A Fish in My Lake

My brother was in love with the campus belle, Stella. Stella was in love with Sam Croft.
For the sake of my brother’s happiness, I decided to sacrifice my feminine wiles and conquer Sam—the campus's resident ice king—myself.
After finally winning him over, a slip of the tongue during a moment of carelessness ruined everything. I tried every trick in the book, but Sam remained unmoved.
Just when I was ready to give up and dive into the arms of a 6'2" freshman jock, Sam appeared before me, smelling of liquor, his eyes rimmed with red.
“It’s okay if I’m just another fish in your pond,” he said, his voice raw. “Just… keep fishing for me.”

1
The 10,086th time my brother, Leo, confessed his love to Stella and got rejected, I was standing off to the side, finishing an ice cream cone.
After swallowing the last bite of the waffle cone, I dusted off my hands and strolled over to my heartbroken brother. I stood on my toes, slinging an arm around his shoulder like we were buddies.
“Don’t be sad, big bro. I’ve got a plan.”
His face lit up with hope. “Really? What is it?”
“Stella just said she’s into Sam, right? So, I’ll go out and make Sam mine. Once he’s off the market, maybe she’ll finally give you a second look.” As I spoke, I discreetly plucked the small necklace box from the bouquet of roses he was holding and slipped it into my pocket.
The hope on Leo’s face curdled into stunned silence, then morphed into pitying concern. “Nora… maybe we should get your head checked. And also, give me my necklace back.”
He reached for my pocket, but I dodged him with a practiced move, snatching the roses from his other hand while I was at it. Ignoring the murderous glare he was sending my way, I made a quick escape.
“You won’t be needing these anymore,” I called over my shoulder. “I’ll put them to good use!”

2
High ponytail, crisp white blouse, pleated skirt. Paired with a clean, “no-makeup” makeup look. I admired my reflection in the mirror, flashing my signature, award-winning fake smile.
Perfect. He wouldn’t stand a chance.
But just as I was about to head out, the heavens opened up and it started pouring. Time for a change of plans. I shoved the roses into the fridge, grabbed an umbrella, and bolted out the door.
I stood in the covered walkway of the academic building. Just as I was making my Nth attempt to fix my wind-flattened hair, I caught a glimpse of Sam about to exit the building.
Showtime.
I quickly hung my umbrella on a nearby rack and stood by the entrance, feigning distress as I stared out at the downpour. As Sam drew closer, I turned and stepped into his path, pitching my voice to sound soft and helpless.
“Excuse me,” I began, “I, uh, forgot my umbrella. Would you mind walking me back to my dorm?”
I finished with a shy, doe-eyed look, my clothes slightly damp from the rain. The picture of a damsel in distress.
Heh. The most skilled hunters often appear as prey.

3
Before Sam could answer, I saw someone grab my umbrella from the rack and start to walk away.
“Hey! Umbrella thief! Drop my umbrella!”
Forgetting my act entirely, I shot past Sam in pursuit. Hearing my shout, the thief popped the umbrella open and made a run for it, disappearing into the curtain of rain.
Damn it! First my food deliveries get stolen three times, and now my umbrella. I was going to blast this thief all over the campus confession page!
Wait… I forgot something.
I turned around and found myself face-to-face with Sam. We just stared at each other. In that instant, all my carefully crafted plans and confidence evaporated.
I cleared my throat twice, forcing my voice back into that delicate tone. “Um, I…” I stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence.
Great. Not only did Sam know I’d been lying about the umbrella, but now I actually didn’t have one.
Just as I expected him to refuse and walk away, he opened his own umbrella and stepped beside me, tilting it to cover me. An almost imperceptible smile played on his lips.
“Let’s go. I’ll walk you back.”
The moment we reached my dorm, I immediately pulled out my phone, ready to exchange contacts. “Thank you so much for walking me back. How about I get your number? I can buy you a coffee sometime to thank you properly.”
Sam offered a polite but distant smile. “No need. It was nothing.”
He started to turn away, but I quickly grabbed the corner of his sleeve. “Wait! Let’s exchange numbers anyway. There’s something important I need to talk to you about!”
“Talk about what?”
“Add me, and I’ll tell you.”
A moment later, after he’d sent the friend request, I met his confused gaze with my sweetest smile.
“About us dating.”
…

4
Staring at the chat window with just our two names, “Sam Croft” and “Nora Hayes,” I was at a complete loss.
My roommate, Cici, bounced over. “Nora, are you going to the big basketball game against Northwood State tomorrow?”
“Nah, not interested.”
“Really? Sam is playing. I wonder how many girls will be fighting to give him a water bottle this time.” She shot me a teasing look; she knew all about my grand declaration to conquer him.
“Even if Sam is playing, I’m… definitely going! What time? We need to get there early to grab good seats!”
I immediately opened my chat with him.
【Hey, I heard you have a game tomorrow! Can I come bring you water?】
After a long wait, a single, crushing reply came back: 【No need.】
Ha. Men. Playing hard to get, are we? When a man says no, he means yes.
The next day, I did a complete 180 from my innocent look. I curled my hair into beachy waves, slipped into a ridiculously short skirt, and went for a full glam makeup look. I pulled the roses from the fridge and gave them a once-over. Yep, still usable. Waste not, want not.
Then, I grabbed Cici and we sprinted to the gym.

