Henry Clark has a pair of very beautiful eyes, very dark, with an especially nice shape, but she is too thin, and her complexion is poor, making her look devoid of a young girl's radiance. She has always been silent—silent but not timid, simply immersed in her own world, quietly doing her own things.

The two of them passed by each other without greeting.

Thomas Reed is a day student and goes home every night. One evening, the school suddenly lost power. The seniors studied by candlelight and desk lamps, while the freshmen were simply given the day off. Thomas Reed took the bus home with her backpack. She actually gets a bit carsick, so she leaned against the bus seat and closed her eyes to rest.

A spry middle-aged woman squeezed onto the bus and stood next to her. After a moment, the woman coughed twice and started to complain indirectly, “Young people these days, I don’t know what’s wrong with them. No manners at all. They see an elderly person standing and don’t even offer their seat.”

Thomas Reed glanced up at her but didn’t move. Even when her stop came, she didn’t get off. Only after the woman got off did she follow, swinging her bag and walking slowly, covering two stops on foot to get home.

The new house still felt a bit unfamiliar to her. She searched among the rows of similar-looking buildings for a while before finding the right one, then took out her key to open the door.

As she inserted the key into the lock, she heard a strange woman’s laughter and moans from inside, along with her own father’s vulgar jokes and laughter.

Her dad had brought another strange woman home again. She didn’t know if it was a new girlfriend or just someone he’d hired. Thomas Reed expressionlessly pulled out her key and turned to leave.

She didn’t return until midnight. By then, the house was empty, but there was always a strange smell lingering in the living room. Thomas Reed stood there and suddenly gagged, feeling utterly disgusted.

Disgusted, and fed up.

……

“It’s been so long since school started, and now you suddenly want to live on campus?” The homeroom teacher, Old Baker, put down the application form in his hand. “Is there some difficulty? Did your parents agree?”

When Thomas Reed returned to the classroom, she already had the key to dorm room 501 in her hand.

“Thomas Reed, you’re moving into the dorm too? Why the sudden decision?”

Thomas Reed leaned back in her chair. “Just felt like it.”

The girl who had previously gossiped about the top student also came over. “You’re in 501? That’s my dorm. Hey, let me tell you, there’s only one empty bed left in our room, right above hers. You definitely won’t be able to stand it.” She pointed to Henry Clark in the front row, her disdain obvious.

The girl was clearly waiting for a response, but Thomas Reed didn’t want to talk. She tilted her chair back, pulled out her headphones, and didn’t even bother to reply. The girl’s expression soured, and she turned away. After a while, Thomas Reed heard her talking to her deskmate, “What’s she acting all high and mighty for? Just because her family has some money, she never looks at anyone straight, acting like she’s some kind of princess.”

Listening to the sound in her headphones, Thomas Reed opened her textbook and randomly drew on it with a pen.

Moving into the dorm wasn’t met with any resistance from her dad. He just cursed her out of habit, probably thinking that with his daughter out of the house, it would be easier for him to enjoy his own life. He even happily transferred her some money. “If you need to buy anything for living at school, just get it yourself.”

So Thomas Reed took a suitcase and went to school by herself. She had lived in a dorm before, though not for long, but school dorms are pretty much all the same.

A six-person room, bunk beds, desks and cabinets, a private bathroom, with the laundry room and main bathrooms at either end of the floor.

Sure enough, there was only one empty bed left in 501. Below it was Henry Clark’s bed, which, compared to the others’ brightly colored bedding, looked excessively drab and had noticeably fewer belongings.

Thomas Reed took one look, then quickly made her own bed and put her things in the cabinet.

But someone had put things in her assigned cabinet.

Thomas Reed: “Whose stuff is this? Take it out.”

At that moment, the only other person in the dorm was Henry Clark, who was quietly eating from a lunchbox at the desk. She looked back at Thomas Reed and said, “It’s Grace Carter’s stuff.”

Grace Carter, the girl who had been so eager to gossip behind people’s backs earlier.

Henry Clark’s voice was very soft, a bit hoarse. After speaking, she just continued eating, showing no other reaction.

Thomas Reed took out all the things from the cabinet and tossed them onto the table, then put her own things inside and locked it, before heading to the cafeteria for dinner.

When she came back, she happened to hear Grace Carter complaining—about her, of course.

“She just threw my stuff on the table like that. What’s her problem? Does she have something against me? Ridiculous! We already have Henry Clark in our dorm, and now there’s another princess.”

Thomas Reed pushed the door open, and the voices inside fell silent.

Henry Clark followed her in right after, making the dorm even quieter. Henry Clark seemed long used to their reactions, minding her own business, cleaning up her lunchbox, and then taking her books to the teaching building.

The atmosphere in this dorm wasn’t exactly pleasant, but no matter what, it was still better than going home to face her foul-mouthed father.

After evening study, Thomas Reed followed the crowd out. Expecting a bunch of restless teenagers to study diligently was a tall order. No matter how many times the teachers nagged, as soon as the bell rang, they all turned into a herd of wild horses let loose.