Lily Brooks hadn’t expected him to be so blunt. Her face flushed instantly, her heart racing, a little excited. She restrained her reaction, maintaining her elegant persona: “Chad Sullivan, I just think you’re outstanding.”
Chad Sullivan burst out laughing: “Why don’t you tell me, what the hell is so outstanding about me?”
Lily Brooks hadn’t had time to answer before Chad Sullivan lit a cigarette: “Outstanding at smoking and fighting? Or outstanding at murder and arson? Or maybe outstanding for putting a teacher in the hospital a couple days ago?”
Lily Brooks’s face went pale: “I believe there’s a misunderstanding. You’re not that kind of person.”
Chad Sullivan crossed his legs: “Have you seen my test results? Do you even know what intermittent explosive disorder is?”
Lily Brooks had no idea about any of this. She only knew Chad Sullivan had a bad temper, but she hadn’t expected he was actually ill. Her expression kept changing, but in the end she said firmly, “I don’t care!”
Chad Sullivan flicked his cigarette ash, his tone mocking: “Are you so desperate for money you’ve sunk this low? Well, I care. You’re too ugly. At the very least, you should look like Grace Turner from Seventh High next door. Didn’t you notice I was messing with you earlier? Get lost.”
Grace Turner was the school beauty at Seventh High next door, a second-year student.
Rumor had it she was Chad Sullivan’s current girlfriend, though many people didn’t believe it. Besides, even if she was, isn’t it common for new lovers to replace the old?
Lily Brooks was humiliated and thrown out, but she knew Chad Sullivan was too volatile to provoke, so she didn’t dare make a sound.
She couldn’t help but blame Ethan Carter in her heart—if only she hadn’t played the wrong note on the piano...
But then, in a flash, Lily Brooks remembered that comment about being even prettier than Grace Turner, and she froze.
She knew who was more beautiful than Grace Turner—it was Ethan Carter. That kind of pure, breathtaking beauty, which had quietly faded for years because of her injured eyes.
Ethan Carter had always been the center of attention since she was little. Lily Brooks still remembered the first time she saw ten-year-old Ethan Carter, that unforgettable, stunning delicacy. Beautiful and untainted, born to make others feel inferior.
It was like the feeling of a crystal gift everyone wanted to touch and longed for.
She gritted her teeth, thinking on one hand, compared to Ethan Carter, what was Grace Turner? On the other hand, she was glad Chad Sullivan didn’t know the Ethan Carter from before.
~
Ethan Carter walked out of Licai Vocational High, and Seventh High next door had already let out.
The two high schools were adjacent. On the left was the national Seventh High, full of top students with good grades; on the right was Licai, a private vocational school with chaotic management but plenty of rich kids. It was a paradise for spoiled brats.
Ever since the two schools were established, students from Seventh High looked down on Licai’s lazy, underachieving crowd, while Licai’s students looked down on the “penniless snobs” from Seventh High.
Ethan Carter couldn’t help but glance up at her school’s electronic screen.
That year, the screen was always used to broadcast various announcements. Red text scrolled across the black screen—
A lecture by Professor Zhang Hong from B University, all students are welcome to attend, location...
Her eyes ached, but she refused to blink.
More text scrolled by: Today’s date—20xx, October 11th, 19:03, Thursday.
She wasn’t dreaming. She really was back five years ago. The turning point of her short life. Ethan Carter almost wanted to break down and cry, but in the end, looking at the empty campus after school, she gripped her backpack strap and walked toward the bus stop.
There weren’t many buses to her home, only one every half hour. Ethan Carter took out her student transit card from her bag and waited at the stop.
She waited ten minutes, checking every stop along the way. This was the road home. In her last life, she’d longed to go home countless times; in this life, she finally got her wish.
But before the bus arrived, the harsh sound of a dirt bike racing came from afar. She gripped her cane tightly, her eyelashes trembling. A sense of foreboding rose in her heart.
The motorcycle sped by, slicing through the wind.
Brian Foster whistled and called out, “Hey, Brother Chad, that blind girl we saw at school.”
Chad Sullivan’s eyes glanced over from under his helmet.
Then the bike swerved and stopped right in front of Ethan Carter. Ethan Carter couldn’t help but take a step back.
The wind blew her hair. Ethan Carter’s hair was tucked behind her ear, her wispy bangs a little messy.
Chad Sullivan steadied the bike and took off his helmet.
Brian Foster and Alan Bennett stopped right behind him.
Ethan Carter remembered Chad Sullivan from this year.
This year, he’d gotten an ear piercing with a black diamond stud. His silver short hair was wild and rebellious—on anyone else, it would look ridiculous, but he was handsome, with a bold, striking face. Not the pretty-boy look that would be popular a few years later, but wild and rugged. He was a true delinquent.
Brian Foster couldn’t help but ask, “Hey, top student from Seventh High, are you really blind?”
Ethan Carter didn’t know why they’d stopped here, but she paused at his words and nodded lightly.
Chad Sullivan looked down at her for a while, his gaze passing over her long hair: “You’re from Seventh High. What are you doing at our vocational school?”
Ethan Carter tensed up inside, not knowing why she’d run into him here too, so she just stayed silent, stiffly.
Alan Bennett raised an eyebrow: “So you’re mute too?”
Ethan Carter pressed her lips together, looking quiet and docile, and nodded again.