Chapter 2
Ian stared at her like she was a psycho.
He said, "You're literally sitting in a puddle, and you're asking me if I'm the second male lead, huh?"
Stella nodded. "Yeah. Are you?"
Ian took a deep breath, picked up her backpack, and started putting her things back in one by one.
When he picked up the envelope, he paused, looking at the writing on it.
"For Zachary Jensen?" he read aloud, his voice carrying a hint of something.
Stella scrambled out of the puddle, soaked to the bone. "That's mine. Give it back."
Ian ignored her, slipped the envelope into her backpack, and handed the whole thing back to her. "Stella Gomez, right?"
Stella froze. "Do you know me?"
Ian looked at her, his expression hard to read.
He said, "You send coffee to our department three times a month, and it's always for Zachary. Everyone in the department knows about the idiot named Stella Gomez."
Stella was speechless. She didn't know she was famous.
Ian handed her the umbrella. "Here."
Stella didn't take it. "What about you?"
Ian was already walking away into the rain, not looking back. "I'm smarter than you. I know how to avoid getting soaked."
Stella stood there with the umbrella in her hand, watching his figure disappear into the downpour.
She glanced at the umbrella in her hand, then looked toward the university gate in the distance.
"System, Ian doesn't seem so bad, huh?" Stella muttered.
System: [Yeah. In the story, he's the only one who's actually nice to the female side character.]
Stella nodded, popped open the umbrella, and made her way toward the gate.
[Host, aren't you going back?]
"No. Since I'm already here, why not give it another try?"
[But you already have an umbrella.]
"Exactly. Having an umbrella makes it easier."
System went quiet. It was starting to wonder if maybe it picked the wrong host after all.
In the end, Stella never managed to bump into Zachary.
The café owner told her she was there on the wrong day; Zachary only came by on Tuesday afternoons, not Wednesdays.
Stella was stunned.
The café owner gave her a sympathetic look. "You've been coming here for two months and never ran into him, right?"
Stella nodded, looking completely miserable.
The owner sighed. "Girl, let me give you some advice. Some people aren't meant for you, no matter how long you wait."
Stella walked back to campus, clutching her backpack, the café owner's words echoing in her mind.
System: [The owner's got a point.]
Stella muttered, "Seriously, can you stop making it worse when I'm already upset?"
System: [One of my functions is reminding you at the right time.]
Stella was speechless, wondering whether System was of any use at all.
*****
The next day, Stella showed up in class with dark circles under her eyes.
Cora nearly freaked out. "Stella, what happened to you last night? Did someone beat you up?"
Stella flopped onto her desk, completely drained. "Cora, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Cora said.
"What would you do if you found out the guy you've liked for seven years actually belongs to someone else?" Stella asked.
Cora stared for a couple of seconds, then suddenly got excited. "Oh my gosh. You finally woke up. Did you finally realize Zachary's a total jerk?"
Stella lifted her head. "Zachary is not a jerk."
Cora was speechless.
Stella continued, "He's the guy I've had a crush on for seven years. How could I think he's a jerk just because he's with someone else?"
Cora took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. "Then what do you want to do? Keep chasing him?"
Stella thought for a moment, then shook her head. "No, I'm done chasing, but I still want to see what that girl looks like."
Cora asked, "Why?"
Stella replied seriously, "If she's really better than me, then I'll accept it. However, if she's not, then all these years would have been pointless. I need to know what I lost to her."
Cora stared at her for a few seconds, then shook her head. "Stella, you're unbelievable."
*****
That weekend, Stella finally saw the famous heroine in the novel.
That day, Zachary really did show up at the café with a girl by his side.
The girl was Renee Stanton. She was in a white dress, long hair down, with soft dimples showing when she smiled.
Her voice was gentle, and when she spoke to Zachary, she lowered her head a little, showing off the delicate curve of her neck.
Zachary looked at her like she was the only thing in the world.
Stella crouched behind the bushes outside the café, peeking through the window at them. Her heart felt squeezed, a little bitter and sour.
System: [Host, your heart rate is up, and your emotions are spiking. Want me to cheer you up?]
Stella replied, "No, I'm observing."
[Observing what?]
"Trying to figure out what makes her so special."
Stella was seriously watching, taking in every detail.
Renee talked in a soft voice, while Stella usually spoke loudly and casually. Renee dipped her head when she smiled, while she grinned widely every time she laughed. Renee gently offered Zachary a handkerchief, while she usually grabbed his drink without asking.
The more Stella observed, the more upset she got.
"System, she really does seem better than me," Stella said.
[Agree.]
"Can you not be so blunt?"
[One of my functions is being brutally honest.]
Stella sighed.
As she was about to slip away, a voice suddenly came from behind her. "Why are you crouching here? Peeping on someone?"
Stella jolted and whipped around.
It was Ian, the guy who'd given her the umbrella the other day. He was standing behind her in a white T-shirt and jeans, holding a bag of fruit.
Stella put a finger to her lips. "Shh. I'm on a top-secret mission."
Ian followed her gaze and saw Zachary and Renee sitting in the café. He raised an eyebrow. "Zachary and his girlfriend? What's so fascinating about that?"
Stella corrected him, "She's not his girlfriend yet, but she will be soon."
Ian looked at her oddly. "You sound pretty cool about this."
Stella kept crouching, saying with a bitter smile, "I finally figured it out. Some people aren't mine, no matter how long I wait."