“Yes,” Emily Clark told herself to stay calm. “Then we should be able to be friends, right? Can I add you on WeChat?”

“No.”

“…What?”

“I don’t have WeChat.”

Brian Brooks walked away, and Emily Clark stood there for a long time without moving.

Anna Walker was satisfied with the show and was just about to leave when he saw Emily Clark suddenly turn around and head straight toward them.

“Anna Walker! Say it!” Emily Clark stood outside the window, reached in, and grabbed Anna Walker’s clothes. “Am I good-looking or not?”

“Good-looking, good-looking, very good-looking!” Anna Walker shrugged his shoulders.

“Then why does Brian Brooks treat me like this?”

“Exactly!” Anna Walker asked, “How did you know we were here?”

“I saw you earlier. How many have you smoked? It stinks.” Emily Clark let go of him and looked at the other person who hadn’t spoken, “Grace Bennett, you tell me, am I good-looking?”

Grace Bennett said, “Give it a rest.”

Emily Clark laughed, propping herself up on the windowsill with one hand. “Didn’t get a good look at you today, but your face is really something.”

Anna Walker said, “You don’t get it, these are my brother’s glorious badges of honor.”

“This glory is for you?” Grace Bennett asked.

“No, no.” Anna Walker chuckled, then asked Emily Clark, “Hey, did you really like Brian Brooks since the first year of high school?”

“How could that be? If I liked him since then, could I have kept it in this long?” Emily Clark said. “I was just saying.”

“…” Anna Walker was stunned. “So was it love at first sight?”

“Not really.”

Emily Clark tucked her hair behind her ear, returning to her usual beautiful and bold self.

“I just think he’s pretty handsome, and he’s good at studying. If I could really be with someone like that, I’d never have to worry about homework or exams again.” Thinking about it, Emily Clark still felt a little tempted. “Do you guys think I still have a chance?”

Grace Bennett didn’t even look up. “No.”

“I think so too…” Anna Walker started to say, but when he met Emily Clark’s threatening gaze, he immediately changed his tune, “Mainly, these top students have pretty unique tastes. What if Brian Brooks just doesn’t like your type?”

“Then what type does he like?”

Anna Walker got more and more into it, gesturing with his hands: “The kind who ties all her hair back behind her head, has small eyes and thick lips, wears thick bottle-bottom glasses, only knows how to study all day, skinny with a few pimples on her face—”

“Bullshit.” Emily Clark paused, then said, “So if I go get a pair of glasses now, is it still in time?”

Annoyed, Grace Bennett suddenly stood up and walked out.

Anna Walker’s sleeve was still in Emily Clark’s hand. Seeing this, he quickly asked, “Where are you going?”

“Home,” Grace Bennett said. “You guys have fun.”

“Who the hell is playing with her? Wait for me, let’s go together. What if you get blocked again… Hey, hey, hey, ancestor, you’re going to tear my clothes…”

Emily Clark didn’t let go. She thought of something and called after the departing figure, “Grace Bennett, you’re not allowed to tell anyone about what just happened! Or I’ll tell Fangqin about you fighting with the kids from the school next door—”

“Whatever,” Grace Bennett put both hands in his pockets, turned the corner and went upstairs, his voice drifting down the hallway, “Just make sure you say I won, so I didn’t embarrass her.”

“……”

-

“Top student, did you bring your phone to school?” Laura Wood asked, looking at the person who had just returned to the classroom.

Because of Sarah Grant’s odd habit of changing seats twice a semester, the students in the class were currently sitting wherever they wanted.

As a transfer student, Laura Wood naturally sat with the other transfer student.

Back in Class One, their seats were assigned by grades. Before transferring, Laura Wood never thought he’d ever get to sit at the same desk as Brian Brooks.

Brian Brooks sat down and started organizing his things. “Yeah.”

“I just heard a few vibrations,” Laura Wood said, “from your backpack.”

Brian Brooks took out his phone. There were five unread text messages.

He stared at the sender’s note for a while before finally pressing his finger to the screen.

Laura Wood had no intention of snooping, but since their seats were close, he accidentally caught a glimpse of Brian Brooks’s phone screen.

It was a text message interface, and he could vaguely make out the words “Mom,” “help you transfer classes,” and “come home early.”

He didn’t see everything, but it was easy to piece together—the top student’s parents weren’t happy about the class change and wanted Brian Brooks to transfer back.

That was normal. His own parents wanted him to transfer too, but unfortunately, his family wasn’t as powerful as Brian Brooks’s, so they couldn’t just switch whenever they wanted.

Laura Wood was just lamenting that he hadn’t even had a chance to benefit from the top student before he was about to transfer away, when he saw Brian Brooks toss his phone back into his backpack, randomly pull out a workbook, and silently bury his head in practice problems.

He was stunned for a moment. “Top student, school’s over. Aren’t you going home?”

“Yeah.”

After a while, Brian Brooks felt the burning gaze from beside him and turned his head. “What is it?”

Laura Wood smiled a little, a bit nervous. “Nothing, it’s just… there’s a problem I haven’t been able to solve. I just went to the office, but the teacher wasn’t there, so I wanted to ask if you could help me take a look. Of course, if you’re busy, just forget I said anything…”

“Give it here.”