I turned around and found a petite girl about my age jogging toward me.
She was wearing white jogging pants and a lavender-colored top, with headphones covering her ears.
Cute didn’t even do her justice—she was adorable.
’Wait. That pink hair looked familiar.’
She was one of Raven’s only friends back in high school, but she looked nothing like the girl he remembered.
Back then, she wore thick, oversized glasses and kept her long, unkempt hair hanging around her face.
Now, she was a total hottie.
"It’s me. Lea."
She gave me an awkward little wave, almost as if she wasn’t completely sure she got the right person.
"How could I forget? You look so different, I almost didn’t recognize you."
Her expression softened. "Th-Thanks."
The silence started getting awkward, so I changed the subject.
"When did you get back?"
"Last month. We used to live somewhere else, but my parents found a place in this neighborhood, so we moved here a few weeks ago."
"Small world."
"That’s what I thought when I saw you." She nodded. "I wasn’t even sure I had the right guy at first."
"It’s been years, so I can’t blame you. Honestly, I’m a little nervous talking to you now."
She tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
That little pause. That expression. She really knew how to use her looks to her advantage.
Or maybe I was just that easy.
"Well... you know me. I’ve always had trouble talking to girls." I paused. "Especially when they’re as cute as you."
Her eyes widened.
DING!
Of course the System had to interrupt at the exact moment things were getting interesting.
[Recruitment Candidate Detected.]
Oh.
This was good news. Celine was my only prospect and source of experience points, and I hadn’t recruited a single member yet. Lea could help me solve both problems.
And admittedly, having a pretty girl qualify certainly didn’t hurt.
"Y-You think I’m cute?"
Her question pulled me out of my thoughts.
"Wasn’t that obvious?"
Her face became even redder.
"I... wasn’t expecting you to say it so directly."
"My bad for being too honest." I scratched my head, playing dumb.
She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Watching her struggle for an answer was pretty entertaining.
"Were you heading that way too?" She pointed down the road.
"Yeah. Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all." She flashed me a warm smile.
We started walking side by side.
"So... what have you been up to all these years?" she asked.
"Trying to get my life together. I’m planning to enroll in college again next semester."
"Really? Me too."
After talking a little more, I found out we were even going to the same college.
From there, the conversation flowed surprisingly easily. By the time we had to split up, talking to her no longer felt awkward.
"Since we’ll be on the same campus, we should probably exchange numbers. You know, just in case."
She raised an eyebrow. "So you wouldn’t have asked for my number if we weren’t going to the same college?"
Oh. She got me there.
"I was trying to come up with a respectable excuse."
She smiled and entered her phone number on my phone. "I guess I’ll let that excuse slide."
"Bye. See you later, Raven."
I watched her walk away before realizing I forgot to check her status. I got too caught up talking to her.
My right eye warmed as I focused on her back.
[Target level is too high.]
’What?’