"Hi."

At this moment, Miles’s voice sounded charming with a highlighted effect to the dazed Chloe. It was as if, for a split second, everything around them no longer existed and her whole world was occupied by his presence.

Too stunned, it took Chloe two seconds to regain her senses. Meeting Miles’s calm, impassive eyes, her heart, which had already skipped a beat, began to thump rapidly.

’Him... It’s him, but—what’s he doing here?’ her heart screamed at her.

However, after the brief moment of daze and a flash of panic, Chloe controlled her emotions to lock the chaos within her, appearing silent and calm as she looked at him.

’Damn. She’s such a great actress. No wonder my predecessor never noticed her, nor did he ever dream that such a gifted beauty was obsessively crushing on him,’ Miles thought.

"Hi," Chloe managed to reply, acting calm as if he were a stranger.

No less skilled in acting, Miles hummed and revealed a sincere, solemn look, as if he were about to expose his greatest secrets.

"My name is Miles. Nice to meet you, Chloe."

Stretching his hand out for a shake, Chloe was stunned but quickly reacted despite how surreal it felt.

After years of secret obsession, Chloe didn’t expect Miles to actually know her name. Since they weren’t in the same class, she couldn’t blame him for not noticing her before either. Instead, each time he had passed by without glancing her way, she would call herself an idiot. It wasn’t pride that kept her from lowering herself to confess her feelings, but the fear of being rejected and, most importantly, shyness. Even if she was great at masking her emotions, she was a little girl at heart—the kind of girl who was immersed in her own world, afraid of the harsh reality.

At this moment, her calm, neutral expression cracked and her eyes widened when she felt Miles’s strong palm smoothly embrace the surface of her skin beneath his fingers.

She was speechless for a moment before replying, her words sounding like broken syllables caught in a time lag.

"Nice to meet you—I’m Chloe."

’Oh my goodness. I sound so stupid. Didn’t he just say my name? Why did I mention it again?’

Just as she berated herself, she felt a slight movement and her eyes widened, instinctively lowering to glance at her palm. Miles had switched from a normal handshake to a gentleman’s hold, his thumb firmly placed above her hand.

’Oh no. What should I do?’

Despite her attempts to suppress the chaos in her heart, her cheeks flushed while her eyes remained glued to their entangled palms.

Suddenly, before she could dig a hole and crawl into it, Miles rubbed his thumb and spoke.

"I don’t know if this is normal since it’s our first time actually speaking, but please, will you be my dance partner tonight?"

’What did he say? Dance partner? How?’

Chloe’s ears heated up. She felt like disappearing into thin air but found herself gripping his hand tighter without realizing it. Her thoughts calmed down for some unknown reason, and she could think clearly again.

’Dance partner? What’s happening tonight—’

Before the thought was halfway formed, she paused and remembered.

’Tonight is Rachael’s birthday? Oh my gosh. How could I forget? She personally invited me.’

Although she wasn’t particularly close with this classmate of hers, Chloe couldn’t help but feel guilty. Previously, the reason she had forgotten it was probably because there was nothing to look forward to. At parties like this, it would just be her, alone and lonely.

But now that she had been asked to the dance by Miles, there was no way she could refuse. Her heart became filled with elation at the realization. Her crush had finally asked her out; although it wasn’t a formal date, to her, it didn’t feel much different.

Feeling her grip his hand tightly for support, probably to ease her anxiety, Miles couldn’t help but smile.

After what felt like an eternity, she finally woke from the maze of thoughts and took a slight breath to quell her chaotic heart before replying.

"Yes." She nodded her head with great difficulty.

"Great. So I’ll pick you up by 8:30 pm tonight?" he asked, but all he got was a stifled face and a nod from her, looking as though she were about to lose it.

"Bye, Chloe."

Flashing her a smile, he rubbed her hand, and her tight grip loosened instantly.

"Ahh." A light gasp escaped her lips the moment he let go. Like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she became extremely alert and stared at her own palm in shock, realizing that just then, the comfort she felt had been from gripping his hand so tightly.

Her face flushed. She raised her head to glance at his departing figure, only to quickly look away. Hearing the whispers of passing students, she used her locker door to hide her face.

"Look, did Miles just ask Chloe out? Hissss, how bold."

"You call it bold? I’ll say he’s stupid. Who does he think he is? Isn’t he just a nerd who happened to get a lucky break that allowed him to shed his weak skin? After dealing with Chris’s group, he thinks he can go after Chloe? Stupid bastard."

"I’m sure if Billy finds out, he’s going to beat him to a pulp and stuff him in a locker."

"What a pity. Rose too early, got arrogant, offended the biggest dog, and got fucked up. What a cliché."

At most, these were the words of a bunch of losers from Class 1, Junior Year, who couldn’t stand the envy of Miles’s boldness, themselves too scared to approach Chloe.

Chloe heard this and felt a flash of guilt and worry.

’I’ve got to tell big bro not to do anything to him, or I’ll kill myself,’ she vowed.

Naturally, Miles had also heard the jealous whispers, but he couldn’t care less.

’Billy? Pfft. You wish.’

Seeing the astounded looks of Theo, Oliver, and Simon, who had been spectating from the beginning, he smiled with a victorious grin. Although no bet had been made—because he genuinely wanted Chloe to be his main woman—Miles still felt a playful sense of loss, thinking it was a shame they hadn’t gambled anything on it.