At that moment, the girl sitting in front suddenly straightened up. Mia Waters had already been staring blankly at the girl's back, and immediately became alert, while Raymond Carter, for some reason, also noticed the girl's movement and looked up.

"Are you a transfer student?"

The girl in front hadn't even turned her head yet, but the question came out of nowhere. Her hair was long, shining a light brown under the sunlight, tied up in a high ponytail. The way she turned her head was so sharp that the tip of her hair swept past like a sword, almost brushing Mia Waters's face. Mia Waters reflexively leaned back, just barely dodging it, leaving only a dazed expression on his face.

The girl's chin was very pointed, and at this moment she was glancing at him sideways, carrying a kind of hostility from who knows where. She had delicate features, but wasn't particularly outstanding. Her evenly toned, fine, light black skin was actually quite striking.

She didn't look anything like Zoe Young.

Mia Waters felt a bit inexplicably disappointed, staring at her face, and blurted out without thinking, "Do you have Hawaiian blood?"

The girl was stunned, and the hostility in her eyes faded a lot out of surprise, while the others around them gradually reacted and started to snicker.

Raymond Carter gave Mia Waters a surprised look.

Only much later, when Mia Waters recalled this moment, did he realize there was something else to it.

Mia Waters had always been well-liked, but in that temporary class, he was especially popular, and this sentence played a huge part.

Because of this sentence, everyone liked him. Because of this sentence, she disliked him.

Because she disliked him, everyone liked him even more.

The girl bit her lip, seemingly unable to think of a comeback, stared deeply at Mia Waters for a moment, then turned back around.

Mia Waters felt a bit awkward, tensed up his relaxed nerves again, and replied to her back, "Oh, yeah, I'm a transfer student. The college entrance exam cutoff here is way too high. If I transferred my student registration here, I'd be doomed."

No matter how he tried to make up for it, it was useless. The people around were all whispering about the "Hawaiian blood," the girl in front buried her head in her writing, her shoulders slightly hunched, and didn't look back again.

This was Mia Waters's first day at K City No. 4 High School, the first class, and after just introducing himself, he had already offended the girl in front without even getting her name.

He blushed a little, but also felt like it wasn't a big deal.

After all, he wouldn't be staying at this school for long.

...But you can't avoid seeing each other all the time.

Mia Waters sighed, stopped struggling internally, and decided to apologize. He reached out and poked the back of the girl in front with the end of his ballpoint pen. The girl shuddered, and Mia Waters, already nervous, loosened his grip, and the spring bounced the pen back toward himself, hitting him right on the nose.

Mia Waters was startled, everyone burst out laughing, and he sheepishly rubbed his messy hair, hoping this scene would ease the earlier awkwardness—but the girl in front, like a saint fleeing the city of sin in the Old Testament, refused to turn around no matter what.

Mia Waters extra At this moment, Mia Waters's deskmate behind him nudged him with his elbow and gestured toward the girl in front.

"Don't bother. Coral is just like that."

The voice wasn't loud. Mia Waters frowned slightly, thinking Coral might hear.

But her name is actually Coral?

"Then why does she..." Mia Waters trailed off, unable to find the right words to finish the question. Why would she ask such a random question without even introducing herself? Why look at people like that? Why...

He paused there, but the boy behind him seemed to understand exactly what he meant.

He patted Mia Waters and smiled carelessly.

"Coral is just like that."

This time, the volume was loud enough that Coral could definitely hear.

Out of the corner of his eye, Mia Waters saw Raymond Carter had already quietly lowered his head, as if he hadn't noticed the awkwardness between Coral and Mia Waters at all.

The K City college entrance exam is a comprehensive one, with no division between arts and sciences. Mia Waters had thought that by choosing science in his second year, he could avoid the hassle of history and politics, but here he found he still had to study everything, which made him quite frustrated. Fortunately, with more subjects in the comprehensive exam, each one was a bit easier, and No. 4 High was a mid-level school in K City, with a relaxed teaching pace, so his days weren't too tough.

