The driver smoked a cigarette, squatted by the car for a long time, patted it with his hand, and finally concluded, "No, you’ll have to wait for the next one."
The whole bus of passengers exploded with emotion.
A little kid: When will we get to school?
A: What are you doing
A: Do you miss me? I’ll pick you up at the school gate.
A: Are you sick?
A: Can’t you chat properly? Good thing I have a good temper. When we get to school, don’t rush into class. I’ll wait for you in the bathroom.
Henry Howard probably got to the classroom early, had nothing to do, and came over to bother him.
Ethan Young chatted with him half-heartedly for a while; one wanted to kill the conversation, the other was determined to revive it.
The next bus came pretty quickly, swaying as it stopped, with the 91 route sign hanging in the window.
When Ethan Young arrived, there were still ten minutes before class, so he wasn’t late. The mad dog couldn’t do anything to him, just stood at the school gate glaring: "Hurry up, run! Every second counts!"
The mad dog added, "You really don’t know how to make the most of your time. You’re about to be a senior, but you still act like you just started school. You know your deskmate, right? Back then, I caught him every day. He used to sneak over the wall every morning, and I’d wait with people by the wall to catch him."
Ethan Young kept his usual pace, unhurriedly walking past Manager Jensen, not interested in hearing the ‘mad dog’s heroic tales’: "Excuse me, goodbye Manager Jensen."
As Ethan Young walked upstairs, he vaguely saw someone pacing at the door of Class 3, Grade 2. Wanda was leaning on the window sill with one hand, craning his neck to look this way. He didn’t pay much attention and was about to walk over when suddenly someone grabbed his wrist from behind and pulled him in the opposite direction.
Ethan Young was caught off guard, took two steps back with the force, and by the time he realized what was happening, he’d already been pulled into a stall in the boys’ bathroom.
"Told you not to go to class," Henry Howard let go of his hand. The stall was a bit cramped for two people, so they were standing very close. "Didn’t you see the class monitor pacing in the hallway?"
Henry Howard was wearing his school uniform inside, with a thin jacket over it. The loose black hoodie had a pair of sharp, wing-like strokes printed on the back, with a strip of white school uniform peeking out from underneath.
Ethan Young hadn’t taken Henry Howard’s "I’ll wait for you in the bathroom" seriously while waiting for the bus: "Why was he pacing?"
"He said he’s determined to explain trigonometric functions to us today." Henry Howard scratched his head, looking helpless. "As soon as I got to class this morning, he sat across from me reciting formulas."
Ethan Young: ""
Henry Howard: "Bet you didn’t expect that. I’m really impressed. He’s definitely going to do big things in the future."
After the weekend, Ethan Young had almost forgotten there was someone in class so obsessed with saving the class average.
Xavier Stone’s focus and endurance were beyond ordinary. Just look at his desk covered in sticky notes, and all the subject reference books that couldn’t fit in his drawer or on his desk, so he had to put them in the class library corner.
These days, besides finishing his own homework, Xavier Stone was also thinking about how to get everyone to study together.
The two of them squeezed in the bathroom stall for a while, and finally Ethan Young thought this was kind of stupid. Hiding in the bathroom early in the morning—what was the point? Might as well go back and listen to Xavier Stone recite formulas.
So the two of them had a bit of an argument.
"You can’t abandon me."
"Don’t block the door."
"Old Young, once we walk out this door, we’re no longer brothers."
"We never were."
""
As class time approached, a student on duty came into the bathroom with a rag to wash it, turned off the tap, wrung out the rag, and was about to leave. But he vaguely heard some noises in the bathroom, so he stopped and looked around.
In the stall.
Henry Howard was leaning against the door, blocking it so he couldn’t open it.
Ethan Young reached around Henry Howard’s waist, grabbed the doorknob, and just as he turned it, Henry Howard pushed him back inside.
The two forces collided. Although the movements weren’t big, as Ethan Young stepped back, his heel accidentally kicked the trash can, knocking it over with a crash.
Henry Howard was afraid he’d fall, so he reached out to grab Ethan Young.
Ethan Young had been perfectly balanced, but with that pull, he toppled backward: "Shit."
The student on duty thought he must have forgotten to check the almanac before coming to the bathroom, or he’d have seen "Not suitable for using the toilet" in big characters.
