Four boys were shoving each other behind the three girls. Iris Kensington glanced back, let out a "pfft," and teased, "Holly, I think someone's about to confess to you."
Anna Willow also turned to look, then faced forward again. With a straight face, she nodded and commented, "The one in the middle is really fair-skinned and handsome. What do you think, Holly?" As she spoke, she nudged Holly Winslow with her elbow and gave her a wink.
Holly Winslow tilted her head and shot her a warning look. Anna Willow just giggled mischievously at her.
Holly Winslow said, "We should get back to class."
She pulled the other two and turned around, deliberately taking a detour across the fake green turf to avoid coming face-to-face with the boys behind them.
She vaguely heard one of the boys urge, "Chad Summers, hurry up! Holly Winslow is leaving."
The next second, the same boy's voice called out to her, "Holly Winslow, Chad Summers has something to tell you."
The other students on the field heard the shout and looked over. Two girls who were diagonally in front of Holly's group deliberately stopped, wanting to watch the show.
Anna Willow and Iris Kensington were smiling so wide their eyes crinkled into crescents, both looking ready for a good show.
Anna Willow smirked. "Holly, he's not bad looking. You're not going to consider it?"
"Anna Willow! You want me to tell your brother you've been slacking off in class?" Holly Winslow shot her a threatening glare.
Anna Willow immediately threw up her hands in surrender, fawning, "Holly, I was wrong. I was deeply wrong. I'll reflect on my mistake. Deeply reflect."
Just then, the fair-skinned boy Anna Willow had mentioned stood before Holly Winslow. He hadn't even said a word, but the tips of his ears were already bright red.
Anna Willow and Iris Kensington held back their laughter.
Even more students were looking their way now.
The boy, Chad Summers, pulled a box of chocolates from behind his back and offered it to Holly Winslow, stammering, "Holly Winslow, I like you. W-Will you be my girlfriend?"
Chocolates were very expensive back then, costing twenty to thirty yuan a box.
Holly Winslow: "..."
'I suddenly remembered the time I confessed to Mortimer Quincy. I'd also bought a box of chocolates, but that jerk just coolly replied, "Classmate, study hard."'
'After we got married, I could never let it go. Mortimer later explained that he was 'guiding a lost girl back to the right path.''
She smiled faintly. "Classmate, study hard. Keep it up."
Chad Summers froze, clearly not expecting her to say something like that.
Looking at the girl's innocent smile, his face grew even redder. He nodded shyly. "Okay."
Once they were off the field, Anna Willow and Iris Kensington burst out laughing, unable to contain themselves.
Iris Kensington was doubled over with laughter. "Holly, you're really something else. You actually told him to 'study hard'!"
Holly Winslow blinked and said with a straight face, "I was merely 'guiding a lost boy back to the right path.'" As she spoke, she wagged her raised left index finger.
"Holly, are you possessed by Old Calder? HAHAHA..." Anna Willow laughed without a care for her image.
Julian Carlton loved using that gesture in class to emphasize key points.
...
「English Exam」
Holly Winslow had a really good feel for the English exam. But given her current abilities as a "slacker," getting a perfect score wasn't very 'realistic'.
Based on the difficulty of the questions, she deliberately chose the wrong answers for problems high school students often got wrong. In the essay, she intentionally misspelled two words and included some grammatically incorrect sentences.
She aimed for a score of around ninety.
The next day's comprehensive science exam, covering three subjects, also went smoothly for Holly Winslow, as most of the questions were just rote memorization from the textbook.
After the exam ended at noon, the entire second year was dismissed early.
Holly Winslow had already made up her mind to go to Mortimer Quincy's school, so she only packed a few books into her bag.
She took the bus with Iris Kensington. Jarton High was just one stop past her own neighborhood, the Delian Community, so it was very close.
Knowing Holly was headed to Jarton High, Iris Kensington got off by herself at the Delian Community stop, and the two waved goodbye.
The bus ride from Jarton Second High to the gates of Jarton High took over forty minutes. By now, the first afternoon class—which was also their last class of the day—had started at Jarton High.
Jarton High had one less class on Fridays than other high schools.
The large, black, wrought-iron gate was half-open. She told the guard she was there to find her cousin, Mortimer Quincy. The guard let her in and even enthusiastically told her that Mortimer was in Helios Tower, on the second floor, in the classroom to the left of the stairs.
The Jarton High campus was actually quite old, with several decades of history, unlike Jarton Second High, which had only been built in the last ten years.
Jarton High was steeped in a sense of history. Carved into the stone wall directly opposite the main gate were relief sculptures of ancient figures like Confucius and Laozi.
She checked the time. There were still twenty minutes until class ended, so she started browsing the display boards at Jarton High.
Sure enough, there was a photo of Mortimer Quincy—Outstanding Student.
The photo was identical to the one on his student ID.
Beneath the photo were a few lines of small text, stating that student Mortimer Quincy had repeatedly achieved first place in his grade and had received awards such as 'Triple-A Student,' 'Outstanding Student Cadre,' and 'Civilized Student.'
'I'd only ever heard that Mortimer Quincy was a brilliant student in high school, but I'd never seen the proof with my own eyes.'
'Now that I was seeing it for myself, I couldn't help but marvel at how much good fortune I must have accumulated in my past life.'
'In truth, my fated connection with Mortimer was all thanks to my own thick skin.'
An idea struck her. She pulled out her phone, opened the camera, and aimed it at the photo. CLICK.
After that, she continued browsing the other display boards and found all sorts of photos of Mortimer Quincy on stage, hosting events, performing, and more.
She checked her watch again. Five minutes left until the bell. She went up to Silvan Tower and stood next to the door of the classroom on the left.
A balding male teacher with black-rimmed glasses was also standing by the door holding a notebook, presumably waiting for class to end as well.
The two of them exchanged a glance.
"Who are you looking for, young lady?" asked Gabe Chaucer, the homeroom teacher of the Honors Class, with a kind voice.
Holly Winslow guessed he was Mortimer Quincy's homeroom teacher and answered obediently, "My cousin, Mortimer Quincy."
Hearing Mortimer Quincy's name, Gabe Chaucer's expression grew even kinder. "You might have to wait a few more minutes."
Just then, the bell for the end of class rang. A female teacher walked out, and Gabe Chaucer walked in.
His voice could be heard clearly from inside. "Settle down, everyone. I'll just take a few minutes to make an announcement. The monthly exams are next week, so please review thoroughly when you get home..."
He spoke quickly and was done in a minute or two.
Then he added, "Mortimer Quincy, your cousin is outside waiting for you. You can work on the bulletin board next week."
A moment later, a crowd of students streamed out of the classroom, each one of them curiously sizing up Holly Winslow. Soon after, Mortimer Quincy emerged, wearing a black sweater and blue jeans.
He naturally took her schoolbag from her. "How come you got out so early today?"
Holly Winslow had wanted to surprise him, so she hadn't mentioned it when they spoke on the phone. "We had exams these last two days, so school let out early."
"Hey there! You must be Mortimer's cousin," a boy's voice cut in. "I'm Zeke Zane."
'I recognize the chubby boy in front of me. He's one of Mortimer Quincy's oldest friends. He's a lot chubbier now than he'll be in the future, though.'
"Hi, I'm Holly Winslow."
Zeke Zane repeated her name to himself, then smiled and praised, "Holly Winslow. That's a really nice name."
'Zeke Zane always was a smooth talker. How else would he have ever managed to win over someone as obsessed with looks as Anna Willow?'
Holly Winslow couldn't help but smile. "Thanks."