
Thankfully, Elena had come here on a scholarship. She was a top student in this school, and her fees had been waived slightly.
Coupled with the fact that she had a roommate who barely returned to the dorm, her living environment was much better than 1,000+ monthly rent in New York.
Of course, this was New Jersey. Rent wasnât as high as on the Manhattan side to begin with.
As Luke surveyed the dorm, Elena had already taken off her coat and was only wearing a thin sweater and jeans. She took out a bag from her closet. âDo you want some?â
He turned around and smiled. âOf course.â
Elena opened the coffee bag with a smile. âYour taste hasnât changed, has it?â
Luke nodded and looked at her.
Her movements were skillful and unhurried, which were nice to look at.
Suddenly, she turned her head and looked at him. âWhy arenât you talking?â
Luke sat down on a chair in front of the window and said with a smile, âI was recalling when we first met.â
Elena asked, âWhatâs that?â
Luke chuckled. âI remember that you invited me in for coffee on the third night.â
Elena couldnât help but sneer. âThatâs all you can remember!â
Luke shrugged. âThat was my first trip abroad, and the first time a girl invited me in for coffee. Itâs indeed very memorable.â
Elena couldnât help but laugh. She threw something at Luke.
Luke caught it and examined it. He clicked his tongue in wonder. âYouâre actually still growing!â
Elena spat at him and turned a blind eye to him handling her underwear.
Just like that, they chatted and laughed. When the steaming hot coffee was ready, they sat by the window with the coffee in their hands.
This habit of Elenaâs hadnât changed.
There was a chair and a small round table in front of the window. This was definitely where she had coffee in her dorm.
There were a few books on the bookshelf.
There were art magazines, literary works, and... hm? A detective novel.
Holding Elena, who was sitting on his lap, Luke picked up the detective novel. âYouâre still reading this? I recall this isnât your thing.â
Looking at the darkening sky and the falling snow, Elena chuckled. âBecause I want to know what your job is like, right?â
Luke put the novel back. âThe lead character in this novel is a private detective, and Iâm a detective.â
Elena was lost. âIsnât it all solving cases?â
Luke chuckled. âWe can use guns to arrest and interrogate suspects, but private detectives donât have the right to do that. But if you like it, you can pass the time with it. Both of them look for evidence, so itâs not entirely unrelated.â
Elena simply hummed in acknowledgment.
The night outside the window was getting darker, but the room was as warm as spring.
It got dark in New York early in the winter, and the street lamps lit up at seven.
Jameson, the new security guard at Paland Academy, walked around on campus helplessly.
The old security guard had retired due to illness, and he had just been employed a few days ago.
As Christmas approached, he had inexplicably been given the night shift three days in a row.
As a newbie, he could only accept it. He comforted himself that since he didnât have a girlfriend and his parents were back in his hometown, he could still earn some money by working overtime.
The walkie-talkie had crackled just as night fell. Another old security guard on duty at the gate had openly ordered him to go out and patrol.
Jameson hesitated for a few minutes in the warm security room, but had no choice but to get dressed and walk out. He was the newbie, after all.