Startled by the sudden intensity in Cole’s eyes, Manley flinched, completely clueless about what had triggered his outburst.
Just as Manley began to puzzle over Cole’s reaction, his eyes caught sight of a piece of paper lying near Cole’s feet. He bent down to grab it, and the instant he read what was on it, he burst into another round of uncontrollable laughter. “Ha-ha! You actually went and wrote those cheesy lines already? Oh wow, I can’t believe this. Just look at them! Ha-ha!”
Manley’s loud laughter caught everyone off guard, and only then did Cole realize what had happened. He had dropped the second version of his application by mistake. That draft represented the lowest point of his dignity. The idea of anyone reading it felt worse than death, but now it was out in the open for all to see.
Frantically trying to salvage the situation, Cole lunged forward and reached for the paper. “Give that back!”
Unfortunately, Merlin reacted faster and seized the draft before Cole could get to it.
Allan, growing curious, leaned over to catch a glimpse as Merlin held up the page. As soon as both of them saw the original, handwritten, painfully cheesy lines, laughter burst out. “Ha-ha!”
The sound of their laughter echoed through the entire room. Nobody in the group had ever laughed so hard before; all sense of self-control vanished in a wave of pure hilarity.
Realizing there was no way to recover his dignity, Cole sighed and abandoned the idea of retrieving his draft. Since they were going to read it anyway, he might as well let them have their moment.
With a sense of total defeat, Cole dropped onto the sofa, accepting his embarrassment in silence.
The three friends barely noticed Cole’s embarrassment. Instead, they huddled together, reading through every corny line, taking turns reading them out loud and debating which one was the most ridiculous. The verdict was unanimous. Cole was the undisputed King of Corny.
They continued to tease Cole relentlessly, laughing until their stomachs hurt and they were nearly out of breath.
g?ν
Cole sat quietly and waited for the laughter to run its course. Once the chaos died down, he finally spoke. “You’ve all had a good laugh and witnessed my most embarrassing moment. Now, it’s your turn to help me out. If you can’t come up with a good idea, don’t blame me if I decide to shut you up for good.”
Empty threats like that only revealed how embarrassed and annoyed he truly felt.
Merlin laughed softly as he handed the draft back to Cole. “As I said earlier, I can’t read Elliana’s thoughts. I really don’t have any brilliant advice.”
Manley followed suit, raising his hands in surrender. “Sorry, Cole. Elliana is called the ‘Death Thorn’ for a reason. She’s a queen in her own league, far more remarkable than anyone I’ve ever come across. Whatever tricks I have for ordinary women won’t stand a chance against someone like her.”
Cole’s frustration grew the longer he listened. Out of nowhere, he kicked Manley. Not one of them had a useful suggestion to give, but that didn’t stop them from snatching his draft, reading through it, and bursting into laughter. What kind of friends did that?
Manley took the kick in stride, still laughing at the whole thing. Seeing how easily his first kick landed, Cole aimed another at Merlin, but Merlin dodged nimbly, twisting away before Cole could connect.
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