billion book
Chapter 156: I’ll Do Whatever You Want Me To Do
Since it was November, the heat had been turned up by maintenance, and it was nice and toasty indoors– Scarlett was comfortable roaming around in just a t-shirt. At the same time, Scarlett was reading a novel sprawled on Bell’s bed while everyone else was busy playing Monopoly.
“Scarlett, don’t you want to join us? This game of Monopoly is getting superheated!” Sarah said, marveling at the properties she had been able to amass in the first quarter of the game.
Scarlett heard that and looked up, but Bell chimed in before Scarlett could say anything, “Sarah, you’ve already stolen every single property from us! Now you want to steal more from Scarlett, too, don’t you?” Bell chuckled.
“Fine, I’ll try to stop absolutely crushing you guys at this game. Anyway, hey, Scarlett, do you think you could go out and get us something to eat and drink?”
“It’s cold outside! I don’t want to go out!” Scarlett shook her head furiously, burrowing deeper into the quilt.
“Come on, I’ll give you some cash. It would be awesome if you could pop down to the bodega and get some beers and snacks. What do you think?” She waved a $20 bill in front of her.
Scarlett didn’t want to get up, and besides, she hadn’t worn the warmest clothes that day. “Why don’t you just go out and buy whatever you want yourself? I don’t know what kinda beer and snacks y’all want….”
“We’re in the middle of the game! Please, it’ll be a super quick errand. Come on now, Scarlett.”
“I don’t want to…” Scarlett pouted.
“Wow, alright, well. I should let you know: I’m a member of the Peer Teaching committee at school, and one of the professors asked me to recommend someone for this new graduate teaching program they’re going to pilot next month. I thought I would recommend you, but now…” Sarah pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and said.
Scarlett instantly jumped up out of bed and said, “I’ll do whatever you want me to do. What kind of beer do you want to drink? How about I buy some snacks for you, too?”
Sarah smiled with satisfaction and took some money out from her wallet, and gave it to Scarlett, “Don’t worry. Someone else already recommended you, so you were already on the list of candidates!”
After that, Scarlett breathed a sigh of relief, put on Bell’s down jacket and shoes, and went out.
At night, the streets outside the university became like the night markets of Singapore and Bangkok; they were full of stalls and food trucks from nearby areas. Students were pouring out of the library seeking midnight meals, so Scarlett had to wait for a long time before she could finally get some food from a vendor.
On the way back to the dorms, Scarlett came across many acquaintances. When she passed by the boy’s dorm, she ran into Mark Bates sitting on the grass. He was one of her classmates.
“Mark, what are you doing here?” Scarlett asked.
Mark stood up and snatched a can of beer from her in a flash. After he gulped down a long sip, he said sadly, “Scarlett, life is so hard! I can’t bear it anymore.”
“What happened? Did your boss yell at you again?” Scarlett said.
“Forget it. I don’t want you to know about that!” Mark sighed.
“Well, okay! Take care!” Scarlett said, confused by Mark’s reluctance to share his feelings. She really couldn’t understand what Mark was thinking.
“Do you know that Dan and the others are coming back soon?” he said.
“I have no idea about that!” she said as she had one hand behind her back.
“Well, we are going to throw a party to welcome them to our department. And I hope you can attend the party, too.” He said warmly.
“I’ll go there if I’m free. But I can’t promise you that now because I don’t know if I’ll be busy on that day or not,” she said.
Mark nodded his head and waved goodbye to her, “It’s late now. I’d better go back and you, too.”
Scarlett said goodbye to Mark and left him. After she walked far away from him, Scarlett still didn’t know what Mark was up to. It all seemed a bit strange.
Scarlett gave the snacks to Bell and the others when she got back to the dorm and went to bed soon after.
***
Although Scarlett had gone to sleep, a night on campus had only just begun. The RA on the floor, Eleanor Young, came to knock on the girls’ door.
“Is Scarlett here? Someone is looking for her downstairs.”
“I’m Scarlett. Who is looking for me?” Scarlett raised her head and asked, suddenly awake.
“He told me he was your uncle. Come on, he is still waiting for you outside.”
“My uncle?” She said doubtfully. After a second thought, her eyes brightened because she realized that it was probably Francis. She waved her hand and said, “I’ll come down very soon, thank you!”
“Why is your uncle here on campus looking for you? Is there any emergency or something? Something happens at home?” Bell wondered.
“I don’t know. I’ll handle it tomorrow.” Scarlett said. After that, she went to bed again because she didn’t want to see Francis right then. The others just left her alone and stopped asking her questions because they knew that Scarlett didn’t always get on well with her relatives.
However, about half an hour later, there was a knock on the door again.
“Hey, Scarlett, your uncle is still waiting downstairs. Why are you still here?” Eleanor said, sounding impatient.
“Oh, okay.” Scarlett instantly sat up in bed and said.
“Why do you treat your uncle like that? It’s so rude. Don’t you want to go and find out what’s up?” She was disgruntled.
“I’ll be down in a minute. Just give me a moment, okay?” Scarlett said helplessly.
“Be quick and come with me! I don’t want to come back here again.” She said with an angry look.
Having no choice, Scarlett just put on her coat and went down with her.
“You guys are really spoiled by your family now. How can you get mad at your uncle and keep him waiting so long? I don’t want to be a busybody, but I have to tell you that it’s really bad-mannered of you to treat your uncle like that.” She reproached Scarlett, walking ahead of her.