"What's wrong, Holly?"
Anna Willow felt that Holly Winslow was acting very strangely today, but she assumed it was because she'd been reprimanded by a teacher and was feeling down.
"It's nothing. You guys go look. If you wait any longer, the handsome guy will be gone, and you'll miss him."
Holly Winslow smiled and gave them a little push, gesturing for them to hurry back and see the handsome guy.
Iris Kensington and Anna Willow exchanged a glance, but neither of them moved.
Handsome guys were nice to look at, but friends were more important.
Iris Kensington grinned and linked her arm with Holly Winslow's. "Ah, forget it. I've already seen all the handsome guys at Jarton Second High."
"Exactly. We've seen all the cute ones at Jarton Second High already," Anna Willow said, taking Holly's other arm.
Seeing that they were intentionally staying to keep her company, Holly Winslow actually felt a little embarrassed. She blinked her lovely almond-shaped eyes and drew out her words, "But… I want to see him."
Taking advantage of their distraction, she pulled her hands free and ran off.
"You little sneak, Holly! How dare you trick us!" Iris Kensington stomped her foot and immediately gave chase, with Anna Willow right behind her.
The three of them started playfully roughhousing below the classroom building.
"Hey, I was wrong, I was wrong! HAHAHA… Have mercy!" Holly Winslow was extremely ticklish, and in the past, Mortimer Quincy had loved to use that against her.
"Let's see if you dare to do that again." Iris Kensington's round cheeks were flushed as she laughed and tickled her a couple more times.
Holly Winslow quickly threw her hands up in surrender. "I won't, I won't!"
The three of them were still joking around when they reached the classroom door. Suddenly, a boy's low, husky voice called out, "Holly Winslow."
Holly Winslow looked up and froze.
Iris Kensington and Anna Willow looked over as well, grabbing each other's hands with excited expressions.
'Oh my god, a handsome guy! A super handsome guy!'
Then, they both turned to Holly Winslow at the same time, their wide eyes full of curiosity.
Iris Kensington nudged Holly Winslow's shoulder, unable to contain her excitement. "Holly, who is this? He's so handsome."
Holly Winslow snapped back to her senses and pushed Iris Kensington and Anna Willow into the classroom. "You two go on ahead. I have something to take care of."
Standing next to the boy, Holly Winslow looked petite.
She spoke with a hint of uncertainty. "Mortimer Quincy?"
The boy rested a hand on the balcony railing, his body bent slightly forward. His black sweatpants made his legs look long and slender. "Thank God you're my wife."
When Mortimer Quincy woke up and found himself in high school, his first reaction was that he was dreaming. But later, it all felt too real.
To determine whether he was dreaming or had been reborn, he'd taken the day off from school and come to Jarton Second High.
While waiting for Holly Winslow, he had been thinking, 'what should I do if she doesn't recognize me?'
'Well, then it would be my turn to pursue her.'
Holly Winslow was now absolutely certain. She and Mortimer Quincy had been reborn back in high school. She whispered, "Husband, this feels so incredible."
Mortimer Quincy also thought the situation was absurd, but it had really happened, so he had no choice but to believe it.
Gazing at his wife's face, full of collagen and with skin so flawless you couldn't see a single pore, he couldn't resist reaching out and giving her cheek a little pinch.
He lowered his voice slightly. "My wife was so beautiful at seventeen."
He and Holly Winslow had first met after the college entrance exams, so he never knew what she was like in high school.
"Don't pinch me, we're at school," Holly Winslow said, pulling his hand away.
Just then, the homeroom teacher for Class 8, Julian Carlton, came up the stairs and saw the scene. He barked, "Holly Winslow, what are you doing?"
Holly Winslow whipped her head around, her body trembling slightly as she quickly let go of Mortimer Quincy's hand.
'Oh god, we're being busted for puppy love!'
This was a time when the school was strictest about cracking down on puppy love, and offenders were publicly reprimanded in a school-wide announcement.
She didn't want to be forced to write a self-criticism essay right after coming back. The resolution she'd just made to study hard would go right down the drain.
Thinking fast, she suddenly said, "Mr. Carlton, this is my cousin. He's here to see me about something."
