Yes.

As you wait at a table for two in a corner of the coffee shop, staring into your cup of black coffee, your mind keeps going back to Emma, to images of her incredible blowjob, to replays of her loving words and the desire to go back home and hold her again.

Even the thought of marrying her crosses your mind, and the only thing stopping you from proposing right now is neither the age gap nor the fact you’re still studying, but the fact that you’re still very serious about the harem plan, and it feels like marrying only one girl would be unfair.

As you start typing on your phone “which countries accept polygamy?” out of intellectual curiosity, a person quickly and wordlessly takes a seat in front of you. You’re left blinking when you see who it is.

The redhead Katherine Brown, member of the debate team.

Even though she’s sitting in front of you, she’s looking away, with her elbow on the table and her chin resting on her hand.

Was it her? Was she the one who recorded what happened in the restroom?

“Were you the one who helped me, then?” You start.

“I wasn’t helping you.” She denies, turning to look at you with a frown. “It was a chance to get payback against those three, so I took it.”

You want to ask. You really do. However, she doesn’t really seem approachable at the moment, and you don’t want to intrude in her personal life.

“Well, even so, if it was really you, I have to thank you. That really saved my skin. It was what settled the discussion, so even if you only wanted payback, I’m still thankful.” You give her a small smile.

There’s something of an awkward silence as she doesn’t really acknowledges your words. That is, until you’re hit with a sense of Déjà vu when she drops a red folder in front of you.

“Critique my arguments and then we’re even,” She says, avoiding your face again, and you’d like to believe you see her cheeks getting red. “We have a competition next week, so be thorough.”

You’d be angry at her, but her awkward way of asking things reminds you of yourself back in your freshman year of high school. Therefore, deciding to interpret her rude attitude as her just being too embarrassed to ask normally, you open the folder. “Very well. Give me a few minutes.” You call the waiter and tell Katherine to order anything. Your treat. She seems taken aback, but still orders a hot chocolate and a slice of cheesecake.

As you’re reading through her arguments, which are very well written, she eats in silence, waiting for you to finish. However, before you can do that, she suddenly speaks.

“Hey… is it true you saved Olivia today?” She asks hesitantly, eyes glued to her cheesecake.

You sigh, a bit frustrated that she brought it up. “I performed CPR, yes. Thankfully, she woke up.” You answer, not taking your eyes of the pages since it’s not like she’s looking at you.

You catch her opening her mouth to speak and closing it several times before she finally decides to continue.

“Why? How could you do it after what she did?” She bites her lip.

Honestly, it’s a good question, but easy to answer. “The moment I saw her fall, I stopped seeing Olivia Hughes.” You tell her. “I saw an **** person, and did what my conscience told me to do. I knew how to perform CPR, and it was the only thing I could do, so I did it. Everything else was irrelevant at that moment.” You explain calmly.

“I… I wanted to get ****.” She says, staring at her cup and holding it with both hands, letting the heat warm them. “They’ve been bullying me since high school. Four long years of extortion, blackmailing and ****.” You see her eyes tear up. “When I heard them coming into the restroom, I kept quiet in one of the stalls out of fear. I heard everything and recorded it in my phone. I thought it was my chance.” She bites her lip again. “I… I wish she would’ve stayed ****.”

You remain silent, looking at her with a stoic expression.

“They’ve been doing the same shit here that they did in high school and no one says anything. It seems they even got away scot free from the incident with you.”

You can’t help but groan. Is that why they were starting shit again this morning?

“I’m sorry. This is all coming out of nowhere. I just… thought you’d understand.” She lets out a self-deprecating chuckle. “But it looks like I was wrong.”

Now, what to say to her? It’s hard to sympathize with her situation. You weren’t really bullied in high school, so the most you ever suffered were your first two months here. It makes you wonder, if you didn’t have the Affection Multiplier, if you didn’t have three amazing girlfriends, if you hadn’t found people to support you… would you have let Olivia die? Would the resentment have been enough?

“I’ve been lucky.” You tell her. “The moment I stepped into Hayes Academy, I was received with a surprising amount of hostility. Everyone around me would either ignore me or outright harass me. I have clear warnings from the headmistress that on my first violation of school rules I’ll not only be kicked out but I’ll also ‘never have a roof over my head ever again’.”

She frowns and gives you an odd look. “I wouldn’t call that lucky.”

“Right?” You give her a wry grin. “But it’s because of that that I appreciate the people around me a lot more. The people that consider me a friend are my source of support. In the end, I’ve come to realize I much rather spend my energy in the things I like,” Such as scalding, passionate sex with your girlfriends. “than getting angry or depressed.”

You put the folder on the table, open it on the third page and turn it around for her to read. “This is where things start getting sloppy. I’ve read articles from this website you’re quoting, and I’ve found them to be unreliable. What’s more, the third paragraph here sounds more like an opinion than an argument. Change the wording a little bit.”

Taken by surprise by the quick change of topic, it takes her a few seconds to go into student mode, but when she does she’s already scribbling notes on the margins. It’s like a light returned to her eyes. She listens intently and enthusiastically asks questions. You’re at it for 30 minutes straight, and when you’re done she starts going over her notes over and over.

“When’s the debate? I’d like to go watch if I can. Can I?.” You suddenly ask. She stares at you with wide eyes, and her mouth slowly starts to curl into a smile.

“You can! It’s next Friday! It’ll be at a hotel close to the other team’s school!” She tells you, excited and with a bright smile.

“Got it. I’ll ask Ms. Owens if there’s no issue with it.” You nod to yourself and stand up. “Sorry, but I have to go. I promised I’d meet someone at this hour. Find me during the week if you want me to review your arguments again,” Then you give her a kind smile. “Or anytime if you’re still having troubles with you-know-who. Who knows if I’ll be much help, but at the very least we can complain about them to each other, right?”

She stares up at you with mouth half-open, before finally deciding to speak again. “I’d… I’d like that. Could I… h-have y-your nu-number?” Her face is red, her hands are shaking and she’s having troubles meeting your eyes. “S-So I can, y-you know… send you my revised arguments….”

You suddenly have flashbacks back to your high school days. Three times you asked girls out, all three you were rejected. Did you look like that when you asked them? Very likely. Is her heart pounding as strongly as yours did? Does she feel dizzy from the rush of pushing through her fears? Who knows, but you can’t help but smile to yourself as you feel you’re starting to get a better grasp on the kind of person Katherine is.

“Sure. Here you go.” You take out your phone and exchange numbers. You send her a first message simply saying “hello”, and she looks quite excited about it, even if she tries not to show it by looking down at her phone.

You pay for your coffee and Katherine’s chocolate and cheesecake and you part ways with her at the entrance. She waves goodbye with a smile, now in a far better mood than when she got here.