When the distant announcement of the 3000-meter run came from the sports field, Thomas Reed finally stood up.

Back at the field, the 3000-meter run had already started. She heard Blackie and a few others shouting Henry Clark's name. In their class, only Henry Clark was participating in the 3000-meter run, which meant running several laps. From the very beginning, Henry Clark fell behind, and Blackie and the others kept calling her name.

"Henry Clark, run faster! Henry Clark, hurry up!"

A girl from Class Three started off especially fast, dragging the others to speed up as well. Right from the start, it looked more like a sprint than a long-distance run. Only Henry Clark and another girl kept a steady pace, quickly falling to the back.

This was the last event of the afternoon, and quite a few students from Class Two were watching, but only a handful actually cheered for Henry Clark. Some even complained that she was running too slowly.

"She's so far behind now, how is she going to catch up later?" a few girls said anxiously.

Although some people probably understood that you can't start too fast, seeing the other runners go quickly still made them impatient and urge her on. Thomas Reed saw Henry Clark with her head down, watching her own feet, running at a steady pace, as if she couldn't hear the comments from the students by the track.

Thomas Reed tossed her bottle into the trash can and ran into the inner ring of the track. Henry Clark's lane was on the innermost ring, her feet on the red track, while Thomas Reed ran beside her on the green artificial turf.

The sun was blazing, the autumn heat still fierce. Just standing in the sun was hot enough, let alone running. After one lap, Thomas Reed felt a sticky layer of sweat on her body, very uncomfortable.

"Henry Clark, do you want some water?" Seeing other classes handing water to their runners halfway through, Blackie hurriedly asked as well.

Thomas Reed ran past him, took the water from his hand, unscrewed it, and handed it to Henry Clark.

On the final lap, Henry Clark and the other girl started to accelerate at the same time. Those who had sprinted ahead earlier were now clearly running out of steam, their heavy steps falling behind. One even stumbled and fell, scraping a large patch of skin on her knee, and was quickly helped off the track.

Thomas Reed stopped running, cut straight across the inner ring to the finish line, and waited there with the others. Henry Clark no longer looked down at her shoes, but stared straight at the finish. She was always serious about everything she did, running included. Thomas Reed felt that in her world, at this moment, there was no one else—no opponents, no spectators.

The surroundings were especially lively, but the ever-faster Henry Clark was very quiet.

The intense and tense atmosphere gripped everyone. Even some students in Class Two who didn't like Henry Clark couldn't help but shout her name at this moment.

Henry Clark and another girl from Class Five reached the finish line almost at the same time. The Class Five side immediately cheered, "First place!"

Class Two wouldn't accept it. "How are you first? They finished almost at the same time. Maybe we're the real first!"

Blackie ran to ask the three teachers counting laps, and the others followed. Henry Clark crossed the finish line, gasping for breath, but kept walking forward. She looked up and saw Thomas Reed, and smiled at her. Her braided black hair hung over her shoulder, slightly messy, her eyes clear and bright.

"Thomas Reed, help Henry Clark!" Blackie called out in the midst of everything.

Only then did Thomas Reed step forward, supporting Henry Clark and walking with her for a while before stopping. At that moment, the students from Class Two erupted in excited shouts, "We're first!"

"Extra points! First place gets extra points! Hahahahaha!"

Thomas Reed: "You got first place."

Henry Clark's breathing had already calmed down. "Mm."

She was filled with the calmness of someone who often comes in first.

There was no evening self-study after the sports meet. Having burned off their excess energy, the students finally felt tired, swarming into the cafeteria to eat, then heading back to the dorms to shower and change.

Thomas Reed lingered for a while and was the last to finish eating and return to the dorm. The others had already showered; Henry Clark was in the shower, the last one.

The used bathroom was cool, with not a trace of steam. The sun had set, and the temperature had dropped sharply.

Thomas Reed inserted her card and turned the faucet from cold to hot water.

She suddenly wondered, when winter comes, will Henry Clark still shower with cold water?

On Friday, Thomas Reed sat on the back side of the bleachers, listening to the shouts rising and falling in front, playing on her phone all day. Somehow, Henry Clark also found this prime spot, sitting nearby with a book, working through practice tests all day at an incredible speed. Every time Thomas Reed looked up from a few rounds of her game, she saw Henry Clark had already finished another test. She didn't look like she was doing tests, more like she was printing them.

Thomas Reed: "......"

With someone studying so diligently beside her, she couldn't even play her game in peace.

Thomas Reed: "The sea of learning is boundless; turn back before it's too late."

She blurted this out for no reason, and Henry Clark looked up from her pile of tests, thought for a moment, and actually replied, "Put down your games, and you'll become a god on the spot."

Thomas Reed suspected Henry Clark was trying to redeem her soul.

The athlete's march played again, marking the end of the two-day sports meet.

Chapter 13 Winter

After the sports meet, the temperature dropped rapidly, and it was cloudy almost every day.

The ginkgo tree right outside their classroom window had lost quite a few leaves.

Thomas Reed covered her nose with her school uniform sleeve and muttered irritably, "It stinks."