5
Wow, Sam really was popular. The cheers in the stadium were deafening, and most of them were for him.
Not one to be outdone, I whipped out the pair of five-dollar, fluorescent green pom-poms I’d bought from a street vendor the night before. I shook them with all my might, screaming at the top of my lungs, “SAM, LET’S GO!”
Maybe it was my volume, or maybe it was the blindingly green pom-poms, but his eyes drifted in my direction, locking with mine for a brief second. He seemed momentarily stunned, but then he turned and sank a perfect three-pointer.
The moment the halftime buzzer sounded, I grabbed a water bottle and charged toward him.
And was promptly swallowed by a wall of people.
There were so many girls trying to give him water. I fought my way through the crowd, even spotting Stella in the mix. A quick glance back revealed my brother, Leo, staring forlornly from the stands.
With one last push, I broke through and held the water out to Sam. “You worked hard out there, senior.”
But his response was the same as before. “Thanks, but no.”

6
A player next to him laughed. “Dude, a pretty girl offers you water and you say no? Hey, if he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it. I’m dying of thirst.”
He reached for the bottle. Just as I was about to hand it over, it was snatched from my grasp by a pair of long, elegant fingers. The teammate’s hand was left hanging in the air. We both turned to look at the hand’s owner.
Sam leisurely twisted the cap off, took two long swallows, and then glanced at his teammate. “Sorry,” he said coolly. “I’m thirsty too.”
My heart did a little flip. Okay, maybe this mission wasn’t a lost cause after all.
I looked at the other player apologetically. “Sorry about that. Let me buy you another one.”
Sam shot him a sideways glance. “He can buy his own.”
The teammate just grinned knowingly. “Yeah, don’t worry about it. I’ll get my own.” He winked and jogged off.
Sam finished the water, looked at me, and said, “Wait here a second,” before running off.
He returned a minute later holding a light button-down shirt. He glanced away, a hint of awkwardness on his face, as he handed it to me. “There are a lot of bugs in here. You can wrap this around your legs. To keep them from biting you.”
Bugs? I hadn’t seen any bugs. I looked down at my miniskirt and understood. I took the shirt and tied it around my waist.
Yes! Getting him to accept the flowers was going to be a piece of cake!
I shot a triumphant look at my brother in the stands. When I turned back, Sam’s face had darkened, and he was already walking away.

7
Unsurprisingly, our team won.
I picked up the roses I’d stashed and was about to walk over to Sam when a shadow fell over me. I looked up to see a clean-cut, handsome guy smiling at me.
“Hey, I was watching you during the game. Can I get your number?”
“Sorry,” I said, trying to step to the right.
He mirrored my movement, blocking my path. “Come on, just your number. We can just be friends.”
I could see Sam and his team about to leave. Clutching the roses, I dodged around the guy. “Sorry, no phone, I live under a rock.”
As I hurried away, I glanced back toward Sam and saw that he’d been watching us the whole time.
“Sam!”
By the time I caught up to him, his expression was thunderous. Wasn’t he happy about winning?
I held out the roses. “Congratulations on the win!”
He didn’t take them. He just stared at the bouquet for a long moment. Then, he let out a short, cold laugh. “Regifting, are we?”
My heart skipped a beat. I nervously tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
How did he know these were the flowers my brother failed to give Stella?
I examined the bouquet again. They were only a day old, and I’d kept them in the fridge. There was no way he could tell.
I forced a laugh, about to make something up, when one of his teammates came over to drag him to the victory party. Sam’s eyes were dark pools as he looked at me one last time before turning to leave.
“Your shirt,” I said, starting to untie it from my waist.
Without looking back, he called out, “Don’t need it. Just throw it away.”

8
I angrily shoved the roses into a trash can. This was all my brother’s fault. The water bottle went fine, but the roses were a disaster. There must have been something wrong with them.
Then I untied the shirt from my waist and threw it in the trash too.
【Forget it. I’m done. This is too much trouble.】
I sent the text to my brother, and a second later, a notification popped up: $50,000 has been deposited into your account.
It was followed by another text from Leo: 【Keep pushing! I believe in you!】
The audacity! How could he…!
I could.
I meekly retrieved the shirt from the trash can.
What can I say? He gave me too much money.
Over the next few weeks, I became Sam’s shadow. I brought him breakfast, engineered “coincidental” run-ins, and crashed his classes under the guise of wanting to learn.
The result? The breakfasts were usually rejected, ending up in either my brother’s stomach or his roommate’s. When we “bumped into each other,” he’d ignore my dazzling fake smile and walk right past me. And during class, whenever I’d start chattering, he’d just say, “Nora, if you’re going to crash a class, at least pay attention.”
So, after all my hard work, all I had to show for it was a new reputation as a pathetic clinger.

