Inside the coffee shop.


    The admissions officers from Era University and Sundale University sat face-to- face with Ynda.


    The Era University officer, who had talked himself hoarse, realized he''d been speaking to the wrong person and was mortified. "You''re not Juniper?"


    "Then were you just joking when you told us you needed to think it over?" the Sundale officer chimed in, equally annoyed. He''d actually been hopeful when he heard "Juniper" was considering their offer. Turns out, it was all a sham. What a waste of time!


    "Well," the Era officer said, done wasting his breath on Ynda. He pulled out his phone and dialed Juniper''s number.


    A clear, crisp ringtone suddenly echoed through the coffee shop, drawing everyone''s attention.


    "The sound seems to being from..." The Era officer held up his phone, tilting his head toward the source.


    He watched as Juniper, sitting at a nearby table, answered her phone and waved at him. "Hello?"


    The officer''s eyes widened, and he shot up from his seat, rushing over. "Are you Juniper Payne?" he asked, his voice cautious, terrified of making the same mistake twice.


    "I am," Juniper replied with a faint smile, her voice unhurried.


    "Juniper, hello, I''m the admissions officer for Era University''s Genius Program..." The officer quicklyposed himself. "My apologies, someone was falsely iming to be you, which caused a bit of a dy."


    "I can vouch for that," the Sundale University officer dered, seizing the opportunity as he hurried over. "The fact that they could mistake someone else for you shows how little they truly value you. Why don''t you consider our university instead?"


    Then he added with a sly grin. "Whatever you ask for, we''ll make it happen."


    The Era officer was furious. "It''s because we were so excited and valued her so much that we made a mistake!" he shot back. "And you are just being passive- aggressive to poach a student. Have you no shame?"


    "If it means getting Juniper to join us, I''d dly give up my shame," the Sundale officer retorted with a dismissiveugh.


    As the two continued to bicker, the reporters in the room quietly turned their cameras toward the unfolding drama. In an instant, the intemet exploded.  t


    [Era and Sundale are fighting over a student?]


    [OMG, is this a sight I ever thought I''d see in my lifetime?]


    [Which one will she pick? Which one?!]


    [I say pick Sundale! Not for any reason other than I''m a Sundale student!]


    [Hahaha, does anyone know what Ynda''s face looks like right now?] [Ynda.jpg, Juniper.jpg — candid shots from someone on the scene.]


    [Ynda looks devastated. And Juniper... lol, two academic giants are about toe to blows and she''s just calmly eating?]


    [So pretty, so cute! Juniper, Juniper!]


    While the inte was in an uproar, the scene in the coffee shop was just as chaotic.


    The officer from Era University dered, "She''s ours!"


    But the Sundale University officer interrupted, retorted, "No, she''s mine!"


    Qadir, Queenie, J, and Dolce, who had never witnessed such a spectacle, stared at Juniper in disbelief.


    "Juniper," J urged, "you need to say something before someone gets hurt."


    Juniper, whose head was starting to


    ache from the noise, finally set her


    fork down. "Shouldn''t you perhaps


    ask the person


    lved forher


    opinion?" she asked coolly