Avery returned to school from Asnaoya on a Friday. She originally planned to head straight ho, but there was a quiz in her class that evening. Since she had already taken a week off at the beginning of the sester, she figured she should at least show up for a bit. What she didn’t expect was to imdiately stumble upon Alaric, who was gearing up for an argunt. Of course, it was a small matter, easily resolved. After the quiz, she drove Alaric ho. By the ti they got ho, it was already past 10 PM. Josie had gone to bed, while the adults were having a late-night snack, chatting, and watching TV. By 11, everyone dispersed to their rooms.
The next morning, after the whole family had breakfast together, Maria went back to her classes, Alaric headed to school for a team match against other schools, and the rest of the family went to help out at the restaurant. When Alaric went to school, he brought along a lunchbox that his family had prepared for him. That lunchbox caught the attention of his classmates, becoming another piece of "evidence" of his family’s financial struggles. As he played basketball in the indoor gym, so girls who ca to watch started whispering.
"Avery brought a lunchbox from ho on the day she registered too. Looks like their family really is poor, too afraid to even spend money on eating."
"Alas, no matter how handso or nice he is, if his family’s too poor, it’s just not going to work..."
"I heard from soone in the club that Alaric’s not having much luck with the national basketball draft. He might not make it into the national team, and if that’s the case, even if he joins a club, his market value won’t be that high."
"Yeah, if an athlete can’t make it to the national team or top-tier professional gas, there’s really no future."
Daisy frowned as she listened. If Alaric’s family really was that poor, she’d have to seriously reconsider her options. If Alaric really couldn’t make it to the national team and had no future, then no matter how reluctant she felt, Daisy would have no choice but to blacklist him. "A man can’t be poor. I hope Alaric can pull through." That was the only prayer she could make in her heart.
At noon, the match ended with the University of Technology winning again. His teammates dragged Alaric out for a al, but he refused, saying, "I brought my own food from ho, so I’m not going." Everyone chid in, "What’s so great about ho-cooked food? Co on, let’s eat out. It’s on us." Alaric insisted, "My family’s cooking is really good, way better than what you get at school or restaurants." They all thought he was just trying to save face and reluctant to admit his family’s financial situation, so they didn’t push the issue and continued to drag him along. Daisy and a few other girls followed them as well.
By the ti they finished eating, it was already past noon, and it was ti to head back. One of the guys put an arm around Alaric’s shoulders and said, "Why don’t we just go to your place and hang out at your house? It’s the weekend, and we don’t have training."
"Go to my house?" Alaric hesitated. "Everyone in my family is working and won’t be back until late. If we go now, there’ll be no one to welco you, cook, or entertain you. It’ll be really boring." With so many custors at the restaurant, he knew there would be no space if he suddenly brought everyone over, and Mom and the others would be too busy to help.
Hearing this, everyone thought, ’The Carter family really is poor. They have to work all day on Saturday and won’t be back until evening. How sad.’ However, so genuinely cared about Alaric and wanted to understand just how tough his situation was so they could help him in the future. Others, though, were more curious, wanting to see just how hard life really was.
"It’s no big deal," several guys encouraged. "It’s more fun without the adults around. Once we’re there, we can order takeout. Your family won’t have to serve us."
"We can pick up snacks on the way!" Daisy suggested, seizing the mont. "Once we get to your house, we can play gas. It’ll be fun."
Alaric couldn’t refuse them any longer. "Fine, but you have to help clean up afterward."
"Deal," they all chid in. "We promise we won’t be a burden."
Alaric counted. "There are fifteen of us, so we’ll take taxis."
Daisy said, "I have a car. You can ride with ."
"No thanks. Save your car for the girls. The guys will take cabs," Alaric said.
Soon, they split into four cars and, under Alaric’s lead, set off with excitent. The rumors about the Carter family’s poverty were well known around campus, so no one asked where Alaric lived to avoid embarrassing him. They stopped several tis to buy barbecued at, snacks, beer, and even a few bags of fruit. However, as they continued, sothing felt off. This road didn’t lead to the old town.
Soone in the group chat sent a ssage: ’[Alaric, are you too busy playing with your phone and went the wrong way?]’
Alaric replied: ’[No, just go over the slope ahead and you’re there!]’
No one believed him. So said, "Vento Street is far from here. How could going over a hill get us there?" "Is Alaric trying to save face by leading us sowhere else on purpose?"
They looked ahead. They saw the taxi Alaric was in go over the long slope, take a right onto Lakeside Road, and stop in front of an impressive villa.
"Why did Alaric park there? Did the taxi break down?" soone asked.
Daisy was about to call Alaric when she saw him and the others get out of the car, waving to the other cars, signaling them to stop. The girl sitting in the sa car as Daisy opened the chat group and posted: ’[Alaric’s taxi broke down. He said they’re almost ho though. I’m going to start live streaming now.]’
She was Zoe’s favorite jealous friend. The girl was jealous of Avery, frustrated that she couldn’t get a guy like Alaric. She jumped at every chance to stir up trouble. So, easily swayed by Zoe, the girl started livestreaming in the ga group made up entirely of classmates, without anyone knowing it was her. Since she had already given a heads-up in the group earlier, a lot of people were waiting to watch. As soon as she started, the group chat lit up with excitent.
’[Make sure to stream the whole thing! Don’t stop. It’s the school heartthrob’s house. Who wouldn’t want to see what it looks like?]’
She replied: ’[There are too many people around , so I won’t talk, just watch for yourselves.]’
Everyone in the group agreed: ’[No problem!]’
The girl held her phone tightly, angling the cara outside without letting her companions know she was streaming. anwhile, Zoe, using a virtual account, logged into the campus network and was streaming the entire event too.
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