EROS CASHBACK SYSTEM: You Can't Fake the Interest

Chapter 5: Chapter 5: The First return

Garrett locked the door behind him and headed down the stairs, phone already back in his pocket.

The morning was overcast, the sky hanging low over the rows of buildings around him. Buses idled at the corner while students drifted along the pavement with bags slung over their shoulders, most looking like they had already lost an argument with their alarms. The university wasn’t far. Garrett walked the route without thinking about it, passing the same newsagent, the same row of converted houses, and the same coffee shop with a queue that seemed permanently attached to its door.

By the time the university buildings came into view, the streets had given way to the familiar movement of students crossing between lectures. Garrett knew this place, which doors stuck, which lecture hall had terrible heating, which route through campus was fastest when everyone decided to leave at once. Whatever the System wanted from him, university was still university.

"There he is." Daniel fell into step beside him, coffee in one hand and his bag hanging from one shoulder. "You look terrible."

"Good morning to you too."

"I mean it affectionately."

Garrett glanced at the coffee. "That doesn’t look much better."

Daniel took a sip and immediately grimaced. "This is disgusting."

"Then stop buying it."

"I’ve invested too much money to quit now." Daniel glanced sideways at him. "You seem normal."

"Disappointing, isn’t it?"

"Very."

Daniel didn’t ask anything else. He just started talking about one of their lecturers, apparently convinced the man had developed a personal grudge against him. Garrett let him. It was easier that way.

---

The first lecture ran long. Professor Alberto had a habit of answering questions with explanations longer than the original lecture, and today was no exception. Garrett took notes in the shorthand he’d developed over the past two years while Daniel fought a losing battle with his eyelids beside him.

"He’s said ’fundamentally’ four times," Daniel whispered.

"Write it down."

"Why?"

"Might be on the exam."

"You’re not funny."

"I wasn’t trying to be."

Daniel looked offended for approximately three seconds before returning to his notes.

The second lecture was worse, less discussion, more slides, more silence. By the time it ended, Garrett had learned enough to justify being there and forgotten enough to make tomorrow’s revision necessary. Normal. That was probably the strangest part of the day. For a few hours, nothing had happened. No strange notification, no impossible promise, no breakup. Just university.

---

When they finally stepped outside, the square had filled with students heading in different directions.

"Food," Daniel said immediately. "I need actual food."

"You had coffee."

"Exactly."

Garrett shook his head and started toward the library. They had barely made it halfway when something caught his attention near the side entrance to the arts building. Three people stood together in a loose group, and a woman was standing opposite them. Nobody was shouting. Nobody was making a scene. But she kept trying to step around them, and every time she did, one of the others shifted just enough to block her path. One of them said something Garrett couldn’t hear. The woman folded her arms. She didn’t look frightened. She looked uncomfortable.

He could keep walking. It wasn’t his business. He didn’t know any of them, and getting involved in other people’s problems wasn’t exactly high on his list of things to do today.

Daniel had already stopped. "Come on."

Garrett looked at him. Daniel was already walking toward the group. Garrett sighed and followed.

"Alright, that’s enough," Daniel said as he stepped into the loose circle. "She’s clearly trying to get through."

One of the guys turned toward him. "This isn’t your conversation."

"Making it mine, then."

The other two exchanged a look. Garrett arrived beside Daniel, then got a proper look at the woman and stopped for half a second.

Freya.

His neighbour.

The same girl who had spent part of last night sitting on his sofa with her laptop, trying to finish her coursework. Of all the people on campus.

"Seriously?" he muttered.

Freya noticed him at almost the same moment, her eyes widening slightly. "You?"

Garrett looked at her. "What?"

Daniel glanced between them. "You two know each other?"

"Neighbour," Garrett said.

Freya gave a small nod.

Garrett ignored that. He looked back at the group. They were still blocking the path.

"You’re in the way," he said.

The guy raised an eyebrow. "And?"

Garrett shrugged. "Move." It wasn’t threatening. He didn’t raise his voice or step forward. He simply said it like the answer should have been obvious.

For a second, nobody moved. Then one of them scoffed and stepped aside. The others followed after a moment, muttering among themselves. Freya immediately walked through the opening.

Garrett expected her to keep going. Instead, she stopped a few metres away and turned around.

"Did I ask you to do that?"

Garrett paused. Daniel looked at him. Apparently, neither of them had expected that.

"You looked like you wanted to leave."

"I did."

"So?"

"So I could’ve handled it."

Garrett nodded once. "Okay."

She frowned. That clearly wasn’t the response she’d expected. "You don’t get to decide when someone needs help."

"I didn’t."

"You literally just did."

"I saw a group blocking someone from leaving."

"And you decided I couldn’t handle myself."

"I decided you wanted out."

She stared at him. Garrett stared back. There was a brief silence.

Daniel slowly looked between them. "What is happening right now?"

Neither answered.

Freya folded her arms tighter. "I had it handled."

"Alright."

"That’s it?"

"What do you want me to say?"

She opened her mouth, then stopped. Garrett wasn’t being sarcastic. Somehow, that seemed to make the situation more irritating. She exhaled through her nose. "Forget it."

She turned to leave, then stopped.

"Still... thanks."

The words sounded reluctant, but genuine enough.

Garrett nodded. "Sure."

She walked away, disappearing into the crowd heading toward the library.

Daniel watched her go, then looked at Garrett. "So your neighbour."

"Yeah."

"And she goes to our university."

"Looks that way."

"You didn’t know?"

"Was I supposed to?"

Daniel considered that. "Fair."

Garrett glanced toward the crowd again. Freya was already gone. His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out, expecting the System to have something to say. The screen still showed the same message.

[POTENTIAL VALUE DETECTED.]

Garrett stared at it for a moment.

Still nothing.

He slipped the phone back into his pocket.

Daniel noticed. "Something wrong?"

Garrett started walking. "Not sure yet."

Daniel caught up beside him. "That’s an unsettling answer."

"Yeah."

They continued toward the library. Garrett didn’t look back. But the question stayed with him.

If that hadn’t been enough, what exactly was?

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