Around dusk, a blue Dodge Viper pulled up outside Caltech.
A Dodge Viper wasn't exactly a high-end luxury car; its sticker price was only about $90k, making it more of an entry-level sports car.
Parked outside a prestigious school like Caltech, the car itself didn't turn many heads.
The real attraction was the Asian guy leaning against it. He possessed movie-star-level good looks, drawing significant attention from passersby.
This was Caltech, where the male-to-female ratio heavily favored guys.
If this were UCLA or USC, the Asian guy would have been completely swarmed by girls.
Even so, several brave female students approached him to ask for his number, though they all got politely rejected.
Partly because the guy kept his circle tight, and partly because the talent pool at Caltech wasn't exactly stunning.
The latter was probably the main reason.
After waiting a while, a beautiful dark-haired girl walked out of Caltech. She scanned the area, and upon spotting the Asian guy, a massive smile lit up her face. She jogged over and threw her arms around him.
Seeing this, the hearts of countless Caltech guys collectively shattered.
"No! Blake has a boyfriend!"
A young guy with a highly concerning receding hairline looked like his dog just died.
"Sheldon, you had a crush on Blake too? Why didn't I know?"
Standing next to him was a short guy wearing glasses.
"Shut up, Leonard! There's plenty you don't know! Point is, I'm incredibly depressed right now!"
The short guy glared back defensively.
"Bullshit! I guarantee I know everything about you!"
"Even what I did with your Wonder Woman comic?"
"Holy shit! You mean the one I loaned you? Motherfucker! No wonder the pages were stuck together when you gave it back! Fuck, that was my favorite issue! You're buying me a new one!"
"Relax, Leonard! It was just a minor error that occurred while a physics major attempted to study biology!"
Despite their excuses, other students who overheard the exchange quickly moved away.
Listening to those two any longer felt like a biological hazard to the ears.
Meanwhile, Blake hugged Lawson tight, seemingly trying to pour all the longing from the past few days into a single embrace.
She took a deep breath, filling her lungs with her boyfriend's scent, before finally speaking.
"Lawson, have you been waiting long?"
"Not at all. Just half an hour."
In Lawson's experience, a girl only making you wait thirty minutes meant she was actually highly punctual.
But Blake felt incredibly guilty and quickly explained.
"Sorry! A professor needed to see me right as I was leaving. Held me up!"
"No worries! Blake, you planning to hold me until it gets dark?"
Slightly embarrassed, Blake finally let him go. Lawson just smelled incredibly good to her; once she held him, she didn't want to let go.
"What's the plan for tonight?"
"Obviously, we're going to..."
Right as Lawson was about to lay out his date plan, some completely clueless guy walked over to hustle them.
"Hey, bro, looking for some party favors?"
The guy looked exactly like those shady bootleg DVD peddlers you'd see back on the streets in China.
Lawson noticed several similar guys hanging around Caltech's entrance. They all spoke with a distinct accent.
But since English wasn't Lawson's native language, he couldn't pinpoint exactly where the accent was from.
"We're good!"
Saying that, Lawson pulled Blake into the Dodge Viper, fired up the engine, and pulled away.
"Blake, are there always that many hustlers outside your school?"
"Don't think they were around last year. Suddenly popped up everywhere this year. All guys with that Irish accent. A lot of my classmates buy drugs from them."
Irish accent. And drugs...
Lawson instantly connected the dots.
"Blake, you haven't bought any, right?"
"Of course not! If I touched that shit, my dad would break my legs!"
"Ha! Way more likely your dad breaks the dealer's legs, then threatens every dealer in the city not to sell to you. 'Hey, you piece of shit dealers! Stay away from my daughter, or I'll blow your fucking heads off!'"
Lawson delivered a flawless impression of Ray Gaines, making Blake burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! My dad would totally say exactly that!"
While laughing, Lawson suddenly felt a chill run down his spine, like a needle prick.
He checked his surroundings but didn't spot anything unusual.
Just paranoia?
Lawson didn't notice the car tailing him from a distance. He'd never received counter-surveillance training, so it was completely normal for him to miss it.
The two laughed and chatted all the way to a seafood joint near Santa Monica Beach called Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.
Weird name, but supposedly notoriously hard to book.
Santa Monica was a massive tourist trap in LA County, packed with restaurants and attractions. When Lawson asked Svafa for recommendations, she pointed him here.
It was also thanks to Svafa that Lawson secured a table at Bubba Gump on such short notice.
Though when Svafa found out he was taking his girlfriend on a date, she didn't say anything, but clearly showed hints of jealousy.
"Table for two? Do you have a reservation?"
"Name's Lawson."
"Right this way, Mr. Lawson."
The waiter led Lawson and Blake to a prime window seat.
"Lawson, I remember this place being incredibly hard to book. My dad tried getting a table here once and completely failed. How did you pull it off?"
"Oh, I know a guy who knows a guy working here. Got the table through an inside connection."
"Ah, that makes sense!"
Lawson handed Blake the menu.
"Blake, order whatever you want."
But Blake only picked a few cheap items, making Lawson sigh helplessly.
"Blake, I'm not a billionaire, but I can definitely afford dinner. Don't cheap out on my account."
"Who said I'm saving your money? I'm saving my money! Aren't we splitting the check?"
Lawson stared at Blake in shock. That was a line you absolutely never heard from a girl back .
"Tell you what. I'll order for you, and you order for me. Deal?"
"Seriously? Then I'm definitely ordering a massive plate!"