The class bell had been ringing for a long time before dozens of people lazily formed a sparse line. The PE teacher blew the whistle, “Run laps, boys five laps, girls two laps. After you’re done, you can do whatever you want.”

Even though the task wasn’t hard, everyone instinctively groaned. Someone whined, “Teacher, it rained, the ground is all wet, it’s hard to run. How about we do one less lap?”

The PE teacher blew the whistle again, “No cutting laps! Say it again and I’ll add another lap! Come on, come on, get running! You young people are lazier than an old guy like me!”

A few girls went over together and said something. After the PE teacher nodded, they happily sat off to the side. This “privilege” was because they were on their period.

Some people really do suffer terribly during their period, with backaches and pain, but those girls didn’t look the least bit uncomfortable. They just didn’t want to run, so they pretended to be in pain, but it was so fake that anyone could see through it. Still, no one called them out.

The one who was truly doubled over in pain, her face pale and cold, was Thomas Reed. She didn’t go to the PE teacher at all, just joined the group and started running. With every step, the dull ache in her lower abdomen grew worse. Her pace slowed more and more, and soon she was at the very back of the group. No one noticed her pain; they just thought she was being lazy and indifferent.

A group of boys, like peacocks showing off, inexplicably started competing to see who could run the fastest. David Miller and his friends were the fastest, quickly finishing their second lap and passing by Thomas Reed.

Thomas Reed jogged with her head down when suddenly a loud slap sounded right by her ear. It was David Miller, who had deliberately clapped his hands next to her to startle her, then dashed ahead, laughing triumphantly.

Thomas Reed felt a ringing in her ears. The sudden blast made her head throb, and she rubbed her ear, cursing under her breath.

Thomas Reed really didn’t like the weather in Nanlin—hot and humid, so stifling it made you want to peel your own skin off just to breathe freely.

She had already taken off her school jacket, but her back was still covered in a thin layer of sweat. Someone ran lightly past her. Thomas Reed instinctively moved away, only to realize it wasn’t David Miller, but Henry Clark.

Her top-ranked roommate was running with her head down, not looking tired at all. She ran seriously, unlike the other girls who were just going through the motions or the boys who were messing around. She always did everything so earnestly. But being earnest, at this age, was something both boys and girls found laughable and worthy of ridicule.

Thomas Reed noticed that Henry Clark hadn’t taken off her school jacket—she was the only one in the class who hadn’t. No matter how hot it got, she never took it off. Probably afraid people would see the tattered shirt underneath, Thomas Reed thought.

She pulled her thoughts away from Henry Clark, finished her two laps, and headed straight to the campus shop to buy a bottle of ice water.

Two girls nearby were buying ice cream. One asked, “You’re on your period and you still dare to eat cold stuff?”

The other girl replied smugly, “I never get cramps, no matter how much cold or spicy food I eat.”

Thomas Reed got cramps every time, but she still drank ice water whenever she wanted. On such a muggy day, after running, her back was still sweaty, but her hands were cold, gripping the ice water like it was a block of ice.

This time the pain was worse than usual. Thomas Reed skipped lunch and lay in the dorm. The dorm was always quiet at this hour, with only Henry Clark there. She would sit at the desk with her lunchbox, eating quickly, and she showered quickly too.

Thomas Reed drifted in and out of sleep to the sound of rustling, until someone gently patted her through the blanket.

“Do you want some hot water?”

Thomas Reed hadn’t expected Henry Clark to talk to her, but the surprise lasted only a moment. The pain had made her irritable, and she frowned, not really wanting to respond.

Henry Clark seemed to sense this and put down the cup. “I’ll leave it on the desk.”

She packed up and left, hurrying off to the classroom to study as usual, not doing anything extra.

Thomas Reed glanced at the steaming cup of hot water on the desk and suddenly realized that, from childhood until now, no one had ever brought her a cup of hot water when she was in pain.

She turned over and closed her eyes.

But she didn’t need it.

No matter how much it hurt, it would only last two days. She was used to it.

When the second monthly exam papers were handed out, Henry Clark was first again, a full thirty points ahead of the second place, ten more than last time. With her relentless study habits, Thomas Reed wasn’t surprised at all. In class, the teachers praised the top student again and used her paper as a model.

But when it came to grades, the students who cared really cared, and those who didn’t, really didn’t.

In the back half of the classroom, almost no one paid attention to the papers—they just folded them into airplanes and threw them at each other.

Thomas Reed ranked twelfth, but she didn’t care much about grades. She glanced at her paper and stuffed it under her books.

Before class in the afternoon, David Miller in the seat behind her pulled out a love letter from his desk—a pink letter with a sweet scent.

“Wow, Yang-ge got a love letter! Who wrote it? Let me see?”