Page 7 of The Cuffing Game
Chapter Three
Noah
“I need you to be on my show.”
There was nohiorhow are you doing?No, Mia went straight for his throat, as usual, with her razor-sharp tone.
Was this a dream?Noah actually wasn’t sure. For some reason, Mia hadn’t said a single word during today’s lecture. And like magic, Noah had dozed off. He’d tried his best to pay attention, but Dr. Thompson had been going over framing, something he’d taught himself years ago. And Noah was still exhausted from staying up all night editing a project for a different class.
He rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes. When he reopened them, Mia was still there, looking as resolute as ever. Around them, the other students started filing out of the lecture hall.
So this was real then.
It was bizarre to see Mia standing right in front of him, onhisside of the room, no more than a couple inches away from where he was sitting in his seat.
Noah resisted the urge to extend his leg and tap one of her pink tennis shoes. A childish impulse. But she was justsoserious.
“Campus Crush?”he finally asked.
Mia nodded. “Yup. Someone nominated you to be on it.”
Noah raised his eyebrows. “But I don’t have a crush on anyone.”
“The show follows four peopleandtheir crushes. You’re someone’s crush, and she nominated you to be on the show with her. And no, I can’t tell you who it is yet.”
Noah was already far too busy to add something else to his plate this semester. And even if he weren’t, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever want to be on a “cross between reality TV and a documentary” show like Mia’s, where he’d likely be scrutinized for everything he said.
The best part about his short-form content was its high editability. Before he uploaded anything, he could watch it repeatedly and fine-tune everything he said and did to the nearest second. Sometimes, even more precisely than that. He presented himself to the world exactly how he wanted to appear.
That would be impossible with longer media, especially when he wasn’t the one shooting or editing. His palms grew sweaty just thinking about it.
But since he didn’t want Mia to know how nervous he felt, he said, “I’m too busy this semester. Plus, what if the person who nominated me is a sasaeng fan?”
It was only after he said it that he realized Mia might not know what that term means. From her last name, he knew she was ethnically Korean, like him, but during first-week-of-school icebreakers, she’d said she was born inTexas, out of all places.
He had no idea if Mia could even speak Korean, so he added, “Sasaengs are obsessive fans who stalk K-pop stars and other celebrities and terrorize their lives in South Korea.”
Mia’s brows drew together into a flat line. “I know what they are. And you arenotfamous enough to have sasaeng fans.”
Noah hadn’t meant to offend Mia, but clearly, he’d struck a nerve. He looked away apologetically and shrugged. “You don’t know that. Wehavegotten creepy mail to the fraternity house before, so the possibility is always there.”
“Okay, fine. The person who nominated you isn’t a sasaeng fan. She’s perfectly normal.”
“So you know who it is.”
“I never said I didn’t.”
Noah started packing up his things. “You know, Mia, you have a funny way of asking people for a favor.”
Mia gritted her teeth for a second before opening her mouth. Noah half expected her to yell at him when, in a strangled voice, she said, “Sorry. I’m just so used to arguing with you.”
A wheezing sound came from Mia’s mouth, causingNoah’s eyebrows to shoot up with concern. A few seconds later, he realized thatthiswas her attempt to relax. Some kind of meditative breathing technique, maybe?
Noah thought about telling her that whatever she was doing, she was doing it wrong. But he held his tongue. She’d justapologizedto him for the first time. He could be civil. For now.
The breaths seemed to have worked, because Mia spoke much more slowly and calmly as she said, “Listen. This could be good for both of us. Are you happy being single?”
Noah flinched. Nice or not, she’d somehow gotteneven moredirect. He was usually good at talking to people, but Mia’s frankness made him stumble on his words.
