But that had nothing to do with Levi Charles.
If she excelled in her studies, inheriting the Sterling family legacy wasn't entirely out of the question.
With this newfound hope, Sloane Sterling cared even less about Levi's situation. Before he could even finish his drunken rambling, she hung up the phone.
Claire and her three roommates, along with Priscilla Hastings and Phoebe Young from next door who had tagged along for food, headed to the dining hall together.
They grabbed their meals early, finished eating, and waited for Levi to arrive and make his apology.
Levi dragged his feet, only showing up at the dining hall after Lillian Vance called him.
Lillian and Claire's counselor, Zane Harrison, were both there.
They were all waiting for Levi's apology.
Levi had rushed back from off-campus.
The stench of alcohol still lingered on him.
Lillian frowned when she saw her student in such a state.
He made her feel utterly humiliated; his behavior was completely unacceptable.
"What's going on?"
Julia and her group had also arrived for dinner. Spotting Claire and the guy who usually trailed after Sloane, they couldn't help but wander over, burning with curiosity.
Claire gave a brief explanation. "Someone spread rumors about me, and now he has to issue a public apology right here."
Julia frowned. She really hadn't liked Claire before.
But that was only because she mistakenly believed Claire was trying to seduce Elvis.
After realizing Claire had done no such thing, her opinion of the girl had improved significantly.
In her eyes, Elvis wasn't just exceptional; he came from a great background. If Claire could remain completely unfazed by him, then she was worthy of being Julia's friend.
Claire?
She had zero desire to befriend some spoiled, arrogant heiress!
She couldn't be bothered to deal with that kind of maintenance.
"What's his problem?"
Julia looked at Levi with thinly veiled disgust.
While many wanted to get on Sloane's good side, they at least engaged in normal social networking. Levi was just a pathetic sycophant.
Claire shot Julia a silent look.
*You don't exactly have the right to look down on him,* she thought. *Aren't you exactly like that around Elvis?*
Well, not quite. A wealthy girl
lowering her standards was
inherently different from a gold\
digger trying to climb the social ladder.
Besides, Elvis wouldn't dare push Julia too far.
Julia's approach was more like, "I'm begging you, please eat with me today!"
And if Elvis refused, her next sentence would be, "If you don't eat with me today, no one gets to eat!"
Quite amusing, wasn't it?
While Claire kept these thoughts to herself, Whitney was not nearly as polite.
She pot out directly. "The way
Levi around Sloane is exactly how you
act around Elvis It's Act
pathetic."
so
Paired with Whitney's perpetually mocking expression, the comment made Julia want to scream.
"I do not!"
Julia certainly didn't see herself as a desperate hanger-on.
Oh, that was a concept she had only learned after coming to Solenia.
Solenian culture truly was vast and profound, especially when it came to coining such perfectly descriptive terms.
Whitney also found the term delightfully fitting, as if it had been custom-made for Julia.
อนา
"Sure you don't. Is that why you brought Elvis lunch yesterday, why you harassed him to go play sports with you right after class today?
"I..." Julia was speechless.
Because she had done exactly that.
She was completely oblivious to her own desperation, fully convinced she was just
bravely pursuing love.
"Alright, you two, quit arguing. I need to hear Levi's apology."
Claire motioned for them to quiet down.
She shifted her gaze toward Levi.
"Levi, weren't we agreed that you'd use a megaphone for this apology?"
"Did you forget to bring it?"
Levi's face stiffened. "I forgot."
Claire didn't even look at him. She turned straight to Lillian. "Ms. Vance, does Levi
not want to apologize to me?"