‘Should I say anything?’ Lee debated. 

What good would it do to call out the Class President for cheating? Lee had no plans to tattle to the teacher about it, so did it matter?

“I can feel you staring at me,” Thomas stated, eyes still scanning his paper to see if he needed to make any further corrections. He found one more answer he got wrong and quickly set to changing it.

Lee bit the bullet and asked, “Why are you cheating?”

“Because I want to get a perfect score,” Thomas replied indifferently, penciling in the new answer. When he looked over his test once more and found nothing else to fix, he began grading it as normal.

“You would’ve gotten an ‘A’ even if you didn’t cheat though…” Lee pointed out. “Why bother?”

“It’s not easy to maintain high marks,” Thomas asserted. “A handful of wrong answers here and there will slowly whittle away at my grade point average.”

“You’re already the top student in our grade. I don’t think you can climb much higher.” 

Thomas insisted, “Keeping my current spot is paramount. There are expectations placed on me that I can't disappoint.”

Lee couldn’t relate at all; there was no one in his life who would bother caring about his academics.

The President questioned, “Is it safe to assume you think less of me now?” 

“Why would I?” Lee asked, surprised Thomas even cared about his opinion.

Thomas twisted sideways in his seat to look directly at Lee, his tone low as he divulged, “I have to study during every minute of my free time to even come close to the grades I get, and I hate every second of it.”

Didn't most people hate studying? Lee didn’t expect Thomas to be a school loving android just because he was a top student.

“Even with all that effort, I rarely get perfect marks,” the President continued. “Convincing teachers to like me enough to give me extra credit, or trust me enough to handle our classwork is the only way I can make up the difference. I’m not naturally very smart.”

Lee scratched the back of his head, unsettled. He didn’t agree with Thomas' view at all. “It sounds to me like you’re putting down your own intelligence,” he replied.

Thomas frowned heavily at the response. 

Lee elaborated, “You may not ace every test or whatever, but you’re obviously still smart. I know you tutor other people all the time. Don’t you need to have a good understanding of the material for that?” 

“I’m basically just parroting what I’ve memorized from text books,” Thomas rebutted. “Anyone can do that.” 

Lee quickly shook his head in denial. “Not me! I seriously admire your work ethic. I wish I had the will to push through the things I hate doing to achieve my goals. You’re amazing.”

Thomas didn’t seem to know how to react to Lee’s sincere praise. He shifted his eyes away, staring down at his desk as he mumbled, “You must be easily impressed.”

“That’s not it,” Lee laughed. “You’re just an exceptional person.”

Thomas refused to look in his direction, moving his glasses further up the bridge of his nose as he went back to grading. It was difficult to guess what he was thinking.

Thankfully, Lee was given a rather obvious hint!

(+8%) [Affection 31%] 

(+1) [❤️❤️🖤🖤] (2/4)  

Lee wore a satisfied grin as he too went back to his task, ready to settle back into their previous semi-companionable silence when-

 

[Do you want to hang out after this?]

[Do you want to study together?]

 

He was given new dialogue choices.

Lee was apprehensive about being prompted to invite Thomas to spend more time with him. It wasn’t that he was opposed to it, but he didn’t want to push the President too much in one day.

However, what Lee was certain of was that studying together was an AWFUL idea. They would just be miserable doing something they both despised.

Had the cursed game system not been listening to the conversation they'd just had!?

Therefore, Lee chose, “Do you want to hang out after this?” 

Thomas smacked his pen down on the desk with an audible ‘CLACK!’ He rested his elbow on top of the paper he had just finished grading, propped his chin in his hand, and glared at Lee with a tinge of frustration. 

What was wrong now???

Thomas threw Lee for a complete loop when he asked frankly, “You mean like a date?”

That-

What?

How had he even come to that conclusion? Did Thomas’ brain get hijacked by the mechanics of the curse?

“Um-” Lee stuttered unhelpfully. He was at a loss, trying to figure out the best way to reply, when his options were once again narrowed down to a select few responses. 

 

[Yes, like a date!]

[No, just as friends.]

[Why do you ask?]

 

‘The third one! THE THIRD ONE!’ Lee’s mind frantically latched onto.

“Why do you ask?” He was forced to say calmly, not at all expressing how distressed he was inside.

“You’ve just-” Thomas started, then grimaced slightly and averted his gaze. “It seems like you’re paying way more attention to me recently. We’ve spoken more these past few days than we have the entire school year, so I thought maybe you developed a crush on me or something,” he concluded, flicking his eyes back toward Lee.

‘That’s because I’m being controlled by a game,’ thought Lee, though he knew better than to say it aloud. 

He’d rather not have Thomas think he’d lost his mind. Plus, wouldn’t it also be kind of mean to say? 

‘It’s not like I’m against spending time with Thomas and getting to know him better,’ He mused. He’d already learned quite a lot just by going with the flow.

“I mean, I am interested in you,” Lee admitted. The question was if that interest was romantic, and not even he knew the answer to that currently.  

Thomas' eyes widened and his lips parted, but he didn’t say anything right away. He didn’t look upset, rather completely taken aback. He’d lifted his chin off his palm but was just awkwardly sitting there, floundering on how to reply. 

(+2%) [Affection 33%] 

The image was honestly kind of silly in an endearing way, and Lee held back a chuckle as a newfound wave of calmness came over him. He smiled as he asked, unprompted by any game mechanics, “Do you want to go on a date with me, Thomas?”

Still taken off guard, Thomas anxiously fiddled with the handle of his glasses, his eyes fluttering about without ever settling on Lee. “What would we even do?” He questioned after several seconds.

Lee hummed in thought, not having considered that. He’d never been on a date, let alone asked someone out before. 

He shrugged and suggested, “We can just hang out in my room and watch movies and play games? I can get us some snacks from the vending machines too.” That would put a serious dent into the little money he had set aside, but oh well.

Thomas didn’t appear thrilled by the prospect, so Lee prepared himself for a possible rejection. 

However, begrudgingly, the President murmured, “Okay.” 

Their date was set.