They belonged to the kind of people who get annoyed with each other when together.

But once truly separated, it felt a bit strange.

On the small square at the school entrance, several statues of famous people were set up. Passing through the square, up the steps, and inside was the teaching building.

She and Brian Carter were in different classes, so after entering the first-year building, their paths didn’t really cross.

When they parted ways at the stairwell, Ryan Bennett had already run up, but halfway there, she turned back with quick steps, called out to Brian Carter, and said seriously, “I have something to tell you.”

Brian Carter instinctively felt it wouldn’t be anything good.

Sure enough, Ryan Bennett said with a serious face, “It’s the start of the semester, everything’s unfamiliar. If anything happens, just come to Class 7 and find me, big bro’s got your back.”

“……”

“All done?” After a moment, Brian Carter asked.

Ryan Bennett thought for a second. “That’s all big bro has to say for now, nothing else.”

Brian Carter leaned against the wall at the stairwell corner, lifted his chin slightly, and suddenly said, “Actually, I have quite a few enemies at school.”

“?”

“Not that many, maybe a dozen or so.”

Brian Carter thought for a moment. “If you want, I can make a group chat later and have them wait for you in the grove after school. You can have a fight today, protect me a bit.”

At this point, his tone paused, and he drew out the end of his sentence, “What do you think—big bro?”

“……”

Without another word, Ryan Bennett immediately left.

-

Although Ryan Bennett dared to talk big in front of someone who looked way more like a “big bro” than she did, she actually wasn’t that outgoing.

After sneaking into Class 1 (7), she quietly sat at the seat with her name on it, greeted her new deskmate Emily Brooks with a simple hello, then took out a book from her bag and spread it on the desk to ease the awkwardness of being in a new place.

It was her new deskmate who, in less than three minutes, started sharing gossip with her as if they were already friends: “I heard we’re not having classes today, just a placement test, and it’s not all stuff we’ve learned before—some of it is new for first-years.”

Ryan Bennett was surprised by her information-gathering skills. “How do you know?”

Emily Brooks had a few freckles on her face and seemed cheerful and enthusiastic.

She shook the phone hidden under her textbook.

“School forum,” Emily Brooks explained, “upperclassmen from second and third year post there. You can find any info you want.”

Ryan Bennett wasn’t as into surfing the web as Emily Brooks. She hadn’t even really followed any celebrities before. Usually, she just used her phone to look things up, watch videos, and chat with Brian Carter.

Seeing her lack of reaction, Emily Brooks added, “You’re so calm.”

Ryan Bennett replied, “Mm. I’m the type who doesn’t get fazed by much.”

Emily Brooks had thought Ryan Bennett was especially quiet, so this rather unconventional answer caught her off guard.

A moment later.

The teacher entered the classroom. Sure enough, after a brief self-introduction, the woolly-haired, glasses-wearing Mr. Parker began handing out test papers: “One for each of you. For student number, just write your seat number. The test is 120 minutes. Hand it in when you’re done and I’ll grade it right away.”

As soon as he finished, someone in the class couldn’t help but groan.

Mr. Parker warned, “No whispering during the test. I understand you’re eager to get to know your new classmates. This afternoon, I’ll set aside a class meeting for introductions.”

The test papers were passed from the first row to the back.

Ryan Bennett gripped her black pen, took the paper, and scanned through all the questions from start to finish.

This habit was exactly the same as Brian Carter’s.

She’d picked it up from Brian Carter since childhood. Although her grades weren’t as stellar as his, their approach to doing problems was very similar.

After scanning the questions, she realized that many of them… she’d already done over the break.

There was even that question Brian Carter was “too lazy to solve,” almost unchanged except for a few numbers.

“Well then,” Ryan Bennett muttered as she wrote her name in the upper left corner, “I’ll reluctantly forgive you for calling me short this morning.”

After the test, the papers were handed in and graded on the spot.

Most people barely scraped a passing score—the results were dismal.

Out of 120 points, Emily Brooks got 81. When she got her paper back, she was a bit crushed: “We don’t have to show this to our parents, right?”

As soon as she finished, Mr. Parker called out Ryan Bennett’s name.

“Ryan Bennett,” Mr. Parker pushed up his glasses and, after the student stood up, looked at her a few more times. “110. The only one in our class with a three-digit score. Very good, keep it up.”

After hearing a string of two-digit scores, the classmates couldn’t help but make a commotion when they heard “110”: “Whoa, 110.”

“On this hellish test, someone actually got a three-digit score.”

“I thought that 99 just now would be the highest in the class.”

“……”

Ryan Bennett hadn’t expected to become the center of attention on the first day of school because of her placement test score.

But that wasn’t even the most awkward part.

The most awkward part was that Mr. Parker, quite pleased with her score, asked her to say a few words.

Mr. Parker: “Anything you’d like to say to your new classmates?”