“I guess. It’s really simplistic, though, and not at all like me.” It was pretty normal for anyone to feel like a name didn’t apply to them when it wasn’t theirs. Jia Li thought her real name was far more interesting, and it actually had meaning behind it. She was pretty sentimental about it because it was one of few things her mother had been able to give her before the woman had died. The dryad hadn’t even gotten the chance to meet the woman who birthed her. It was kind of sad about which to think, but one couldn’t completely miss what one had never experienced, right?
“No, he definitely didn’t think I was cute. He called me Suzy Squirrel because he was messing with one, and I defended it. It had nothing to do with the attraction he so obviously didn’t have to me.” That was accurate, right? Just because she’d felt the spark of physical attraction when he’d kissed her didn’t mean that he had. He’d obviously not been fazed at all by the kiss because he hadn’t missed a beat when he’d mocked her once he’d pulled away.
The dryad’s green gaze moved over her impromptu jogging buddy. “Nope. You definitely don’t look like a tomboy.” The pink workout clothes the other woman wore were definitely not something she would imagine a tomboy would wear.
Jia Li laughed. “Yeah. I guess I can understand that. I like to keep things clean, too. Why didn’t you throw them away when you were in his dorm in the first place?” It made sense to her. Of course, if the dryad had been in Kaydence’s shoes at her own jerk’s dorm, he probably would have begun spouting some more mean things about how she still had the stick up her ass. Maybe he would have called her OCD or something.
“Well, yeah. College can be fun, but once you pick a major, it’s a lot of hard work, too.” At least for Jia Li it was hard work. Dancing was really the most fun she had at Alden. Movie nights or something with Alissa were cool, too. She didn’t party or any of that, though.
“Were your parents kind of controlling or something? I can’t imagine having my life set for me from the point I was born. You’re just… okay with it? You didn’t even try to fight it?” She wasn’t trying to upset Kaydence or anything. It just seemed really… awful to have to do exactly what was expected.
“I guess. I used to date more in high school, and I used to make the guys work for it. It was fun, but I’m not into it any more. I’d be content to find a nice guy to settle down with once I graduate.” It was true, in her mind. A nice guy who liked the environment as much as she did would be even better. There was no need to even try to find on in college. As long as he had some sort of backbone but wasn’t cruel, she thought she’d be satisfied.
The siren’s logic was strangely sensible to Jia Li. She knew that nice guys could turn out to be total psychopaths, but she didn’t understand how it was better to find a guy who was openly a jerk. Wouldn’t it be better to find a nice guy who was genuinely kind? “Why can’t a nice guy be showing his true self?” Jia Li asked thoughtfully.
“That sounds like it would have been really funny to watch. I don’t think I would have felt bad for the guy who was a total creep to me if he’d been thrown off his game. It would have been so satisfying.” Jia Li smiled at the thought of him stumbling all over himself. He definitely deserved it after all of the things he’d said and had done to her. “Yeah. If I ever see him, I’ll totally bring him to your attention. Maybe you can throw that guy off his game for me.”