Chapter 9 - Quite Attractive

Didn’t know if she really felt flustered, or she was frightened by his indifferent and inhuman tone. After saying this sentence with insufficient confidence, Ashley stopped speaking and only made intermittent whimpers.

In the dormitory, Mike, who was sitting in front of the computer, suddenly knocked on the keyboard, crackling, and then yelled, “F*ck, dumbass!"

The next moment, Liam threw a pillow over, “If you don't be quiet, I will beat you into a dumbass."

"Liam! It’s urgent!" Mike's voice sounded like a trumpet, "Don't f*cking sleep, get up—"

Bombing at both ends.

Jacob pursed his lips and turned his head to close the balcony door. He leaned against the railing with his arms on it. Seeing the bright street lamp downstairs, he restrained his emotions and slowed down his tone, “Kiddo, when do you usually get to school?"

Ashley choked and answered honestly, “Seven forty."

"Get up at seven?"

"Yes."

"Can you get up at six tomorrow?"

This time Ashley didn't say a word.

Jacob didn’t care either. He considered the words and tried to reason with her, “Kiddo, this homework is a task assigned to you by the teacher, and it’s your own business. If you didn’t take it home, you can confess to the teacher and apologize to the teacher. Tell your teacher you will make up later. But you can’t let others do it for you.”

There was the sound of the little girl sniffing from the phone, and then she gave a slight ok.

Jacob breathed a sigh of relief, “So can you get up at six tomorrow?"

This time she was silent for several seconds before she came out with a very unconfident word, “Yes..."

"Then tomorrow--" Jacob calculated the time in his heart, "Tomorrow at 6:40, brother will be waiting for you at the station. And I will accompany you until you finish your homework, ok?"

“Ok,” Ashley murmured.

Jacob, “Don't cry, think about how to write that weekly diary. Then wash your face and go to bed, ok?"

Ashley's voice was still nasal, “Okay."

After the word fell, Ashley suddenly asked in a low voice, “Brother, please don’t tell my brother about this."

Jacob smiled, “Why?"

Ashley didn't know how to explain, and barely suffocated a sentence, "Please don’t tell him anyway."

"Okay." Jacob didn't know why he was so patient, and reminded her, "Remember to get up at six tomorrow, and I will call you."

Ashley obediently said, “Got it."

Jacob, “Go to sleep."

Jacob put down the phone when he heard the sound of hanging up.

The screen was black, but Liam didn’t set a password, so he found Ashley’s number in the recent call, and then returned to the main interface.

He collected all the dried clothes and returned to the dormitory.

The small dormitory was even noisier. Liam had gotten off the bed. At this moment, he was standing next to Mike watching him play the game. From time to time, he said "idiot operation", which was annoying.

Jacob handed him the phone.

Liam said lazily, “What left?"

Jacob said casually, “Just a little thing, never mind."

Liam nodded and didn't ask anymore.

Jacob walked into the bathroom to take a bath. When he came out, it was already time to turn off the lights. He rubbed his hair with a towel, walked to his desk, and turned on the lamp. Sweeping the desktop around, but he didn't see the weekly diary that Ashley said.

He tilted his head, noticed his schoolbag, and lifted it up.

Sure enough, several exercise books and a light blue weekly notebook were pressed.

Jacob pulled the corners of his lips, pushed this homework aside, and blocked it with a professional book. After that, he turned on the computer, opened a document on the desktop, and continued to prepare the report.

The roommates’ playing sounds gradually became quieter and quieter.

As the night darkened, other people's lights and cell phone lights in the bedroom went out one after another. Only one light was on in the dormitory, and the time at the bottom right of the computer happened to be fixed at two o'clock in the morning.

Jacob turned off the computer and sorted out the things on the desktop.

Suddenly, he noticed Ashley's weekly notebook. He raised his eyelids, pulled off the towel on his neck, and pulled out the notebook.

He turned a page casually, just turned to the latest one.

Jacob raised a little interest. He had no consciousness of respecting the kid's privacy at all, wrinkled his eyes sleepily, and swept it down.

The title is "A Stray Dog"——

Wednesday, June 24, 2009, cloudy.

The weather today was not so good, the sky was gray, and it looked like it was raining. I didn't bring an umbrella, and when I got out of the car, I was anxious to go home and rushed back to the community. When I passed a piece of grass, I suddenly saw a pure black stray dog.

