He hadn’t texted at all, but Billie hadn’t texted him about the library yet. She wasn’t scared, she just hadn’t got around to it. She woke up late and had to rush through the shower and barely remembered to brush her teeth. 

Now she was sitting in class, sweating from running, and going through her notes one last time while wiping her face clean.

“You look cute.”

Billie looked up to see Xu Minghao placing his books down and sitting down in the seat right next to her. She could only grab leggings, a large shirt and didn’t even comb her hair. She just put it in a bun and ran out of her room. She didn’t think she looked cute at all, but she let it slide.

“Shirley!”

He looked at her with a smile and eyebrow raised, and she just smiled back. “Xu Minghao,” she drawled. “I didn’t know you had this class.”

“It was a last-minute addition while they still had space.”

Billie heard some noise, and she looked towards the door of the lecture room. More girls were entering, whispering to each other with their phones out. 

“It seems like there were a lot of fresh additions,” she whispers. She looks back at Minghao and smiles again. “Hey! You didn’t go to the party.”

“Oh.” His smile disappeared a little. “I was there, I just saw you with your boyfriend, and didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Boyfriend?”

“That guy you were dancing with? You were in his arms.”

Billie took the time to think back. Was she in some guy's arms? She had to ignore the noise as even more women filled the room, their whispers making it sound like an orchestra.

“You mean Chris? No, not a boyfriend at all. He did that to help me because some creep was trying to rub up on me and then we got smashed that way when the girls started running for the door.”

“So not your boyfriend?”

“Nope.”

“Are you sure?”

Billie laughed at that, even though it was a weird question. “I am positive.” She noticed that the surrounding chairs filled in, but instead of them getting ready for the class, they were all looking back at something. She was getting a weird feeling.

“Can I sit here?”

There was a girl beside her that was holding a couple of books and pointing to the seat right next to Billie. She could see the makeup artfully applied, and the immaculate look to her skirt and sweater. Even her hair smelled amazing as she sat down and flipped it.

“Of course. It’s free.” Billie moved her stuff over to make sure she had room. 

“Excuse me,” a girl said from in front of them. “Are you Eight’s next girlfriend?”

Billie looked at the girl, taken aback for a few minutes. “The Eight? Why would you think that? Of course not.”

The girl didn’t even have time to reply as soon as the girl next to her spoke up. “Since she’s not, could I be your girlfriend, Eight?”

Billie was confused and looked back to see if Eight was sitting close to them, but as soon as she looked back, she only saw girls sitting there looking back at them. Girls took most of the seats up and they were all looking back at her and the guy sitting next to her.

Billie looked at him to see Xu Minghao sigh and look at her apologetically.

“Xu Minghao?”

“Yes.” He smiled just a little, but it was more of a ‘sorry’ smile than a ‘happy’ smile.

“Eight?”

“... yes.”

Billie looked at the girls in front of her and almost shrank back at the evil looks. She looked behind her and only saw the same glares from everyone else. She could smell the drama wafting off of them, and could see them basically bullying her already.

“Do you want to switch seats?” Billie had turned to the girl next to her and asked, and the girl nodded her head enthusiastically. Billie barely had to grab up all of her things as the girl slid her stuff over. 

Suddenly Billie was stopped by a hand on her arm. She shot a glare at that person and he quickly withdrew his arm. She slid in the seat a spot away, switching with the honey-haired girl. 

For a moment she could still see the stares of those girls who were swearing vengeance at her, but they didn’t glare for long as they looked back at Eight, who was slightly smiling at them all, with his hands held up. Obviously, he was telling them to back off with his body language, but he was too polite to say it.

“He still needed to find a new girlfriend after all,” Billie thought to herself. She felt so stupid, not realizing who he was. To think she was going to waste time being the center of girl drama just because a guy was scouting her out to date for only twenty-four hours. 

The professor walked into the class and looked at the large audience, much larger than last week. “Xu Minghao, I see you have joined us today.”

“Sorry for the crowd, Professor,” He apologized. Billie refused to even look over. 

“Hmm. Well, unfortunately, this class is not available to be audited. So all that are not on the attendance sheet must leave now.”

Billie could hear a lot of moans coming from the lecture seats, but she ignored them as all the girls got up and left the class, a lot of them justling her seat.

“Now,” the professor smiles, “We can get to it. Just a quick attendance to make sure you are all who you say you are, and then we can start. I usually wouldn’t take attendance, however, we have the popular Xu Minghao in this class, and I don’t want to be teaching extra students who aren’t willing to learn.”

It seemed Eight was even causing trouble for professors all over the school, not just potentially her. Billie’s phone buzzed, and she glanced at the screen to see a text from Jackie. She opened it up, sneaking a peek while the teacher was preoccupied. Her heart dropped at the angry emojis after the “we’ll talk later”, especially when she saw the picture taken of her and Eight talking and smiling at each other.

She threw her phone back into her bag just in time to hear her name on the attendance and answer. She could feel Eight looking at her, but she easily ignored him, especially because the professor started teaching instead of going over the syllabus and she was enraptured. She had her own notes, but she copied everything that he had written, and later she’d merge the notes into fancy scripts. That way it was easy to study.

