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Some students started laughing.
“The person who completes the tasks best...”
The laughter immediately stopped.
“...will receive twenty thousand dollars.”
A surprised murmur filled the hall.
“What?!” exclaimed a girl in front of us, while her friends' jaws dropped.
“That would cover my tuition,” a young man sitting further down the aisle blurted out, and more and more people started whispering like crazy.
“Who the hell is this guy?” laughed Miles next to me.
Clearly someone who didn’t seem to have to worry about his tuition fees.
“Your task for today... Listen carefully.”
The excited students quieted down, although the agitated whispering still drifted through the hall.
“Vanderwood has a nice parking lot. But do you think it's fair that the professors have their premium spots?”
Boos rang out.
“No? Me neither. How about we show them how much we like their vanity by decorating their cars a little?”
Immediately, cheers erupted. Louder, more demanding.
“Oh, shit!” laughed a guy in our row in disbelief.
“He can't be serious,” the girl in front of me said to her friends. “Harlow is going to lynch him.”
“Harlow has to catch him first,” replied the girl to her right, also standing up to applaud.
“I like this guy,” Miles said with a smile.
Adrian seemed less enthusiastic.
“I’ll double the prize money for the co-director’s car,” came the announcement over the loudspeakers.
“Fuck! No way!” I heard someone shout from somewhere in the crowd.
“Dude, did you hear that?”
“Why are we still sitting here, guys! Get the fuck up!”
Immediately, the first ones jumped up, mostly male students.
One of the guys even climbed over the row of seats to reach the middle aisle stairs faster than his friends in front of him.
“The clock is ticking, starting...” The Eye murmured. “Now.”
As if he had given the starting signal, crowds of students shot upstairs and grabbed their jackets from the hooks.
“What are you waiting for!” yelled one from below, shooing his friends up.
The blond, tousle-haired guy who had climbed over the seats threw his arms in the air, followed by other guys, including only five girls.