Seeing him, I stopped, and my mood suddenly became as bad as the weather. When I noticed the dog's face, I suddenly felt sadder and couldn't help but talk to him.

Seeing him, I thought of my brother. Because he looked like a mold carved out of my brother, like my brother's son.

...

...

Jacob, “..."

His eyes stopped for a long while. The tiredness that lasted the day disappeared in a moment, and he suddenly laughed. In the quiet room, there was no sound. Only a few faint sounds of laughter came out.

Jacob laughed for a long time before closing the notebook and going to the bathroom.

When he came out, he noticed the weekly notebook on the desk again. Jacob looked down and thought, remembering the sentence Ashley said "I can't get up", he paused for a few seconds, and then sat down.

He took out a new notebook and tore a piece of paper off.

Early the next morning.

Ashley struggled for a long time, listening to the alarm clock on the side ringing several times. The thought of giving up came to mind dozens of times. Finally, when she heard the alarm on her mobile phone ring, she sat up.

She kicked off the quilt unhappily, got out of bed to wash.

Grace was already up to make porridge. Hearing the opening of the door, she thought it was Tim who was awake and did not speak. When she came out of the kitchen, she noticed that Ashley with a look of sleepiness was sitting at the table waiting to eat. She was taken aback, “Ash ,why did you get up so early today?"

Ashley rubbed her eyes, “I have left my homework at school, so I should make it up sooner."

This kind of thing has basically never happened, so Grace did not criticize her, just saying, “Then I will tell your dad to send you to school? You can still sleep in the car for a while."

"No." Thinking of waiting at the station as Jacob said, Ashley said vaguely, "I made an appointment to go with my classmates."

Grace didn't ask much and went into the kitchen to fill her with a bowl of porridge.

After breakfast, Ashley put on her school bag and hurried out. After waiting at the station for a few minutes, she got on the earliest bus and found a place to sit down.

The sleepiness has disappeared over time, and the overwhelming sense of tension has taken its place.

The closer she was to the destination, the more she felt uncomfortable.

The distance from home to school was not too far, about ten minutes by bus. Hearing the sound of the broadcast, Ashley got out of the car with the crowd, her heart seemed to touch her throat.

She didn’t know where this tension came from.

Ashley grabbed the schoolbag strap and looked around.

Jacob was not there.

Fearing that he was blocked by the stop sign, she took a serious turn around the bus stop.

Still no Jacob.

Ashley took out the phone from her pocket and found that it was only half-past six. Without knowing Jacob's number, she couldn't call him, so she could only wait. She was a little depressed and sat down on the chair at the bus stop.

Two minutes later, Ashley's phone vibrated.

Caller ID was an unfamiliar number

Ashley picked it up.

Sure enough, it was Jacob on the phone. His voice followed the electric current, and it seemed more magnetic, low, and sweet, “Kiddo, are you awake?"

‘She has already arrived, of course, she was awake!’

Ashley was speechless, and replied slowly, “Yes."

After thinking about it, she also asked, “Are you awake?"

"Huh?" Jacob chuckled, "How can I call you if I don’t wake up?"

"But I didn't see you."

"Maybe because I haven't gone out yet?"

This was very consistent with Ashley's guess. She was not surprised either. She kicked the stone in front of her displeasedly, and said with a sullen face, “Brother, if you are late, your future girlfriend will look like Madame Medusa."

After thinking about it, she felt that it was not enough, and she added, “Her body will look like Transformers."

As soon as the voice fell, something warm came to Ashley's cheek.

Ashley was startled and turned back subconsciously.

Jacob leaned against the stop sign, holding a bottle of milk in his hand. He wore a red striped shirt today, the color was light, and he looked so attractive. He stared at Ashley, his light brown pupils were darker because of the light.

He stood up straight and said amusedly, “Madame Medusa?"

"..."

"Transformers?"

"..."

"I can only find such a girlfriend?"

"..."

"Kiddo." Jacob said with a smile, "You are a bad girl."

Unexpectedly, he could come right away. In front of him, Ashley was a little guilty about what she had just said. She lowered her head and did not dare to look at him or say anything.

Two seconds passed.

"However," Jacob's eyes raised a little, and put the milk into her hand, thoughtfully said, "Listen to what you say, this combination—"

"..."

"Seems quite attractive."

"...."