Chapter 8

Standing behind Elaine were two soaking wet girls, totally drenched and looking like they had just walked through a hurricane. Elaine didn't even get a chance to admire their sorry state before she burst out laughing. "What happened to you two? Took a shower with your clothes on?" Diana was fuming, looking like she might explode. She lunged at Elaine and yelled, "Audrey, I'm gonna strangle you!" Elaine instinctively wanted to dodge, but before she could move, Marcus stepped between them like a shield and snapped, "What are you doing?" Clearly not expecting Marcus to defend Elaine, Diana instantly broke down, tears streaming down her face. "Marcus, she bullied me!" Elaine just blinked innocently and shrugged. "Diana, look at me—I'm all skin and bones. How could I possibly bully you? You've clearly got the upper hand here." No lies detected. Diana really was taller than Audrey. Audrey barely hit 160cm, while Diana had to be at least 165cm. But at moments like this, height wasn't necessarily a win. Diana was too mad to speak for a second, then burst out crying even louder. "Marcus, don't listen to her! She totally bullied me!" Elaine ducked behind Marcus again, sticking her head out and calmly said, "Alright, this weather's no joke—you'll catch a cold. Maybe let your Marcus take you home?" "I'm outta here." With that, Elaine started heading for the nearby door behind Marcus. She didn't get far before Marcus grabbed her arm, "I'll drive you back." Elaine gently pulled her arm back with an air of exaggerated patience. "They're the ones who need you to drive them. I'm good—I've got a car." Marcus's brow tightened like he was solving some complex math problem, eyeing her like something didn't add up. "Since when do you drive?" "I..." Elaine was caught off guard. No way to wriggle out of this—Audrey definitely didn't know how to drive and had never taken lessons. "I..." Under Marcus's suspicious stare, she meekly held up one finger. "First time today?" Everything she'd done so far was completely off character from what Marcus remembered about Audrey. The woman standing in front of him now? Totally different. He was pretty sure now—this wasn't Audrey. The real Audrey would never pull all this. "Get in," he barked and basically shoved Elaine into his car. Elaine groaned, "Wait, what about my car?" Marcus wasn't bothered in the slightest. The kind of guy who probably wouldn't blink twice about abandoning a Ferrari or a Golf on the roadside. Elaine decided she'd just come back for it tomorrow... or maybe even later today. This was technically her first time riding in Marcus's car as Audrey. Based on Audrey's memories, she'd never even been in it before. "You did it, didn't you?" Marcus asked suddenly, his voice low. Elaine froze, pretending not to get it. "Did what?" He gave her a look and yeah, she got it—time to confess. She straightened her posture and tried to reason it out, "I swear it wasn't my fault. The faucet just exploded. Like it had a personal vendetta. They could've moved out of the way, but nope—they stayed and tried to battle it." "Modern youth, I guess. All courage, zero common sense." Marcus raised an eyebrow. "And you?" "Me, though? I'm a seasoned civilian. First instinct? Dodge and survive." "But not them. Nope." She paused for dramatic effect. "They like to fight fate. And fate was... very wet."