Take My Breath Away

When she heard what Matthew said, Erica nodded in a hurry. "Yes! But—" She tried to protest. She was still mad, after all.

Matthew held her in his arms and kissed her forehead. "Well, good luck in class. If you don't have any after-school activities, let me know." He meant well, but it was one more way to exert control. She was used to making her way home and hanging out with Hyatt.

"Okay!" Since he insisted on buying her a gift to please her, she reluctantly agreed.

She felt pretty good. When she didn't think it through a whole lot, Matthew seemed like a great guy.

In class, Erica copied what she saw on the projector screen. She took notes that she could use later to study for the exams.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated. It was a WeChat message from Rhea. "Hey, I'll tell you a secret. Don't tell anyone else!"

"What is it?" she replied casually and continued to take notes.

Two minutes later, stunned by the message from Rhea, she put her hand over her wide-open mouth. Then she turned to look at Hyatt. Finally coming to her senses, she wrote back, "What? You must be kidding me, right? Or am I seeing things?"

Sitting next to her, Hyatt was also busy taking notes. He didn't know Erica had been staring at him at all.

Rhea replied, "No, you're not crazy. I am. For Hyatt. He's sweet and innocent and probably won't cheat on me. So what do you think?"

Looking at the phone, Erica rubbed her eyes and made sure she wasn't hallucinating.

Rhea sent her another message asking, "Are you okay? You're quiet. I bet you never expected that, huh?"

Erica cooperatively typed a series of question marks and sent them to her. She was really confused. She didn't understand why Rhea made such a decision.

'Rhea and Hyatt?

She's so overbearing, and he's so quiet and...and...just not her type.'

At this moment, Erica was very worried about Hyatt.

"I don't believe in love anymore. All of the good ones are taken, it seems. And so when it's time to get married, I wouldn't be able to find a good man anywhere. So, I figure, why don't I just get with Hyatt? At least I can get him to do what I want. He's pliable like that. Am I wrong?"

Erica nodded. But when she realized that Rhea couldn't see her, she quickly typed on her phone, "No, you're right." If Hyatt had a girlfriend, he would be loyal to her, promising the moon and plucking it from the sky if he had to.

He was not a cheater, and he'd probably be very loyal. So she'd have nothing to be jealous about.

Therefore, as long as Rhea could stand him being shy and timid, he seemed to be a good catch.

Erica took a look at the person next to her. The bespectacled fool didn't know some girl had set her sights on him. He copied the notes seriously and sometimes furrowed his eyebrows when he found some bit of knowledge he didn't get.

"So, sis. You gonna help me?" Rhea asked.

"Of course, I'm on your side. Anyway, you know him pretty well by now. I think as long as you don't mind how shy he is, you'll get along great!" Erica replied.

"Okay, honey. I knew you would support me! Love you! Muah!"

Erica replied with a shy emoji, "I love you too. Always!" After sending that message, she sighed again.

If only she could confess to Matthew that easily. But she wasn't exactly sure how he'd take it.

Erica was convinced Matthew still didn't love her. Their love hadn't succeeded yet, and she still needed to work hard!

After class, Erica laid her head on the table, feeling sleepy. Suddenly, Hyatt patted her on the arm.

Erica opened one of her eyes, and saw Hyatt's face flush with excitement. Not realizing that Erica was looking at him, Hyatt patted her on the arm again.

Erica sat up straight helplessly. "Bro, what's the matter? Just say it."

He was so excited that people who didn't know him might think there was a huge celebrity coming to class.

Hyatt shook his phone excitedly in front of her face and didn't know what to start. Finally, he showed the phone to her.

Erica took the phone and glanced at it. But soon she took a second look, and her eyes got so wide she feared they might pop out of her head.

On the screen was a WeChat message from Rhea saying, "Hyatt, I broke up with my boyfriend. I think you're a great guy. Would you be my boyfriend? You don't have a girlfriend, right? If you do, I'll leave you alone. All I know is I'm crazy for you and wanna get together."

'Damn! That was fast. I hope he knows what he's getting into!' Rhea acted like if she confessed her love to Hyatt later, he'd already be snatched up by someone else.

Erica looked at Hyatt again. He was trembling with excitement!

'Well, this might be the first time a girl's confessed to him since he was a kid, ' she thought to herself. 'Rhea is pretty hot, I have to admit that. If I were Hyatt, I'd be happy too!'

"Don't get so excited. Chill out. Just answer her. Do you wanna go out with her or not?" Erica reminded him helplessly.

Hyatt grabbed his phone, with his trembling hands, and typed a word on it, "Okay."

'Okay?

That's it?' Erica witnessed the birth of a new couple, brought forth with just a single word, "Okay."

They were her two best friends, and they got together in record time.

'Well, I always admired Rhea!' She patted on Hyatt's shoulder and said, "Dude, don't forget to buy me some snacks to celebrate!"

"No problem." Hyatt kept staring at the chat log between him and Rhea, unwilling to look away.

When the bell rang, Erica dozed off once more. Hyatt tapped her again and whispered, "Erica, it's not April Fool's, is it?" He still couldn't believe that Rhea wanted to be his girlfriend.

'This man is hopeless!' She simply closed her eyes and ignored him.

'Nah, it couldn't be April Fool's Day. We just had International Workers' Day last month, ' he thought. 'So...no. I guess this is real.'

After the class, the two walked out of class together. Hyatt had a silly smile on his face ever since he saw the text. Erica asked him, "Hyatt, why did you agree to be Rhea's boyfriend?" If he said he liked her, she figured he'd be lying. He never talked about her before.

Hyatt smiled shyly and replied, "If she really likes me, I should like her, shouldn't I?" 'Otherwise, she'd be pretty sad, ' he thought. Erica was confused by his logic. "Are you serious? What if someone else likes you? Do you just decide to love her too?"

However, to her surprise, he stopped her and said seriously, "No, I won't. I have Rhea now. I can't cheat on her!"

'Fine! Anyway, Hyatt only likes Rhea! And that's what matters, ' she mused.

Hyatt started badgering Erica about this or that. Since he was so far away from Rhea, he didn't know what he could do for her. "Maybe some gifts? Candy? Flowers? Should I call her every morning to wake her, and ring her up at bedtime to say good night? Should I..."

Erica had never been in love before she got married to Matthew. And the marriage was an arranged one. She didn't think Matthew loved her at all, so she couldn't give Hyatt any useful advice. She knew nothing about love.