On his second day at school, Mia Waters happened to catch the monthly exam. The papers were graded quickly, and two days later, all the scores were out—Mia Waters ranked fourth in the class.

First place was Raymond Carter, second was Coral.

Raymond Carter was the class monitor, Coral was the study committee member.

Raymond Carter was the math, chemistry, and geography class rep, Coral was the English, Chinese, and biology class rep.

Raymond Carter was the student council president, Coral was the vice president.

Raymond Carter was the head of the broadcasting station, Coral was the deputy head.

In less than a week, Mia Waters had figured out the situation around him and realized he was surrounded by two big shots of No. 4 High.

Raymond Carter was polite and refined, outstanding but not showy, approachable yet distant, and his mature demeanor earned him praise from both teachers and classmates. But Coral's situation was not so optimistic.

In Mia Waters's view, Coral's intensity when studying really reminded him of Michelle Cindy—but unlike Michelle Cindy, who worked hard in secret, Coral openly looked down on anyone who didn't work hard, and she was more than happy to show that disdain on her face.

When someone in class loudly complained about not studying before the monthly exam because they were busy watching soccer, Coral would glance at their score and say, in a not-too-loud, not-too-soft voice, "Really? Watching soccer from the start of the year to the end? I guess even if you studied, it wouldn't help."

Mia Waters was suddenly glad he hadn't mentioned his proud "sixth place" theory. Coral would definitely have sneered, "Not working hard and getting sixth place—are you afraid that if you tried, you'd end up sixteenth? If you're really smart, why not prove it to everyone?"

Zoe Young could tease her. But Mia Waters couldn't accept Coral's criticism.

Even though what she said was always true.

It's already annoying enough to be nagged by parents and teachers; no one likes a classmate who looks at them with that "hate iron for not becoming steel" expression.

Coral handed out every subject's test paper after the monthly exam. When she gave Mia Waters his, he was usually in a daze with his chin propped on his hand, snapping out of it just in time to say "thanks"—and when he looked up, he would meet her eyes. Against her evenly toned, fine, light black skin, the whites of her eyes made her hostility especially clear.

Mia Waters's physics score was the highest in the class. So when Coral handed out the papers, she almost glared her eyes out.

In the afternoon physics class, the teacher happily called the top scorer, Mia Waters, to the front to solve a problem. Mia Waters had just written halfway when the chalk suddenly broke, and his finger jabbed right into the blackboard, making him yelp in pain.

The class burst into good-natured laughter. After just a few days together, most classmates had already interacted with him a bit, and everyone liked this absent-minded tall guy, so when he made a fool of himself, they didn't hide their glee.

Mia Waters extra Being the center of attention was something many people could only wish for.

Mia Waters could say "the weather is nice" and get a round of laughter.

But even if Coral told a hundred jokes with feeling, probably no one would dare laugh.

Mia Waters's fingernail cracked, and he shook his finger pitifully at the teacher. The physics teacher smiled and motioned for him to return to his seat.

"The basic idea is clear enough. How about this, Coral, you come up and finish the rest."

The curtain floated up again, draping over Coral and covering her face. For a moment, she looked just like Zoe Young who used to sit in front.

Then the curtain fell again, and she didn't.

Coral stood up, her sharp, warrior-like gaze making Mia Waters both want to laugh and cry.

She walked to the podium, looked up at the childish handwriting Mia Waters had left on the blackboard, then picked up the eraser and decisively wiped away all of Mia Waters's solution steps.

Mia Waters hadn't even made it back to his seat in the second-to-last row when he heard a lot of people gasp. Raymond Carter, sitting directly across, looked at the blackboard, then at Mia Waters, with a strange expression.

"This method is too wordy. There's a much simpler way."

Coral's crisp voice sounded from behind Mia Waters.

Mia Waters froze for a few seconds, knowing the whole class was waiting for his reaction, but he just sat down and yawned as if nothing had happened.

Then he lowered his head to study the cracked nail on his right index finger.

"Coral... Coral is just like that."

Next to him, Raymond Carter muttered in a barely audible voice.

Coral is just like that. But like what?