Chapter 282 - 280: Call the Police, We Must Call the Police

Cecilia Sterling didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. After all, supporting her best friend’s live stream was perfectly understandable—even expected.

But since Blair had chosen to start a new account for her stream, she must have had her reasons. Even if it wasn’t for the reason Cecilia suspected, there had to be another one.

But then, Estelle Goodman simply typed the keywords "female college martial arts streamer" into the search bar, and Blair’s account popped right up.

"Wow, almost two thousand people are watching!"

Surprised, Estelle held the phone up to Cecilia’s face. "Look, honey! That’s a ton of viewers! And almost fifty thousand likes! Those are really good numbers for this time in the morning!"

And Blair had only just started streaming. ’Sure enough, the combination of "girl" and "martial arts" is still a novelty in many people’s eyes. And since Blair has real skills, plus she’s beautiful—she really checks all the boxes—it’s only natural she’d attract an audience.’

Cecilia watched Blair performing a sword dance on the screen, a smile unconsciously blooming on her face.

’She dances so beautifully.’

*

「Noon. The cafeteria of No. 2 High School.」

Ethan Sterling had just gotten his food and sat down when someone plopped into the seat right next to him.

"Hey, man, this seat is taken—"

He was about to tell the person that he was saving the seat for a classmate, but when he turned his head, he saw it was Jameson Stone.

Jameson smiled at him, then glanced at the food on his plate. "You eat too little. No wonder you’re so skinny!"

"You’re just too buff."

"Did you go to the security office to check the surveillance footage this morning?" Jameson’s tone shifted as he got straight to the point.

Ethan first sighed, then nodded.

Seeing this, Jameson asked anxiously, "Well? Did they catch who did it?"

"Yeah," Ethan replied, then said in a low voice, "People from off-campus. A few guys who looked like thugs. Didn’t get a good look at their faces."

"Not getting their faces doesn’t matter! As long as you have the footage, you can report it to the police. There are cameras everywhere nowadays; it’ll be a piece of cake for the cops to find them!"

But Ethan didn’t seem very interested in this suggestion.

Seeing this, Jameson’s brow furrowed in confusion. "You’re not planning to just let it go, are you? That bike of yours is expensive! Just think, if it were a new car that got smashed up, wouldn’t you call the cops?"

"I’m afraid of causing trouble."

Ethan looked at Jameson, his face crestfallen. "If they’re really thugs, reporting them to the police will definitely cause problems for me. The college entrance exams are right around the corner. I don’t want any trouble."

"Besides, I already ordered two new wheel rims from the official website yesterday. Once they arrive, I’ll just ask Mr. Miller to help me replace them."

"Two new wheel rims? How much?" Jameson asked.

"One hundred... one hundred and twenty thousand!"

"Holy crap!" Jameson swore in shock. "That expensive? If it were me, I’d be ready to kill them!"

But then he showed he understood Ethan’s worries. "But I get why you’re afraid of trouble. There are always some local punks hanging around the school. I warned you about this before. It was most likely someone from off-campus. These guys are idle and can’t stand seeing other people with nice things. Your new bike is definitely an eye-catcher."

"And even if the police find them, there’s no way they could afford to pay that back."

Ethan fell silent for a moment. He knew he’d feel resentful and pathetic if he just swallowed his anger.

"Why are you two sitting together?"

Just then, Renee Reid appeared at their table holding a bowl of noodles. She looked at the two of them in astonishment. "What the hell?"

Jameson slung an arm around Ethan’s shoulders and shot Renee a smug look, raising his eyebrows. "He’s my man now!"

Preoccupied and looking miserable, Ethan didn’t react. Seeing this, Renee took the opportunity to sit down across from them. "Ethan, blink if you’ve been kidnapped!"

"Why would I kidnap him!" Jameson said, then sighed. "This kid’s bike got maliciously damaged by some guys from off-campus yesterday. It’s a super expensive bike, and now he’s too scared to report it to the police, afraid of trouble and retaliation. He’s really torn up about it."

Hearing this, Renee asked curiously, "How expensive is it?"

"Over two hundred thousand!"

"Huh?" Renee was shocked. "For a bicycle?"

Jameson nodded. "Never seen one like that, have you?"

"Never seen one? I’ve never even heard of a bicycle that expensive!" Renee said, then looked at Ethan seriously. "Then you have to report it, Ethan! When something that valuable gets destroyed, you have to call the police!"

Ethan looked up at her, speechless for a moment.

Seeing his hesitation, Renee continued, "You didn’t do anything wrong, so why should you have to bear this loss? Whoever made the mistake has to be the one to take responsibility for it!"

"I just told you, Ethan’s afraid—"

"What’s there to be afraid of with people like that?" Renee cut Jameson off, speaking righteously. "They’re social scum who’ve given up on their own lives and get their kicks from destroying other people’s property. Why should you be afraid of them?"

Ethan: "..."

Seeing this, however, Jameson grinned. ’This was the Renee he knew: utterly righteous and completely fearless.’

"What if he reports it, the police find them, and then they come wait for Ethan at the school gates to get revenge?" Jameson asked.

Renee looked serious. "We don’t know what will happen. Who’s to say they won’t be locked up? A bike that expensive... the amount is probably enough for a prison sentence, right?"

Jameson looked at Ethan and patted him lightly on the shoulder. "Renee thinks you should report it. What do you think?"

Ethan looked back at Jameson, who quickly said, "I don’t have any constructive advice here. But whatever you decide, I’ll support you. Because I can see the arguments for both sides. There are good reasons to be cautious, but also strong reasons to go to the police."

"If you decide to report it, I’ll go with you after school!"

Hearing this, Renee quickly added, "I’ll go with you too!"

’She felt that Ethan was only hesitating because he needed someone to support, encourage, and accompany him. Since she was the one pushing him to report it, she was more than willing to go with him.’

Ethan looked at the two of them, deeply moved. He was especially struck by Renee; in a situation like this, he wasn’t even as brave as she was.

"Okay. I’ll report it!"

"Ethan, didn’t we ask you to save us seats?"

Just then, two male classmates he was friendly with walked over carrying their lunch trays. They saw that the seats Ethan was supposed to be saving were already taken, and one of the occupants was even the class monitor.

"You guys take a seat, go ahead. We were just talking to Ethan about something."

Before Ethan could say anything awkward, Jameson stood up on his own. He picked up his own tray with one hand and smoothly grabbed Renee’s noodle bowl with the other. "Renee, let’s go over there!"

Renee stared at him with wide eyes, but she stood up and followed anyway.

That evening after school, Ethan went to the security office to get a copy of the surveillance footage. Then, accompanied by Renee and Jameson, he went to the Edison Road Police Station to file a report!