Ch 81 - The Proposition

"What are you doing? Don't be silly, he doesn't look like the person you were talking about. Look at his clothes. He doesn't look much better than a beggar on the street," Sharon said. She had a poor impression of Alex, mainly due to the way he was glaring at her. It didn't cross her mind that she was the one who had teased him first and that his glare was perfectly justified.

"Just stop talking for a minute," Kelly said as she glanced at Sharon. Then she looked at Alex and said, "Hello, Alex."

"Sorry, I'm leaving." Alex didn't like Sharon either, and he assumed that her friend must be as unpleasant as she was. He started to walk away.

"Now look what you've done," Kelly grumbled as she glanced at Sharon. Then she grabbed her friend's hand and they followed him.

Alex felt thirsty and as he walked past the cafeteria, he decided to get himself a cold drink.

After the server had handed him his lemonade, he tried to swipe his meal card on the machine, but it wasn't accepted. Unfortunately, this canteen only accepted meal cards or cash.

Alex had thrown all his cash at the driver the other day to take him and Debbie to the hospital to see her mom. He didn't have any left to pay for the drink.

"Oh no. I'm so sorry, I don't—" Alex was about to leave in embarrassment when he heard a "beep" from the machine beside him.

He turned his head and saw that it was Sharon's friend who had paid.

The girl was slim, with snow-white skin and bangs framing her forehead. Her eyes were big and full of spirit. She had a straight nose and thin, pink lips. She looked very delicate.

She smiled shyly at him.

Alex didn't understand why she was paying for him, but he wanted to thank her.

Sharon pulled Kelly away from the canteen and said with a frown, "Why are you paying for him? He was just bragging about having all that money. He said that he has over a million in the bank and that he has a Ferrari, but he can't even pay for a soda. I think he's crazy. You shouldn't pay him any attention."

Even if Alex was the one who had saved Kelly that night, Sharon didn't think much of him. She didn't believe he was as rich and powerful as Kelly thought. She thought he was just a braggart and a loser.

"Shut up, Sharon." Hearing what she said, Kelly started to get annoyed. She didn't care if Alex had been bragging on the phone just a moment ago. To her, he was still her hero.

Alex became suspicious when he heard Sharon's words. He wondered, what does she mean by, "don't pay him any attention"? She's reminding me of Cathy and Karen. When the two of them had been "paying me attention," they'd both been thinking of ways to cheat me out of money.

Could it be that this seemingly harmless friend of Sharon is also after my money? It's possible. After all, quite a few people in the school know that I donated more than one hundred thousand dollars to the charity.

Thinking about this, Alex couldn't help but feel a little angry. He didn't want to be cheated by any woman, no matter how pretty they were. Any woman who was only paying him attention because of his money was ugly to him.

He put the lemonade glass on the counter, turned, and walked out of the canteen.

Kelly started to follow him. She wasn't aware of what Alex had been through with Cathy and Karen, so she couldn't understand why he was being so rude to her.

Alex picked up a hire bike on campus and headed to his dorm so that he could get rid of Kelly and the others.

To his surprise, Kelly also got a bike and started following him.

"Hey, wait a moment," Kelly cried. She was crazily pedalling her bike after him. She rarely rode a bike, so her posture was very awkward.

Alex ignored her and continued to ride very fast.

"Please stop. I have something to tell you." With a great effort, Kelly finally caught up with him. She tilted her head and panted as she spoke.

Alex didn't even look at her, but continued to pedal. He cycled away and left her far behind.

"Wait for me. Why are you pedaling so quickly?" Kelly pleaded and pedalled as quickly as she could, but the gap between them was getting bigger and bigger.

Alex didn't feel sorry for her. I know that this girl is only talking to me to trick me out of money, he thought. Why should I give her a chance to do that?

When they arrived at the square in front of the library, Alex heard a clanging sound behind him. He quickly turned around and saw that Kelly's bike had landed on the grass and that she had fallen on top of it.

As he saw this, he started to feel a little guilty. After all, Kelly had fallen because she was trying to catch up with him.

Alex looked at Kelly lying on the grass. He realized that he had acted badly and his heart softened. Finally, he turned around and rode to where she had fallen. He propped up his bike and walked over to her.

Kelly said angrily to him, "Why did you keep running away from me? Go away, it's too late now. Get lost." 

He asked, "Are you okay?"

"Would you feel okay in my position? What do you think?" she answered, staring at him from the ground.

Alex sighed and reached out his hand to her.

