The Bad Boy Next Room (Charlie and Taylor)

At around four in the afternoon, all the students were instructed to proceed to the auditorium. It was the first. Luxford University had long divided each college, such as the College of Business, which had separate general assemblies and other gatherings from the College of Arts and Sciences, College of Engineering, etc.

Later on, Charlie learned that the school had an important announcement to make.

"Here, Charlie! I saved a spot for you!" Dawn waved at her from one of the middle seats of the College of Business.

Charlie smiled and hurried to Dawn's side. The seats were filling fast, and unfortunately, the two rows in front of them were the only ones left. When Luke and his friends arrived at the auditorium, they settled in the vacant seats before Charlie.

Dawn was the first to react, searching for seats. She said, "There are two seats at the back. Do you want to move?"

When Charlie turned around, she saw that the seats were surrounded by a group of arrogant finance students whom she did not like. So, she answered, "Here is fine."

She smiled at Dawn, saying, "I don't mind."noveldrama

"Hi, Dawn. Um - Hi, Charlie," the guy next to Dawn said.

"Hi, Frank," Charlie greeted. Frank Castello was another business major in his fourth year, one of those whom Charlie rarely conversed with when she was with Luke.

Frank was a tall guy with olive-toned skin and dark wavy hair. He was handsome, a bit bearded, but still good-looking. He smiled at Charlie, saying, "I'm surprised you remember me."

Charlie chuckled. She responded, "What do you mean? We were in the same Sales Management class."

"And what about me? Do you know me?" The girl who sat behind Charlie asked. Charlie turned to the girl with short and jet-black hair. She had porcelain skin and a very delicate expression, and Charlie thought she was cute.

"Of course, I know you, Mia Chen. We worked on the same project together last year," Charlie said with a smile.

Mia beamed. She leaned in and whispered to Dawn, "What did I tell you? Charlie is different when she is free from her cage!"

Charlie's brows met. 'Did everyone think I was in Luke's cage all that time?'

She had not really felt she was in a cage, but she admitted to spending all her time on studies, Luke, his friends, and her so-called best friends, Ashley and Sofia.

Charlie and her new group of friends chatted about classes when, suddenly, Ashley remarked, "Oh, my god. It's Taylor West and the obnoxious Atomic Heat." The Wall Street Warriors team began to talk about Taylor and his friends.

The Atomic Heat coincidentally took the rows opposite Charlie's but in another column of seats. Naturally, Taylor heard all the insults Luke's friends said about him. Before he sat down, Taylor said aloud, "Hey, Sullivan. I heard your team is up against the A&S Raptors. You might win in that match, but if I were you, I'd lose on purpose and save myself the humiliation of losing to my team again."

Taylor and his friends laughed, and from then on, the two basketball teams taunted each other.

"Just wait until the finals, West! We will beat your arrogant ass!" Luke said through gritted teeth.

"Wow, that's cute. You rehearsed that in front of a mirror or something?" Taylor shot back, and almost everyone, including art students in the third column of seats, fell amused.

Tom, Luke's friend, pointed to Taylor and warned, "Don't mock our captain. You are nothing like him."

"Yeah, Luke is one of the top students in Business Administration, and he is also the basketball team captain!" Sofia inserted herself into the argument. Referring to Taylor, she said, "You, on the other hand, are a total failure, only getting into fights!"

One of Taylor's friends chimed in, "Oh, snap. You hear that, Taylor? She called you a failure. Kinda like Luke's last three shots in last year's finals."

At that point, Charlie and Dawn chuckled in their seats. Taylor had probably noticed her that Dawn whispered, "Looks like we got Taylor's attention."

Charlie refused to glance at Taylor. She did not want to be involved in their petty basketball argument. She simply listened and enjoyed the entertainment.

Soon, Taylor said, "I'd love to continue this, Luke, but I came here to listen- something your team doesn't seem to do when your coach tells you to guard the perimeter."

"You -" Luke stood up, on the verge of losing his temper. But thankfully, the dean of the College of Business took the stand.