Julian Carlton scanned the two of them back and forth with an X-ray-like gaze, clearly unconvinced. This was exactly the age when students' youthful hearts began to stir.
He stared at Mortimer Quincy with a stern face. "What grade are you in? What class? What's your name?"
A deadly triple-questioning.
Mortimer Quincy was, after all, mentally twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, and with several years of experience as a lawyer, his temperament had long since matured and settled.
He showed no sign of panic at being caught red-handed. He pulled out his student ID and handed it over. "Hello, Mr. Carlton. I'm Holly Winslow's cousin, a student at Jarton High. This is my student ID."
Julian Carlton took the student ID and glanced at it. The boy in the photo had a neat and clean-cut buzz cut.
He looked up at Mortimer Quincy, then back down at the ID. Jarton High, Honors Class, Mortimer Quincy.
He clicked his tongue. "You're Mortimer Quincy? The top-ranked student in your grade at Jarton High?"
"Yes." Mortimer Quincy nodded.
Julian Carlton's expression softened considerably. He glanced at Holly Winslow, his look a mixture of disappointment and frustration. "Holly Winslow, you should learn from your cousin."
This was the difference between a good student and a poor one. If Mortimer Quincy had been a bad student, Mr. Carlton wouldn't have believed them even if they had talked until they were blue in the face.
"I know, Mr. Carlton," Holly Winslow replied obediently.
Julian Carlton nodded and turned to leave.
Holly Winslow let out a breath. Mortimer Quincy watched her with an amused expression. "What were you so afraid of?"
"The school cracks down on dating. You get publicly reprimanded in a school-wide announcement," Holly Winslow explained.
"Oh. In that case, I'm relieved."
Mortimer Quincy couldn't stay any longer, as he had to get back for his afternoon classes. "Now that you're back, study hard. I'll come pick you up after school on Friday."
Then he handed her two hundred yuan. "Buy whatever you want to eat. Don't be frugal."
Holly Winslow came from a single-parent family. Her parents were divorced, and she lived with her father. Her family's financial situation was decent, but it was a far cry from Mortimer Quincy's family.
Holly Winslow pulled over a hundred yuan from her pocket. "I have money, it's enough."
"Take it. Be good."
Mortimer Quincy stuffed the money into her hand and added, "I'm leaving now. And, uh, no getting close to other boys at school, you hear?"
Holly Winslow nodded. "You're not allowed to go flirting around either."
Mortimer Quincy was handsome, came from a wealthy family, and got good grades. The first trait alone was enough to make any high school girl's heart flutter.
Back then, after Mortimer Quincy had agreed to be her boyfriend, she had spent a period of time terrified that he would break up with her.
"Deal," Mortimer Quincy said.
After he left, Holly Winslow went into the classroom. Her previous gloom was gone, replaced by a new resolve to study hard and focus on her academics.
Just as she was about to take out a book to read, Iris Kensington poked her in the back from behind, saying excitedly, "Holly, who was that? He's seriously so handsome!"
Anna Willow was also looking at her with an excited expression.
Hearing someone else praise her husband's looks, Holly Winslow said smugly, "My cousin."
Then she added, "And don't even think about it. He's taken."
"He has a girlfriend? Oh my god, I wonder what she looks like. She must be gorgeous." Anna Willow was disappointed for a moment, but she quickly shifted into gossip mode.
Holly Winslow thought for a moment and resisted the urge to say it was her. Otherwise, it would be inconvenient for her and Mortimer Quincy to meet up in the future.
She lowered her head and smiled slightly. "She's very pretty. A little prettier than me."
The future Holly Winslow was, in fact, much more beautiful than she was now.
"If she's even prettier than you, she must be an absolute knockout." Anna Willow glanced at Holly Winslow, taking in her classic oval face, large almond-shaped eyes, delicate and straight nose, and small mouth with a lovely Cupid's bow.
Her skin was especially fair and flawless, with almost no visible pores, making her stand out in a crowd of students breaking out with acne.
Holly Winslow was the prettiest girl in Class 8 and famously the prettiest in the entire grade.
After class, groups of boys would often come by just to get a look at her.
"Anyway, she's gorgeous," Holly Winslow praised herself shamelessly.