Finally, we made it to the first floor, and right next to the stairs was the main entrance. We finally escaped from a seemingly hopeless situation. My deduction was completely correct.
"We survived," I said, my face pale, holding Diana's hand. Diana nodded excitedly and then turned, pulling me out of the girls' dormitory.
"Let's leave quickly, this girls' dormitory is too eerie," I shook my head and said. Diana nodded, and we quickly left. Soon, the girls' dormitory disappeared from our sight.
The sky had completely darkened, and I checked my phone; it was around 6 pm. This should be dinner time, and I realized then that my face was swollen.
"Are you okay?" Diana finally noticed my face, and she gently withdrew her small hand from my palm. I felt a bit disappointed. I shook my head and said, "It's fine, I'll be fine."
"You're still saying it's fine, your face is full of injuries," Diana looked at me and quickly said, "Wait a moment."
After saying that, she asked me to wait inside the girls' dormitory while she went back in. Since boys are not allowed in the girls' dormitory, I couldn't go in.
Soon, Diana came out with band-aids and iodine solution in her hands. Then she took me back to the classroom. Most people in the classroom had gone to the cafeteria, leaving only a few behind.
Upon seeing us return, a classmate mocked, "Did you two elope? Frank, what happened to your face?"
"It's nothing," I said awkwardly. Diana glared at him and came to my seat, asking me to sit aside. She then took out a cotton ball and carefully wiped my mouth corner.
The iodine solution stung a little on the wound, but looking at Diana's serene face, my heart was extremely excited. Growing up, I had never had the favor of a girl.
I lived in a messy way, and coupled with my family's poor financial situation, I dressed in outdated clothes. Therefore, from primary school to junior high school, I was often looked down upon by girls. Diana was the first girl who was so kind to me.
"What's wrong, does it hurt?" Diana carefully wiped my face with a cotton ball while looking at me with tender eyes. She paid close attention to my expression, and whenever I showed any sign of pain, she would immediately slow down her movements. Her gentle actions moved me deeply.
I swear that at this moment, I definitely fell for Diana. This gentle yet mischievous girl.
Diana looked at me staring at her straightly, and a blush appeared on her beautiful face. She scolded, "What are you staring at me like that?"
"Oh, sorry," I shook my head.
"Alright, you seem to be fine now," Diana said with relief, putting away the iodine solution. Then she turned and left my seat.
At that moment, she suddenly turned back and said, "Oh, you haven't eaten yet, let me treat you to dinner. After all, you saved me today."
"It's okay, if I encounter this situation again, I'll still save you. You don't have to treat me to dinner," I said quickly. Although I was timid in character, I was a true-blue male chauvinist who always believed that spending a woman's money was shameful. Even if Diana treated me to dinner, I felt embarrassed.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Diana smiled and then turned to leave. I was left sitting there grinning foolishly. After laughing for a while, I went to the school's convenience store to buy a few bread loaves. Being a day student, my daily meal allowance was only five dollars.
Nibbling on the bread, I sat in my seat and pondered. Today's girls' dormitory building almost trapped us, but it also meant that something must have happened there.
"Otherwise, this situation wouldn't have occurred, and maybe we could find some clues from the girls' dormitory building. But thinking about how close I came to death today, I shook my head and dismissed that terrifying thought. I didn't want to enter those stairs again.
During the evening self-study session, Henry stared at me with a strange expression and said, "I was wondering what made you so happy, looking so flushed."
"Hehe, nothing much," I said cheerfully. Although my face still hurt, my mood was incredibly high. I had saved Diana after all.
She must have a good impression of me now, and maybe she even likes me. This way, I could reverse the situation and win over a wealthy and beautiful girl, reaching the peak of my life. How could I possibly reveal such thoughts?
Unconsciously, I fell into a common trap of a regular Joe, that of being self-delusional.
After returning home in the evening, I finished dinner and lay down on the bed, picking up my phone. In our class's Twitter group, since the curse incident, no one dared to chat in the group, so the entire group was empty, with no one speaking.
"Thank you so much for today. I didn't know what to do if you hadn't been there," Diana suddenly said in the Twitter group.
"It's nothing, I should have done it," I wrote proudly.
"Your actions today really surprised me, but you're really amazing. You were able to think of a plan in that situation. I was just thinking of crying," Diana said in the Twitter group.
"It's nothing, I was scared too. But I said I'd protect you, and I'll definitely do it," I wrote. My arms trembled as I typed these words.
"Wow, so touching. You were really awesome today," Diana said in the Twitter group.
"Hehe, of course," I wrote proudly.
"Don't be too full of yourself. Okay, I'm going to log off now," Diana said in the Twitter group, followed by a smiling emoji, and then went offline.
I put down my phone with a smug expression on my face. Looking at the graduation photo on the wall, I no longer felt afraid. I realized that things weren't as bad as I had imagined.
No matter what, tomorrow will be better. As I daydreamed, I fell asleep.
The next day, I arrived at school with a light step. The classroom was still full of students, everyone with a somber expression because the next round of voting was about to begin.
Many people were whispering to each other, and some girls were forming cliques.
"If my name appears in the options, please don't vote for me."
"Don't worry, we're like sisters."
"Buddy, if my name appears in the next vote, you know what to do. There'll be plenty of benefits for you."
Such conversations constantly occurred in the classroom. Every student knew that if they didn't find a way to solicit votes, they would be in trouble if their name appeared in the options.
Therefore, as long as they had some spare money or popularity, they began to secretly solicit votes. Even my deskmate Henry wasn't spared. As soon as I returned to my seat, he said mysteriously,
"Buddy, if my name appears in the options, definitely don't vote for me."
"Of course, what are you worried about?" I glanced at him.
He said sheepishly, "You know, we don't have much status in the class. If our names appear in the options, we'll be screwed."
I nodded solemnly, just as Henry said. Yesterday's incident had already proven that the voting wasn't fair. Someone like Ryan, who was wealthy and handsome, could easily garner a good number of votes.
It was said that last night, Ryan took Jasmine and most of the class to a high-end restaurant. They ordered numerous tables of dishes, spending tens of thousands to satisfy all the students.
Even now, some students were still discussing Ryan's generosity and grandeur last night.
Tens of thousands! That was a figure I could only dream of. Even if I added up all the savings in my family, it wouldn't amount to that much. After all, my father had already spent most of our savings on my education.
It seemed that Ryan had already established a dominant position in this game. If he continued to maintain his generosity, he would definitely be safe. While we, the regular Joes without money or influence, were undoubtedly the lowest-ranking.
The voting should have been about to start, and some classmates began to fidget and keep checking their phones constantly, fearing that their names would show up in the options.
But the group voting didn't come until after the first class. Suddenly, a classmate shouted, "Look, there's a new voting in the group!"