Chapter 5: Love Goes Viral

A week later, I was discharged and returned to the dorm. My three roommates surrounded me. "Molly, spill—what’s it like landing the school bad boy?"

Someone had snapped a photo of me kissing Chase and posted it on the school forum. It blew up. Even though it was just my side profile, everyone wanted to know who I was.

"By the way, Chase has a game today. You should go and make it official."

"How do I do that?"

"Wipe his sweat, give him water, that kind of thing."

I refused—way too cheesy. Plus, there’d be tons of his fangirls at the game. I’d get glares that could kill. I hid out in the dorm until dark.

Then a Facebook friend request popped up: "Hi, I’m Chase’s roommate."

After I accepted, he told me they were having a celebration after the game. Chase got drunk and kept asking for me. He sent a photo of Chase sleeping.

I called Chase, but he didn’t pick up. I followed the address on Messenger and went over. The dinner hadn’t started yet. Chase was fast asleep on the couch, exhausted from the game. When he woke and saw me, he looked genuinely surprised.

While we stared at each other, a guy came over to explain. "So, here’s the thing—Eli bet that you were the girl from physics class. There was a day Chase was super down, smoked a ton, and we all thought he’d lost his shot with you."

Buzz-cut Eli stepped up, scratching his head awkwardly. "Sorry, sister-in-law—it was me who lied to get you here." I recognized him as the guy who shipped us in physics class.

Buzz-cut Eli stepped up, scratching his head awkwardly. "Sorry, future sister-in-law—it was me who lied to get you here." I recognized him as the guy who shipped us in physics class.

Chase pulled me to sit next to him, asking gently, "Eaten yet?"

I shook my head.

"Stay and eat with us. I’ll take you home after."

When the food arrived, I was mesmerized. A dozen pairs of eyes watched our every move. I quietly texted Chase: "Can I eat that fried chicken?" Then quickly turned off my screen, waiting for his reply.

A minute later, Eli suddenly stood up and placed the fried chicken in front of me. "Future sister-in-law, eat whatever you want. Don’t be shy." Crap—I’d sent it to the wrong person. I hurried to explain. "Sorry, I was updating my contacts and tapped the wrong one."

Chase asked, "What did you label him as?"

"Eli. His name."

He pressed, "What about me?"

I hesitated, embarrassed to say. Chase kept pushing. "He’s E, I’m C. Not even close. How’d you mess that up?"

Midway through dinner, someone suggested a game: count by sevens, skip every number with a 7 or multiple of 7. Losers get punished.

Science majors even make drinking games hard. I could barely keep up past 200. The pace got faster and faster. "236." "Skip." I blurted, "238." Game over—I hadn’t even realized I lost.

"Since our future sister-in-law lost, Chase gets to pick her punishment."

I shot Chase a pleading look. "Let me see what you’re labeled as in my phone."

Reluctantly, I unlocked my phone and handed it over. The others egged him on to read it aloud. Chase glanced at it, then put it down, a playful smile on his face.

Next round, unsurprisingly, I lost again. The punishment: let Chase change his label in my phone.

"Chase, what did you change it to?"

"Can’t say."

"Bet it starts with C or maybe B."

"Don’t bother guessing—Chase is too sly for that."

"Future sister-in-law, give us a hint?"

I peeked. Sure enough, it started with L.

Little punk’s dad—might as well be 'old rascal'.

While I was in the restroom, Eli sent me a recording. "Future sister-in-law, Chase has been into you forever. To make up for tricking you, here’s a recording. Listen and you’ll understand."

I played it.

"You’re Cottonball too, but braver than her. You even rub against me. That Cottonball, she runs faster than anyone when she sees me. You know her—if she likes me, meow twice. If she doesn’t, meow once."

"Meow meow—"

"Little Cottonball, clever kitty, kisses for Cottonball—"

Who’d have thought the cool, aloof Chase could be so goofy in private?

On the way back to the dorm, Chase was tipsy. I wanted to take the shortcut, but he insisted otherwise. I gave in.

"Cottonball, don’t take that road anymore. It’s not safe."

It’s a shortcut, saves time. "I used to take it when I worked part-time. Nothing ever happened, except—"

"Except what?"

"I saw you fighting in that alley."

Chase flicked my forehead. "Little dummy, be more careful. Someone could be watching you and you wouldn’t even know."

Turns out, Chase got into that fight because of me. A while back, a girl disappeared in that alley, but everyone forgot over time.

"Why didn’t you tell me?"

"After that, you avoided me like the plague. I didn’t want to scare you off even more."

So Eli was right—Chase has been after me for a while.