The night before, Shea Thorne had stayed up late thinking, and she didn't wake up until nine the next morning. The other girls in the dorm were just starting to wake up one after another.
One of them saw Shea still in bed and opened her mouth to tease, "Hey, isn't the little housewife going to serve her man today?"
Shea barely recognized her as Rhonda Ford, one of the more hot-tempered people in the dorm, and the one who couldn't stand Ariana Thorne being a bootlicker the most.
However, she was the only person who could prove Ariana and Miles Crawford were in a relationship, because her boyfriend, Jonah Bell, happened to have the same advisor as Miles, and they had been classmates for several years.
When Shea was gossiped about by many and misunderstood, Rhonda had stood up to prove that Miles and Ariana were together.
Although she was later criticized by Miles, Rhonda said that Miles was more disgusting than Ariana.
"Rhonda, don't talk like that." Another roommate, Sharon Somerset, said. These things are fine to say behind their backs, but it's not nice to hear them in front of her.
Shea didn't mind and said, "It's okay, today I want to say, I'm officially... breaking... breaking..."
She couldn't get the words "break up" out. It was as if a force was gripping Shea's throat, keeping her from saying those words.
Tang Yaqian was preventing her from distancing herself from Miles Crawford, she didn't want to cut ties with him.
"Breaking what off?" Rhonda Ford countered, with a hint of mockery.
This time, Shea couldn't even nod slightly. She thought to herself: Don't worry, I won't say the word breakup.
Only then could she speak freely, "It's nothing, let's go to class together later, and have lunch together."
The three were somewhat surprised. Since the start of school, this was the first time Ariana Thorne had gone to class with her roommates. Usually, she would run to cook, deliver meals, do laundry, and clean for Miles Crawford after class, never eating with them.
Did she change her mind today and suddenly want to have lunch with them?
The other three girls glanced at each other, not knowing what Ariana Thorne was up to.
But thinking again, with nothing much to gain from Ariana Thorne, it didn't make sense for her to try to please them deliberately. Maybe she really had a change of heart?
Shea didn't explain much and got dressed and out of bed.
She found Ariana's cello in the closet, it was in a white case, which was leather and a bit worn out. The texture of the leather had a weathered color, and the buckle was seriously damaged. It seemed to have been broken and reinstalled.
Shea picked it up, the familiar feeling surged in her heart. Looking at the "self" in the dressing mirror, from now on, she was Ariana Thorne.
She was the only one in the dorm who studied cello, so everyone went their own ways to class. When Shea entered the practice room, few people were around; everyone was lazily preparing their instruments.
She hadn't expected when she opened the case that her whole body would go numb. The soundpost of the cello had fallen, and the strings were not maintained. When she pulled the strings, the noise was unbearable.
Seeing how the cello had been so poorly treated, Shea resented Ariana even more. Was there nothing else in her eyes but Miles Crawford?
She had been accepted into a prestigious music department at university. Now, not only was her technique neglected, but her cello had gotten into such a state!
Thinking about the force inside her constantly controlling her, making her carry the reputation of a "bootlicker" and keeping her from breaking ties with Miles, Shea was furious. From now on, this body belonged to her, and she made the decisions!
The first step was cleanly breaking from Miles Crawford!
She picked up the phone to call him but saw the chat history on WeChat between Ariana and Miles. It was all one-sided, with Ariana asking every little detail about his life, while Miles barely responded:
——I've eaten.
——I haven't eaten.
——I'm busy, don't come over.
He had promised yesterday at five to meet her, but it was now noon, and he hadn't said a word. Shea remembered Ariana had told him more than once she was afraid of the lab building, so she'd wait for him at the foot of Medical Community to bring him dinner.
The sadness in her body spread all over, and Shea was overcome with grief, tears began to fall uncontrollably.
This silly girl, why did she like Miles Crawford so much? Even after dying once, she still liked him.
"I know I shouldn't control you, give me some time, I will try to let go."
An inner voice surged to her mind, it felt like Ariana whispering in her ear. Shea suddenly turned around, but only saw Rhonda Ford and Sharon Somerset chatting excitedly about some gossip at National Medical University.
"I'm telling you, Professor Sinclair from National Medical just got a new car. They say his car is more precious to him than a girlfriend. Everyone is secretly competing to see who will be the first to sit in it…" Sharon was cheerfully speaking when Shea suddenly turned around, puzzled and asked, "What's wrong?"
Shea shook her head and said, "Let's go, eat lunch, my treat today."
Having been at odds with her roommates for two months, today they agreed to go to class and the canteen with her. Just for not holding a grudge, she felt she should treat them to this meal.
Some things in two lives are hard to let go, and they need some time to abandon them. Now, the most important thing for her was to fix the cello.
...
Back at the dorm, Sharon was still tirelessly recommending her favorite, Professor Sinclair, talking about how he was the youngest professor at Nation Medical University, and how new students who had scored well in the entrance exams and dream of college life would get a harsh reality check with his criticism.
In that place full of rare characters, Professor Sinclair stood out as the comparison group, of course as the excellent side.
Students who failed his class usually went to the psychology department crying, which resulted in many psychology students completing their thesis.
Forced to listen to them, Shea only understood a little from the short videos, unable to grasp the complex intricacies.
Now reincarnated in Ariana's body, she was a living, breathing person, not just a flat character on paper. Ariana's life unfolded before her, rich with blood and vigor.
She needed some time to cope with the impact on her body. Ariana's memories were now forcing their way into her head, causing a splitting headache.
"Not to dampen the mood, but I haven't seen Professor Sinclair, this is all probably exaggerated rumors." Once Sharon mentioned seeing Professor Sinclair in passing to Shea, Rhonda immediately stepped in to stop the conversation.
Noticing Shea looking unwell, Sharon realized she'd crossed a line. While she didn't apologize, she immediately stopped talking.
"But Jonah Bell said students scolded by Professor Sinclair tend to have excellent grades that semester." Rhonda reassured by explaining for Milo Sinclair: "This shows that Professor Sinclair is a strict teacher, not a fierce one."
Sharon nodded and switched topics to something else entirely.
The conversation was lost on Shea, who hadn't absorbed a single word.
She struggled to go through Ariana's memories, realizing the social environment in the novel closely mirrored her own world when she was alive.
Ariana's mother, Alice Lawson, was her nemesis. The characters and experiences reflected what she knew, providing a sense of a melodramatic fanfiction grounded in reality.
She knew Alice had a daughter and two sons, just like in the novel.
Could it be that the author was an anti-fan of Alice Lawson, writing this novel to tarnish her, making her daughter the black sheep?
The more Shea thought about it, the worse her headache became, eventually giving up the struggle. Reality-derived fanfiction or not, she had reincarnated into Ariana's body, and as long as she didn't act like a bootlicker, that should suffice.
In the current circumstances, Ariana had beauty, and despite being at Delinquent U, she still had a bachelor's degree.
She had died in her original world, and now having this new chance at life, she wouldn't tolerate living with the tag of a "bootlicker" and squandering this chance.
Now, with a much more attractive appearance, several times prettier than before, as long as she returned to the pinnacle of her music career, how could she fear men not flocking to her?