9
I was trailing behind Sam, holding a taro boba tea, chattering away.
“Hey handsome, special delivery. It’s got taro, it’s got milk tea… but if you want the boba, you’ll have to come and claim it yourself.”
The figure in front of me stopped dead. I didn’t react in time and walked right into his back.
“Ow,” I muttered, rubbing my nose. “Why’d you stop all of a sudden?”
Sam turned to face me. “Nora, why are you always following me?”
“I’m pursuing you, obviously,” I said with a grin.
He was silent for a moment, his expression unusually serious. He looked me straight in the eye. “Do you like me?”
His gaze was intense, complex, as if he could see right through me. There was a hint of darkness in his eyes, a flicker of something that looked almost… lonely.
I froze for a second, then my eyes darted around nervously as I forced a laugh. “Of course! Why else would I have been chasing you for so long?”
I didn't look at him, so I missed the brief, stunned expression that crossed his face. After a long pause, all I heard was a nearly inaudible sigh.
When I turned back, a cool, soft pressure met my lips. A warm hand cupped the back of my head, and the clean scent of pine filled my senses.
My brain completely short-circuited. All I could see was Sam’s face, magnified before me, his eyes closed as he kissed me gently.
Before I could even process what was happening, he pulled back slightly, drawing me into an embrace.
“Then let’s be together.”
My head was still spinning. I leaned against his chest, dazed. “Okay.”

10
“No way, Nora! You actually did it!?”
Under the stunned gazes of my brother and Cici, I lifted my chin with a smug little smile. “Sam Croft? Conquered.”
I patted Leo’s shoulder like a disappointed mentor. “Bro, if you still can’t win Stella over now, maybe you should start questioning your own charisma.”
“Get off me!” he swatted my hand away.
After we got together, the tables turned completely. Sam brought me breakfast, Sam bought me coffee, and Sam came to my classes to sit with me.
Everything was great. Except for my brother.
When I arrived at the private room in the bar, Leo was a sobbing, snotty mess, clinging to his friend. Yep. Rejected by Stella for the 10,087th time.
The moment he saw me, he stumbled over, crying. “Even without Sam in the picture, she still doesn’t like me!”
I pushed him away with a look of disgust.
He wiped his tears and looked at me. “Since it didn’t work, you don’t have to keep pretending to be with Sam for my sake.”
“I…”
Seeing my hesitation, Leo forgot to cry. He stared at me in shock. “Nora, don’t tell me you’ve actually caught feelings.”
Caught feelings? I wasn’t sure. But my mouth moved faster than my brain. “Of course not! It’s not like I actually like him. Besides, why would I give up a whole pond full of fish for just one guy?”
“Nora.”
I froze at the sound of that voice. I whipped my head around to look at the doorway.
Sam was standing there, his expression hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to read.

11
Sam stepped out of the darkness, and the dim lights of the room slowly illuminated his face. He was smiling, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. Draped over his arm was a women’s trench coat.
I watched, stunned, as he walked toward me.
“Sam, what are you…”
He held the coat out to me. “It’s getting cold outside.”
“You were… When did you get here?” I wanted to ask if he’d heard me, but the words wouldn’t come out.
“Just got here. Why?”
“N-nothing.”
“I’ll go now. You guys have fun.”
As I watched him leave, a strong, unsettling premonition washed over me. I didn’t see the self-mocking smile that twisted his lips the moment he turned away.
Something was wrong with Sam. Very wrong. He must have heard what I said. But why didn’t he say anything?

12
My brother’s grumbling voice broke through my thoughts. “That kid Sam just gets on my nerves. Nora, when are you going to dump him?”
When I didn’t answer, he continued, “Nora, I know you have a lot of admirers, but you’ve never even dated before. Where’s this ‘pond of fish’ you were talking about? You were just…”
I clapped a hand over his mouth. “Bro, you’re rambling.”
I scrolled aimlessly through my phone. When I finally came to, I was staring at my chat with Sam. The image of his empty smile flashed in my mind, and the unease in my heart grew stronger. I stood up and headed for the door.
I had to find him.
“Where are you going, Nora?”
I shot my brother a guilty look. “I have to go. You guys carry on. I’ll be back to comfort you after your next rejection.”
“Hey! Can’t you wish me some luck for once?”

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