Quicker than she realized, the class ended, and it was time to go. She felt a little sad that they had to stop their discussion and was so preoccupied with putting her stuff away that the arm pulling her up surprised her. 

Scrambling to put her stuff away, she’s pulled up and into a small and quiet hall away from the crowd of girls waiting at the door. 

“You really didn’t know?”

Billie looked up at Eight and rolled her eyes. “Keep your voice down or the mob will come. Geez.” She looked down the hall at them and waited until they all left, wondering exactly where their beloved had gone. “What do you want?”

“You really didn’t know who I was?”

“No, I didn’t, Eight—”

“Xu Minghao. You call me Xu Minghao.”

“Why? Does your girlfriend get to call you that until you guys break up? Well, I’m sorry Eight but I’m not interested.” She noticed they were very close, and she wanted to back away, but as soon as she did, her back hit a while and he took a step closer.

“You looked interested when we were at the library.”

“I was excited to study with a Sunbae who could help me learn. Obviously, that was before I knew who you were.” She put her hands on his chest and pushed him back. He looked frustrated, but he stepped back until he was leaning against the wall across from her.

“What difference does it make if you’re studying with Minghao, or studying with Eight?” He asks, really looking at her.

“How about the mob of girls who will be there too. How will we be able to study like that and I don’t want to be your next conquest and I don’t want them to make that assumption and have it out for me?”

“Have it out for you?” 

“Come on. You’ve seen all the college dramas before, how vicious girls can be. I don’t want any of that. I just want a normal college experience where I get drunk at a couple parties, and study my off until I graduate. I can’t afford to deal with anything else.”

“And if I could make them back off?”

“Something isn’t clicking for you, huh? I don’t want to be your girlfriend! I’m not someone who is okay with dating for twenty-four hours, or dating just to use people.”

“You were serious about that? You really didn’t know who I was, and you honestly felt that way?”

“I didn’t know who you were until your lies were exposed.”

“I didn’t lie—”

“You didn’t tell me the truth!”

“I thought that if I told you… I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s just when I heard you talking about me like that, I didn’t know if you were pretending to get my attention or if you really felt that way. I haven’t met too many that feel that way about me.”

“Oh, you mean fawning all over you and ready to spend Daddy’s money?”

“It’s not… I saw you that first day. I gave you directions to your dorm. You were obviously a freshman who had no clue who I was. ‘He-who-shall-not-be-named’.” Minghao chuckles, stuffing his hands in his pockets and looking down.

Billie remembered that. She just hadn’t remembered that it was him. That memory was so far in the back of her mind. 

“Then at the Ice cream place—”

“The ice cream place too?”

Minghao laughs. “We had made sure that everyone cleared out. There was only you left, but I wore so much to hide who I was that I’m sure you had no clue I was there. You were so ‘biased’, remember? Your phone conversation was so loud, so rude.” Minghao laughs again. “Gaggle of girls, you called it. I was absolutely sure that the freshie had no clue what I looked like, but knew of me and it wasn’t exactly positive.”

“And then the library? Me seeing you in every aisle, and you helping me find the books I needed?”

“An entire week went by and I thought that even if you didn’t know who I was at first, then you’d definitely know me by then. Even knew who my friends were. So when they overheard your conversation and called me… At first I thought it was a trick. You're pretending not to be like those girls to get my attention. Even running up to me and asking for my name.”

“Then why did you keep on texting me? Surely you have had plenty of girlfriends since then. Why didn’t you tell me the truth every time we would talk?”

“I wanted it to be true. I didn’t want you to know me as Eight and use me for my name and money. I wanted you to know Xu Minghao, and like me for who I was.” Minghao stood up straight and walked towards her again, getting closer and closer until she could feel the heat of his skin. 

“How long could that last?” Billie whispered. She felt like if she talked too loud, something would be broken. 

“At the party. I was going to tell you at the party. I didn’t text you before because I was nervous and then afterward... that boy.” She could see the anger line his face. “You were in his arms, and I got so mad. Then I heard what you said to my friend afterwards. You knew I was lonely. You looked right through me, and it made me even angrier with you.”

He stepped even closer to her until he was only an inch away. She could tilt up her head and kiss him if she wanted to.

“Didn’t you like the party? The music and the food? I packed some for you too.”

She pushed him away again. “The food was great. The music was splendid. Then you came, and the girls rushed you, just like I knew they would. Even if you came to the party and told me the truth, do you think the outcome would be any different?”

“Date me—”

“No!” Billie sighed and bit her lip in anger. “I am not pretending that I am not one of those girls. Xu Minghao, I don’t want your time limited relationship, and I will not use you for your money! I want nothing to do with you!”

“Fine!”

His shout made Billie flinch, but she expected nothing from him, so she wasn’t shaken. She rolled her eyes and just walked away, leaving Minghao to stare after her. 

“Not exactly what you planned, huh?” Minghao looked up and saw Jun leaning on the railings of the stairs above him. 

“I’m not giving up.”