She looked at his outstretched hand. Although she was still angry with him, she took it, and he pulled her up off the grass.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked again, holding her up.

"My ankle hurts a little," she replied. Her attitude had also softened toward him.

Alex supported the limping girl as they slowly walked to a rock by the side of the road. "Slow down," he told her. Because of his kindness, Kelly started to feel happier.

"My ankle hurts, maybe you could help me massage it," Kelly requested gently as she looked into his eyes.

Alex couldn't turn down such a pretty girl. It was my fault that she fell off her bike, after all, he thought. I'll just give her ankle a quick rub. 

Alex squatted down in front of Kelly. He held her foot in his hands and gently rubbed her ankle.

A few male students, who were relaxing and reading books on the lawn close by, saw this scene. They couldn't concentrate on their reading as they couldn't help but watch this boy rubbing the girl's foot.

The girl sitting on the rock was so beautiful. She was perfect and delicate. Who wouldn't want to take care of her? But the guy was dressed in ordinary clothes. He looked like a total loser, and she was letting him rub her feet.

The boys who were watching felt jealous and annoyed. They all wanted to be rubbing the feet of this beautiful girl.

"How is it?" Alex raised his head and asked kindly.

"There's still a little pain," Kelly replied softly. At first, she thought Alex was a tough, straightforward man, but now, it seemed that he had a delicate and gentle side to him.

Her good impression of him deepened.

Alex was still squatting on the ground, carefully rubbing her feet, when Kelly suddenly asked, "What do you think of me?"

"What do you mean?" he stopped and looked at her curiously.

"If you like me after all, why don't we go on a date?" Kelly thought Alex liked her too. For her, it had been love, at first sight, the first time she had seen him. She wanted to go out with him.

"Um—" Alex put her foot down. He gave her a small smile and stood up. It was just as he thought. She did have an ulterior motive for wanting to get closer to him.

He had never met Kelly before. He thought, we have known each other for less than an hour, and yet she says she has feelings for me. Does she like me, or is she only after my money?

Alex smiled and slowly turned around to leave.

"Hold on—" Kelly stood up from the rock anxiously and pulled him back. "I want to be your girlfriend. What's wrong with that?"

Kelly was used to men pursuing her. This was the first time she'd had to proposition a man. She couldn't believe he was rejecting her. How could she not be angry?

The boys on the grass, who had been secretly watching them, were shocked. How could this beautiful goddess fall in love with this loser and ask him out? He looked like a nobody. What did this girl see in him?

"What are you talking about? We've known each other for less than an hour and I don't even know your name, but you say you want to be my girlfriend? Do you think I'm stupid?" Alex asked Kelly with a sneer on his face.

"I was careless. My name is Kelly. Do you think I'm lying to you? I'm not," she explained quickly. "And actually, we have met before."

"We've met before?" Alex was surprised. Such a pretty girl. If he had seen her before, he would remember her.

"Yes. Not only have we met, but you did me a huge favor," she said, and told him all about what had happened that day. Only then did Alex start to remember the incident. As he was rushing in a car to the hospital to see Debbie's mother, he had knocked over the boy who was bothering her.

"On that day, I thought it was all over. Fortunately, you appeared in time and saved me. I really wanted to see you again, so I tracked you down and came to Preston University to find you."

"I understand." Alex nodded slowly. Only then did he believe that Kelly was not after his money.

Just at that moment, Sharon quickly walked up to them. She hadn't taken a bike but had been following them on foot, and she had seen Kelly lying on the grass. She was worried as she asked her friend, "Are you okay?"

Kelly ignored her as her gaze was focused on Alex's face.

She asked him, "So, would you like to date me?" Kelly was still very confident. She was sure that he would want to go out with her now that the misunderstanding was resolved.

"You're asking him out? But he's a loser." Sharon couldn't understand her friend. However, she did know how stubborn she was. If Kelly had set her mind on something, she knew that she could do nothing to change it.

Sharon pointed at Alex and said, "I'm warning you, don't take advantage of Kelly. You think too much of yourself. I know you're only after one thing."

"I don't want to go out with her," Alex replied calmly.

"You know Kelly's way too good for you, and yet you still think you can go out with her? You're unbelievable." Sharon berated Alex for a while before realizing that he had said "I don't want to." She was stunned. In her opinion, Kelly was so desirable that no man in his right mind would ever turn her down.

Sharon couldn't help but look over at Kelly, only to see her biting her lip. She looked close to tears.