He Didn’t Kidnap Me. Not Exactly novel Chapter 102

Chapter 102

Eventually, the session ended.

Chairs scraped, Bags zipped. People stretched like they had just survived something.

Josh stood, rolled his shoulders once, and then- because of course he did, spoke.

“I don’t like being embarrassed,” he said casually.

Everyone paused.

“So revise properly,” he continued. “I have a reputation to uphold.”

Then, as if that wasn’t enough:

“My girl likes winners.”

I didn’t look at him.

I packed my things and left.

Because if I stayed even one second longer, I might actually commit a crime.

And I was not built for prison.

The hallway felt different after that.

Quieter.

Not actually quieter, but… less suffocating.

I walked without thinking, my feet taking me to the notice boards like they had already accepted my fate before I had.

Posters.

Stacks and stacks of them.

I pulled one out, pressed it against the wall, smoothed it down.

It peeled

Of course it did

I pressed it again.

It peeled again.

“This is symbolic,” I muttered under my breath. “This is exactly what my life looks like right now.”

I pressed harder.

It stayed.

Barely.

“Stubborn,” I added, like I was talking to it.

“You too?”

I turned.

Aria stood there, looking entirely too cheerful for someone who had not just survived emotional warfare disguised as a math

session.

“I’ve been texting you,” she said.

“I was in tutorial,” I replied. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” she said, waving it off. “I pasted all the ones you gave me.”

I blinked. “All of them?”

She nodded proudly.

I glanced at the stack still in my hand.

“…I have five hundred left.”

She stared at me.

“Five hundred?”

I shrugged. “The lecturer is… ambitious.”

“That man is unwell,” she said immediately.

“I’ve been thinking that,” I agreed.

She laughed, then nudged me lightly. “We’ll finish it.”

I hesitated for a second.

“Will you come tomorrow?” I asked.

She didn’t even pause.

“Of course.”

Then she grinned. “Where else would I be? Mabel’s party?”

I laughed.

“Exactly.”

We stayed like that for a moment, just… normal.

Which felt strange.

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