"By the way, what's your name again?" Ethan was walking ahead, then suddenly stopped, turned around, and asked Vivian.
Vivian wasn't paying attention and bumped right into Ethan's chest.
Ouch... That hurts...
Vivian felt her nose twinge with pain, almost bringing tears to her eyes. Was this guy's chest made of iron? She nearly broke her nose hitting it.
She looked up, only to see a flicker of mockery in Ethan's deep eyes, and he said with a hint of disdain, "Ha... trying to throw yourself into my arms?"
Vivian couldn't help but roll her eyes; this guy was completely different from the person he was at the subway station entrance a moment ago.
"Sorry, I'm not interested in kids." Vivian rubbed her nose and said to him with full seriousness.
Ethan was taken aback for a moment, then gathered himself and said with a half-smile, "That's just as well, I'm not interested in old ladies either."
"..."
You're the old lady!!
Vivian raised her head and glared at Ethan fiercely, her gaze sharp and aggressive.
Ethan was slightly stunned; he couldn't help but find it amusing. This girl looked so gentle and delicate when she walked in, why did she suddenly become so fierce?
"What's your name, really?" Ethan squinted his eyes, seeing she didn't answer, and impatiently asked again, "I heard my folks call you Vivian. Which Viv is that? Viv as in vivid? Or Viv as in survive?"
"My name is Vivian." Vivian took a deep breath, telling herself not to stoop to a kid's level, and smiled slightly at Ethan, "Viv as in vivacious—because I was born full of life. What about you? Your folks call you Ethan. Which E is that? E as in evil?"
Ethan's smile stiffened, and he looked at Vivian with a peculiar expression for a moment before finally speaking, "It's E as in Ethan—plain and simple. You see all these books around here? If my dad lived in ancient times, he'd be the kind of guy who'd name me Ethan and then spend all day quoting Shakespeare."
Vivian barely managed a smile while listening to him, then casually pulled out a chair and sat down at the desk, looking at him, "So, let's start the tutoring session. I heard from Professor Shaw that you chose the humanities track?"
"Mm." Ethan responded in a low voice, pulling out another chair next to Vivian, and sat down.
"So, for your senior year, you're taking the core subjects — English, math, a foreign language, history, and government?"
"Mm."
"Then... which subject are you weaker in? Let's start with that." Vivian thought for a moment and asked Ethan.
"Weaker?" Ethan raised an eyebrow at her, "What do you mean by weaker? I'm balanced in every subject, okay."
"Uh... does balanced mean... they're all good?" Vivian was puzzled, wondering if what his dad said earlier might have been exaggerated, maybe this guy's grades weren't that bad, when Ethan calmly said, "No. Balanced as in equally bad."
He paused, and with a smug tone, continued, "Every subject equally failing—that kind of balanced."
Vivian pursed her lips, looking at him—completely indifferent, with a "my grades are bad, what are you gonna do about it" kind of attitude—took a deep breath, and smiled at him, "Well, since it's just the start of senior year, could you tell me your exam scores from the end of last semester in your junior year?"