The holiday ended, and Brian Clark still hadn’t seen Henry Webb at the city library. Instead, in the last two days, she unexpectedly ran into some other classmates from her class. They chatted idly, talking about their college aspirations, about which classmates came from wealthy families and might go abroad. In the midst of this, someone suddenly mentioned Henry Webb. Brian Clark was like a silent little bug, quietly listening, but what she regretted most was not asking him that day which country he planned to go to, or which university he wanted to attend.

On the last afternoon of the National Day holiday, classmates gradually returned to school. By the time of evening self-study, the classroom was still noisy—after a few days off, everyone had a lot of nonsense to vent.

That letter, it seemed, had come to nothing. When Brian Clark passed by Class One, she quickly glanced over with the corner of her eye, but it was too fast; all she saw were the crisscrossing figures of students, nothing else.

The next day, Monday’s flag-raising ceremony, for the first time ever, Henry Webb was nowhere to be seen. Brian Clark widened her eyes and checked several times, but he still wasn’t there.

That was very strange.

He was the flag-bearer—how could he not be there on a Monday? And during the whole holiday, he hadn’t shown up at the library either. Was he sick? Or… had he gotten into a fight?

With these thoughts swirling in her mind, even the most well-behaved and honest girl could muster up some inexplicable courage. Brian Clark hesitated for a few seconds, then quietly tugged on Grace Bolton, who was standing in front of her: “My stomach hurts. Can you tell Teacher Xu later that I’m going to the bathroom first?”

Heaven knows, even Brian Clark had learned to lie now. Her face was red, and her heart was pounding.

Heaven must be punishing her—just as she ran out, her stomach actually started to ache faintly. Brian Clark was shocked at how quickly the punishment came, and felt especially annoyed, so she could only hurry toward the bathroom.

Actually, there were bathrooms on every floor of the teaching building, though they were small. There was also a huge bathroom near the ginkgo grove on the left side of the building. Sometimes, if students didn’t want to wait for the crowded bathrooms upstairs, they would come down here.

Sunlight was filtering sparsely through the trees.

Suddenly, Brian Clark saw a figure standing there, openly smoking. After not seeing him for a whole holiday, she wondered if it was an illusion—he seemed to have grown taller again. For some reason, he reminded her of those trees in a primeval forest. No, more like the unknown plants hidden beneath the trees, which would shoot upward without hesitation whenever they caught a ray of sunlight, never missing a chance to grow.

The boy saw her too. At first, his face was expressionless, even a bit menacing. Somehow, that look made Brian Clark feel both curious and amused, and she couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile.

So this guy, skipping the flag-raising, was hiding here to sneak a smoke. Why did he always act like a bad kid?

As if he’d noticed her faint, subtle smile, Henry Webb greeted her, calling her name. Brian Clark tried to act calm, nodded, and casually asked, “You didn’t go to the flag-raising?”

It was as if she’d forgotten all about her stomachache.

Henry Webb just smiled, holding the cigarette between his index and thumb, taking a deep drag. He said, “What a coincidence, you always catch me. Don’t go telling the dean on me, or I’ll beat you up.”

Listen to that—is that something a top student should say?

Brian Clark wanted to act more natural, but then she remembered that letter. The feeling was like suddenly being seen naked by Henry Webb. He didn’t know she was the one who wrote it… but she still felt embarrassed, mortified.

Her face flushed red, and after a moment’s hesitation, she managed to squeeze out, “I don’t like gossiping about others.” She really wanted to advise him not to get into fights, and not to pick up smoking like adults, but looking at his rebellious, indifferent expression, Brian Clark finally understood for the first time what it meant: wanting to speak, but forgetting the words.

Chapter 10: The Monthly Exams at Meizhong Are Always a Big Deal...

The monthly exams at Meizhong are always a big production. They’re held on weekends, one person per desk, thirty students per classroom, arranged in a staggered pattern. The desks have to be turned around, exam numbers posted, and all personal items cleared out—everything is done according to the standards of the college entrance exam.

So, moving books around is always a hassle. But starting this year, cabinets were brought in at the end of the hallway, one for each person. Before the monthly exams, the area in front of the cabinets was packed with people from every class on the floor.

“Hey, how’s your prep going?” Grace Bolton asked Henry Webb very naturally. The boy was bent over, stuffing books into his cabinet. He had the fewest things—couldn’t even fill one cabinet. “Same as always.”

The girls were always very competitive with him. Sometimes, they could even outdo him, but Henry Webb never cared. He saw that Grace Bolton’s cabinet was stuffed full, with a pile of things still left out, so he pointed to his own cabinet and said, “You can put them in mine.”

“Sure, thanks!” Grace Bolton handed her things over without hesitation. Henry Webb frowned, “You girls are so troublesome. What is all this?” He took a black plastic bag from her.

“Not telling you!” Grace Bolton suddenly replied in a coy, girlish tone. Henry Webb was used to her acting like a wise older sister, so he gave her a sharp look. Grace Bolton felt a bit awkward and said, “Why are you staring at me like that?”

“You sounded weird just now,” Henry Webb said bluntly.

Inside the black plastic bag were sanitary pads and tissues—girl stuff. Grace Bolton shrugged helplessly and said, “You really don’t understand girls at all.”

Henry Webb had zero interest in this topic and didn’t respond. Why should he understand how girls think?

From a distance, the two of them looked very close.