That evening after school, I was about to head home when the class cleaning monitor asked me to help take out the trash. I didn't refuse. It was my duty to contribute to the class.
Sam and I were carrying the trash can towards the dumpster. As we passed the poster wall, we heard a commotion.
"Julia, stop playing innocent! Don't think I don't know you're with Li Zhiyuan. Fucking hell, at least give me a pair of your stockings as a souvenir!"
"Gage, you asshole! What nonsense are you spouting? You're disgusting! Let me go, or I'll scream for help!"
I stopped in my tracks. Julia was the prettiest girl in our class, pure and beautiful. A lot of guys had a crush on her. Gage was a bully from the class next door, always idle and causing trouble. Not just the students, even the teachers had a headache dealing with him.
At that moment, Julia looked terrified. She noticed us. "Sanmao, Ethan, help me!"
Sam pretended not to see. "Let's go, let's go," he whispered. "Don't get involved. We'll only get burned."
It was quiet, so Julia heard him. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Sam, are you even a man? You'd just stand there and watch?"
Her words made Sam's face turn red. He didn't know what to say. Gage just grinned sleazily and reached for her leg. I couldn't stand it anymore. I put down the trash can and strode over.
"Gage, what are you doing, bullying a girl?" I scoffed, my voice full of contempt.
He was unfazed. "Get lost. Don't fucking stick your nose where it doesn't belong, or my fists won't have eyes."
As a kid from the country, I had always kept a low profile at school. It had been almost two months, and there were still some classmates who didn't know me.
Guys like Gage were only good at scaring ordinary students. When it came to a real fight, I wasn't afraid of him.
He threw a punch, a confident smile on his face. I sidestepped, dodging his attack, then shot out a kick to his stomach. He doubled over, spitting up water.
"Fuck you. You're tough. Just you wait," Gage hissed, his face green. He wasn't a complete idiot. He knew he was no match for me and didn't press the attack.
After he hurried away, Julia let out a sigh of relief. Her face was flushed. "Ethan, thanks. If you hadn't come over, I would have been done for."
"Yeah, no problem. We're classmates, we should help each other out. You should head back to your dorm," I said. I noticed she was wearing black thigh-high stockings with her school uniform. It gave her a unique charm.
"That Gage is such a creep. I was just jogging on the field, and he said a teacher was looking for me. He dragged me here and tried to assault me. How about you walk me back to my dorm? In case he comes back," she said, a hint of hope in her voice.
Honestly, I wouldn't have minded. But it was 9:20. My sister-in-law usually showered at 9:30. That meant if I hurried back, I might still have a chance to see her in her nightgown. Now that I was eating all my meals at school and leaving early and coming back late, I rarely saw her.
"Sorry, I have to rush back to memorize vocabulary," I said with a laugh, an apologetic look on my face. "He ran off in the opposite direction of your dorm, so you should be fine."
A flicker of disappointment crossed Julia's eyes, but she couldn't blame me. Sam looked awkward. "Heh, actually, I could have taken Gage too. I just wanted to give him a chance to show off."
"Haha, you're all talk. When there's trouble, you're a coward. I look down on you," Julia shot him a glare, then waved at me. With a swing of her hips, she disappeared into the night.
The next day, the story was all over the school. Gage even sent word that he was going to teach me a lesson. I didn't take it to heart, but Julia couldn't stay calm. She ran over to console me. "Ethan, don't be afraid. If Gage lays a finger on you, I'll tell the dean of students. He'll be in for it."
Was I, a grown man, going to be protected by a girl?
"I'm not afraid. You're the one who's all nervous. It's cute. If he dares to mess with me, I'll make him regret it." This seemed to be the first time Julia had ever spoken to me directly. After all, most of the girls in our class were "dinosaurs." A girl with Julia's looks and figure was a rare find.
"Okay, I'll tell you a secret. My dad knows the dean. If Gage doesn't know what's good for him, he'll get a major demerit!" she said seriously.
I could tell the little lady was worried about me. She brought me a bag of snacks. I didn't want to take it, but she insisted, saying her family couldn't finish them all. I actually liked this stuff. Even though I had some pocket money, I was reluctant to spend it on snacks. It felt too extravagant.
Many classmates noticed Julia's actions and started teasing, saying she liked me. She blushed and quickly returned to her seat, burying her head in a piece of clothing.
Honestly, even though she was pretty and had a great body, after spending so much time with my sister-in-law, I preferred the charm of a mature woman. I didn't have any feelings for Julia. But she was just giving me snacks, that didn't necessarily mean she liked me, right? I just pretended to be a block of wood and kept quiet.
Even though Gage threatened to get revenge, he never made a move. I found it strange. Had the guy chickened out? I didn't think much of it.
The real thing that was bothering me wasn't Gage, but the fact that I couldn't see my sister-in-law. To be precise, she seemed to be deliberately avoiding me. I didn't know if my cousin had noticed my strange feelings and told her to keep her distance. Even though we lived under the same roof, our schedules were perfectly misaligned. My chances of seeing her were getting fewer and fewer. All I could do was look at the underwear she hung on her bay window to ease my longing.
It felt like we were the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, wanting to meet but unable to. Of course, it was possible I was just being delusional. She might have already forgotten our little secret.
Actually, I was also afraid. What if she got drunk and, in her confusion, blurted out what had happened? My cousin would skin me alive. But as long as he didn't talk to me, everything was fine.
This longing didn't fade with time; it only grew stronger. Sometimes I would come back at night and knock on their door, asking some trivial question like if they wanted noodles. She would always refuse without a second thought. If I didn't hear her voice, I would have thought she wasn't even in the room.
I had a feeling this was my cousin's doing. He might have noticed the way I looked at her. After all, we were both men; it wasn't surprising he would understand my thoughts. Honestly, I felt really uncomfortable. It felt like he was guarding against me like a thief, terrified of being cuckolded.
If only I could see her. Even just to chat, without watching porn, would be nice.
This longing continued until yesterday morning. My sister-in-law suddenly appeared at the classroom door, holding a thermos, the kind for delivering food. She exuded a seductive charm, and her curvy, fiery figure attracted the gazes of many hungry wolves.