The last stall door slowly opened, and he clearly saw Ethan Young sitting on the toilet lid, while Henry Howard was bent over, one hand on Ethan Young’s neck.
The posture was definitely a bit ambiguous.
"I swear I didn’t see anything," the student on duty backed out of the bathroom, "Really, I didn’t see anything."
Ethan Young kept a cold face and said nothing.
Henry Howard straightened up: "Hey, friend."
The student on duty, probably scared out of his wits, kept backing up and even said, "Don’t kill me."
Good news never leaves the house, but rumors travel a thousand miles.
After the first class, Wanda came over to ask, "What happened with you two in the bathroom this morning?"
"Nothing," Ethan Young finished copying his homework and replied casually, "Are you looking for trouble today?"
Wanda said, "I’m just looking for trouble, not itching for it."
Henry Howard watched Xavier Stone follow Thomas Thompson out, the coast was clear, so he joined the conversation: "News travels fast, huh?"
"My elementary school classmate’s first-year classmate is good friends with the class president’s cousin from the next class." Wanda reported his convoluted intelligence chain, then asked, "Back to the point, Bro Henry, did you really strip Yu-ge’s clothes off?"
Ethan Young capped his pen, finally looked up, and stared seriously at Wanda: "What?"
Ethan Young’s expression was hard to read—maybe a little unhappy, maybe very unhappy. Wanda thought about it and figured he probably wasn’t in too much trouble: "I don’t know what the original version was, but by the time it got to me, it was like this: you two had a fierce fight in the bathroom, clothes all messed up, very exciting."
Rumors, once they start, spread like wildfire, even if there’s nothing to them.
Wanda finally asked, "Is it true? Come on, let’s get closer, tell me secretly, I promise I won’t tell anyone."
Ethan Young leaned back, not in the mood to talk about it.
But Henry Howard leaned in mysteriously: "Want to know?"
Wanda: "Yeah."
"Actually, we did more than that," Henry Howard said, "We did something even more intense—"
Wanda squinted lecherously, full of anticipation: "Oh?"
Henry Howard took advantage of Wanda’s lack of attention, rolled up a stack of student newspapers, and smacked Wanda on the head: "You! Damn! You even dare to chew on my tongue! Has the boss been giving you too much freedom lately?"
Wanda was stunned, holding his head, eyes brimming with tears as he looked at Ethan Young, his eyes clearly saying: Your deskmate is bullying me.
Ethan Young had actually been a bit annoyed, but seeing the two of them fooling around like this, he didn’t feel like making a fuss anymore.
"How could you—" Ethan Young started, and Wanda nodded desperately, almost wanting to shout ‘From now on, you’re my real bro’, but then Ethan Young rolled up his English textbook and finished, "How could you use a newspaper? Newspapers are so light, you just play around with them?"
Henry Howard burst out laughing.
Wanda looked at the thick roll of English book, turned and ran, feeling especially wronged: "You’ve changed, Yu-ge, you’ve changed—"
Lunch break.
Logan Wright had been waiting forever for the first official sports event at No. 2 High, finally got the registration form for next week’s autumn sports meet from Thomas Thompson’s office, and came back to the class, shouting energetically, "Classmates—I have an announcement!"
Wanda and Luke Carter rushed to imitate Old Tang before him, speaking slowly, sounding about seventy percent like him: "Autumn sports meet, Logan Wright, you organize everyone to sign up enthusiastically and show our class’s spirit."
Logan Wright had his line stolen and looked a bit awkward on the podium: "Why are you two like this, stealing my job?"
The class was noisy.
Ethan Young lay on his desk with his eyes closed, resting. He’d been staring at his phone all morning, and his eyes were a bit sore.
Henry Howard thought his deskmate was sleeping. As Ethan Young lay there, he felt something warm pressed against his right ear, covering it and blocking out Logan Wright and the others’ voices.
—It was Henry Howard’s hand.
Then he heard Henry Howard shush them: "My deskmate is sleeping, keep it down."
Actually, Ethan Young wasn’t the only one lying down; a few girls in the front row were also sleeping, all annoyed by the noise but too embarrassed to say anything.
Ethan Young moved his fingers, wanting to open his eyes, but in the end, he stayed in the same position, not moving.