The student union building had two floors.

Jordan knew this because he’d been a student here for four months and had never actually gone inside. He’d passed it a hundred times. Eaten from the vending machines on the ground floor twice. That was the extent of his relationship with this building.

The red dot on the System map blinked on the second floor.

Jordan took the stairs.

The second floor opened into a wide common area with high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows facing the quad. Long communal tables. Clusters of armchairs. A Starbucks kiosk in the far corner with a line stretching back six people.

Jordan stepped off the last stair and immediately saw them.

Three girls at a table near the windows.

The first one had honey-blonde hair that caught the morning light and made it look deliberate, like she’d scheduled the sun to hit her at this exact angle. Tall even sitting down. Blue eyes that moved around the room like she was keeping a running tally of everyone in it. Her outfit probably cost more than Jordan’s monthly grocery budget, if Jordan had a grocery budget. White crop top. Jeans that fit like someone measured her twice and still got it perfect. A Goyard tote hanging off the back of her chair that Jordan only recognized because Eliza had pointed one out at a boutique and told him the waiting list was three years.

That was Alexis Van Der Berg.

Jordan knew of her the way everyone at Pacific Crest knew of her. You didn’t need to have met her. Her existence was campus infrastructure.

The second girl had black hair split into twin tails with pink ribbons, and she wore a pastel plaid skirt with thigh-high socks and a frilly blouse that looked like it came from a fashion magazine Jordan had never read. She was small and bouncy even while sitting, her hands moving around while she talked, her eyes wide and expressive. An ita-bag covered in keychains hung off her shoulder.

Jordan had no idea who that was.

The third girl had electric blue streaks in her black hair and was very pointedly not looking up from her phone.

Chloe.

Okay.

Jordan stood at the top of the stairs for approximately four seconds, taking this in.

Then his brain caught up to his feet.

He had followed a blinking red dot on a phone app across campus to the second floor of the student union building to stand twelve feet away from a girl who had already slammed a door in his face once, who had specifically asked him to pretend he didn’t know her, and who was currently sitting with the most socially dangerous girl on campus.

This was insane behavior.

This was the kind of thing that got you a restraining order.

Jordan took one step backward toward the stairs.

Then another.

His heel hit the top step.

"Jordan? That you, man?"

He froze.

The voice came from his left. Jordan turned his head slowly, the way you turn when you already know you’re not going to like what you see.

Leo Alfonsi stood near the vending machines with a paper coffee cup in one hand and his phone in the other. He wore a Gucci hoodie that pulled at the midsection and Balenciaga sneakers that were genuinely clean, which was the most disciplined thing about him.

Then his eyes traveled down Jordan’s frame and back up again.

"Bro." Leo looked genuinely confused. "What happened to you?"

"Hey, Leo."

"No seriously." Leo walked over. He circled Jordan once. Actually circled him, like he was inspecting a car at a dealership. "You went from beta cuck to alpha dog over break, what the actual—"

"Could you maybe not say beta cuck. Out loud. In a public building."

"Oh." Leo’s voice dropped to a volume that was still completely audible to everyone within eight feet. "My bad. You know I got a problem with—"

"Yeah." Jordan cut him off. "I know."

"Still though." Leo looked him over again. "You got a haircut. You got taller somehow. Did you get taller? People don’t get taller."

"I didn’t get taller."

"You look taller."

Jordan said nothing. Leo was already half-distracted anyway, his eyes sliding past Jordan’s shoulder to the table by the windows.

There it was.

Jordan could see the exact moment Leo spotted Alexis. His posture changed. His coffee cup went to his other hand. He ran his tongue over his teeth.

"Hey." Leo grabbed Jordan’s arm. "You see that table right there."

"I’m not looking at any table."

"The one by the window. Blonde girl."

"Leo."

"That’s my woman right there."

Jordan turned to look at the table. Chloe had her phone up near her face. Alexis was saying something to the girl with the twin tails. Nobody was looking their way.

"She doesn’t know she’s your woman," Jordan said.

"Not yet." Leo straightened his hoodie, which didn’t help. "Come wing man for me."

"I really don’t think—"

"Jordan. Bro. Come on." Leo was already moving. "I got you every time you needed it with Eliza."

That was a lie. Leo had watched Jordan embarrass himself with Eliza on four separate occasions and provided no assistance whatsoever, unless commentary counted as assistance.

But Jordan’s feet were moving anyway.

They crossed the common area. Jordan’s internal monologue told him this was a terrible idea. His feet continued walking. The disconnect between his brain and his body was genuinely alarming.

Leo stopped at the edge of the table.

"Hello ladies." He spread his arms slightly, like he was presenting himself. "You are all looking beautiful today."

Alexis looked up from her conversation.

The look on her face was not warm. It was the look of someone who had been interrupted by a slightly annoying sound. She held it for one second, two, then her blue eyes tracked sideways to Jordan.

Something shifted in her expression. Brief. Gone fast.

"Oh." She looked back at Leo. "It’s you."

===

〘Traore’s Thoughts〙

Hey guys, I decided to make a Power Stone Goal for this novel.

Every 200 Power Stones this week = +1 Extra Chapter. (MAX 14 ChapterS)

We can have the normal 2 Daily Chapters + 2 Extra Chapters Every Day, is all up to you ;)