Holly Wyatt knew sign language, but she rarely used it, preferring to communicate by typing on her phone.
Not everyone knew sign language, and regional variations could make communication difficult. Typing on her phone was simply faster.
Holly's dark eyes fell on his long, slender fingertips. She pursed her lips. Most of his signs were wrong.
But she could tell he had tried very hard to learn.
Holly sighed softly and took out her phone, typing, "I'm going to be late for class."
Leo Kensington bent down slightly to read the text on her phone, the corners of his mouth lifting into a slight smile. "Is that so? Is that why you didn't notice me saying hello?"
Holly pulled her phone back and nodded lightly, her dark hair obscuring most of her face.
Then, she tentatively took a step.
Leo Kensington didn't stop her this time.
Holly immediately bolted as if escaping, afraid that if she were a second slower, he would block her path again.
*
The lecture hall.
Holly arrived late and took a seat in the first row, on the far left, against the wall.
She took a voice-to-text device out of her backpack and switched it on.
A black backpack suddenly appeared beside her, and then its owner sat down next to her.
Holly saw the familiar brand logo on the backpack, and her slightly chubby face tensed up.
She lowered her head, treating the person beside her like thin air.
A note appeared in front of her. The handwriting was stylish and fluid, as handsome as its writer.
"I'm here to audit a third-year class to consolidate my knowledge. You don't mind if I sit next to you, do you?"
Holly glanced at Leo Kensington's arm, which was clearly crossing into her space. She pressed herself almost flat against the wall.
Her lovely eyebrows furrowed slightly.
But her heavy bangs hid her displeased expression.
Holly bit her lower lip and awkwardly pulled out a pen. She wrote back on the note, "Could you please move over one seat? You're crowding me."
The note was pushed back in front of him.
Leo Kensington raised an eyebrow as if he had just noticed. He shifted away apologetically, crumpled the note in his palm, and propped his head up to look at her. "Sorry," he said.
Holly ignored him, so naturally, she didn't see him speak.
Seeing that Leo Kensington wasn't going to move over another seat, she hugged her backpack and prepared to climb over her chair to sit in the second row.
The professor came in and started the lecture.
She paused, sat back down, stuffed her backpack into the desk drawer, and opened her book.
A new note was placed on her textbook. "What's that device you have? Can it only recognize the professor's voice? And it can even understand his terrible Mandarin?"
Holly looked up slightly toward the professor at the lectern.
He was an old, white-haired man wearing reading glasses, lecturing nonstop.
In past classes, she would have had to struggle to read the professor's barely-moving, trembling lips.
But now, with the voice-to-text device, it was much easier.
Silas Thornton had commissioned this device. It took a year to develop, and it was the only one of its kind.
It was made specifically for her to use in class.
It was programmed with various accented forms of Mandarin from all over the country, as well as a vocabulary for fashion design.
Its recognition accuracy was as high as 99%.
It was just a bit heavy and inconvenient to carry around.
She only used it for class. For everyday interactions, she still relied on lip-reading.
'Either way, I'm used to it. It doesn't really matter if I have the device in my daily life or not.'
Holly ignored Leo Kensington and focused on the text on the device's screen, taking detailed notes.
A large, well-defined hand reached for the device.
Holly's brows knitted. She quickly snatched the device away, pulling it closer to the wall.
Her wide, round eyes stared fixedly at him.
Leo Kensington's hand froze in mid-air, stiff and awkward.
He glanced at the wary Holly and let out a soft laugh. "I just want to look. I won't break it."
Holly looked away and carefully checked the device to see if she had damaged it.
'This thing is very expensive, and repairs are a huge hassle.'
Leo Kensington stared at the back of her round head, his lips pursed in slight displeasure.
He tore off a piece of paper and wrote neatly, "I'm sorry."
He poked Holly's arm with the cap of his pen. Holly flinched away and ignored him.
The bell rang, signaling the end of class.
Holly saw the words "class dismissed" appear on the screen from the professor's announcement.
She looked up. As soon as she saw the professor leave, she yanked her backpack out of the drawer, shoved everything inside haphazardly, and, before Leo Kensington could react, stepped on the desk and vaulted out of her seat.
Before leaving, she even used her sleeve to wipe the desk she had dirtied with her foot.
Then she vanished in a flash.
Leo Kensington watched her fluid, effortless escape. He glanced at the note that had fallen to the floor and chuckled. "Holly Wyatt... She's really something. Much more interesting than before."
*
After running out of the academic building, Holly surreptitiously glanced back.
It was the break between classes, and the crowd was thick. She couldn't see any sign of Leo Kensington.
She let out a soft breath, her tense body relaxing slightly.
Suddenly, an arm tightened around her waist, and she felt a warm body press against her back. Startled, she quickly turned around.
When she saw the familiar, coolly beautiful face, she let out a long sigh of relief.
'That scared me to death.'
'Oh, it's just Gina Gable. I thought it was Leo Kensington.'
Gina Gable was a friend she had met during the first semester of her freshman year. She was a broadcasting major in the same year as Holly.
During their freshman year, the university held a design competition for new students. Holly entered, and Gina was the host of the event. That's how they met.
After that, they kept running into each other in different places as fellow part-time student workers, and they gradually became good friends.
Holly licked her lips and gently patted the hand on her waist.
A corner of Gina's mouth lifted. She mischievously tickled Holly's side and gave her small belly a rub for good measure.
Gina's antics completely dispelled Holly's nervousness. A wide grin spread across her face, so bright that even her heavy bangs couldn't hide it.
Gina let go of Holly and stood in front of her.
Holly instantly felt like the sunlight in front of her had been blocked.
Gina's major had height and physique requirements; it was a program full of people with long legs, and Gina was no exception.
On top of that, Gina loved wearing high heels, making her stand almost six feet tall. Holly had to tilt her head way back to look at her.
That grand, radiant face... Holly was stunned by it every time she saw it.
Every time, she would marvel at what a classic beauty Gina was. Both her face and her figure were like a model's.
Gina bent down slightly, a flash of amazement showing in her usually aloof eyes.
She reached out and gently pinched Holly's cheeks. They felt soft and squishy. 'So comfy!'
Gina sighed out loud, "Ah~ How is my Little Holly getting cuter and cuter! Ah!! You're so cute I could die!"
What started as a light pinch with her fingertips gradually turned into her carefully squishing the flesh of Holly's face with her palms.
Holly was already used to her friend's manic affection, like someone completely obsessed with a cute cat. She stood obediently and let her squish away.
"Woohoo~ So satisfying!" Gina finally let go, glanced at Holly's backpack, and took it from her. She hefted it, and her brows furrowed. "This is so heavy! It'll crush your tiny frame. Let me take it."
Holly blinked and nodded lightly.
'This is what Gina calls... an equivalent exchange.'
Gina loved squishing her face, and to ensure she could do it anytime, she would take on chores like carrying her backpack.
Since she would only be carrying it for a short distance anyway, and Holly couldn't win the argument, she had agreed.
She had gone from feeling awkward about it at first to accepting it with a clear conscience now.
Because Gina really would squish her face anytime, anywhere...