Suddenly, a boy's voice called out from behind her, "Holly Winslow."
Holly Winslow looked over. A boy in the last row was holding up a bag of spicy strips and gesturing, asking if she wanted some.
He had dark skin and a few pimples on his forehead, but his features were quite nice. He was the class's athletic representative, and his name seemed to be Xavier Jennings.
'This boy will have a crush on me for three whole years,' she recalled. 'He'll confess after high school graduation, I'll turn him down, and we'll lose touch after that. I later heard he became a middle school PE teacher.'
Holly Winslow shook her head and looked away.
Anna Willow gave her a suggestive look and asked teasingly, "Holly, do you have... you know... for him?"
Xavier Jennings was tall and not bad-looking. His parents were teachers, and plenty of girls had crushes on him.
Iris Kensington was clearly interested in the topic. She leaned forward from behind, her long eyelashes fluttering. "Holly, hurry up and tell us!"
Holly Winslow rolled her eyes at them and lightly patted Iris Kensington on the head. "What 'you know'? Don't be ridiculous. I don't... to him..."
"Holly!" Anna Willow suddenly shouted.
It made Holly Winslow jump. "What?" She followed Anna's gaze and saw Xavier Jennings standing right next to her.
Several bags of spicy strips were on her desk.
"What are you guys talking about? Sounds exciting. Let me in on it."
Xavier Jennings pulled a stool over from an empty desk in front of them and sat down next to Holly Winslow.
He liked to play basketball and had the faint smell of sweat on him. Holly Winslow didn't like the scent. "Xavier, could you move over a bit?"
Xavier Jennings was confused. "What's wrong? Did I do something to upset you?"
"Xavier Jennings! Get back to your seat, now!"
Julian Carlton had entered the classroom at some point. Seeing Xavier Jennings sitting so close to Holly Winslow, he immediately snapped at him.
Xavier Jennings quickly stood up, returned the stool, and said to Julian Carlton with a cheeky grin, "Old Calder, you almost gave me a heart attack."
Someone in the class let out a snicker, followed by a wave of laughter.
"Don't get smart with me. I'll be telling your mom about this later so she can give you a proper talking-to." Julian Carlton glared at him.
Then he scanned the class. "Everyone, get to sleep, now. Otherwise, you'll just fall asleep in class this afternoon. You have two periods with me, and if I catch anyone sleeping, you can come sleep on the athletic field with me. Let the whole school admire your beautiful sleeping face!"
The whole class laughed, but they quickly put their heads down on their desks to sleep.
Holly Winslow wasn't tired. She checked her schedule: two periods of physics and one of math in the afternoon.
'All classes guaranteed to make you doze off.'
She took out her physics textbook. They were already three weeks into the semester, but the book was still pristine. It was clear she really hadn't been fond of studying before.
Chapter One: Understanding the Generation of Static Electricity...
Julian Carlton walked by, glanced at her, and tapped on her desk. "Don't read right now. Get twenty minutes of sleep."
"Mr. Carlton, I'm not tired," Holly Winslow said with a small smile.
'I need to catch up on everything I've missed, plus all the first-year material.'
Julian Carlton didn't press the issue. He watched her for a moment before leaving the classroom.
That afternoon, Julian Carlton deliberately kept an eye on Holly Winslow.
Basically, he was just checking to see if she was dozing off.
But for two straight periods, Holly Winslow listened attentively and even took notes, which absolutely astonished him.
At one point, he couldn't resist calling on her. "Holly Winslow, why don't you answer this: what is the fundamental property of an electric field?"
Caught off guard, Holly Winslow was stunned for a second. She quickly glanced at her book before looking up to answer, "It exerts a force on any charge placed within it."
"Very good. That's correct. You may sit down." Julian Carlton looked pleased.
...
After the second period, Julian Carlton returned to the faculty office with his book. He said to the math teacher, David Lewis, who was busy preparing a lesson, "That kid, Holly Winslow, was actually paying attention in class. I even called on her, and she answered correctly."
David Lewis pushed up his glasses. "She gave me a shock this morning, too. Later, Teacher Sheffield said it was because she'd given her a talking-to."
Julian Carlton hadn't heard about that, but he could guess what Holly Winslow had done. He picked up his water cup and took a sip. "I wonder how many days Holly will keep this up. Sigh, I'm not asking for much. As long as she doesn't sleep in class, I'll be happy."
For several days in a row, all of Holly Winslow's teachers were surprised to find that she had started listening in class, taking notes, and properly completing her assigned homework.
This was especially true in English class, where the English teacher, Clara Zane, discovered that Holly Winslow's pronunciation was impeccable.
Even more authentic than her own.
After she mentioned it in the faculty office, all the teachers started paying close attention to Holly Winslow.
Holly Winslow was oblivious to this, busy packing her schoolbag and stuffing her books inside.
It was Friday. Morning classes were over, and school would be out after two more periods in the afternoon.
Anna Willow glanced at her. "Holly, are you taking that many books home?"
"Yeah. Didn't the teachers assign homework?"
Holly Winslow glanced at a note on her desk. Math homework: end-of-chapter exercises one through three, and complete all of chapter two in the workbook.
She bent over to look for the workbook in her desk drawer.
"Holly, it's a two-day weekend and you're still going to do homework?" Anna Willow felt like she had become a completely different person.
Holly Winslow nodded. "Yeah."
Perhaps it was the simple nature of student life, but seeing her like this, Anna Willow felt that she should probably take her homework home, too, and started packing it up.
Soon, it was the second period of the afternoon. The second period on a Friday afternoon was usually the homeroom teacher's class.
With ten minutes left until dismissal, the students were getting restless, secretly starting to pack their things.
Julian Carlton knew they couldn't focus anymore. "That's all for today's lesson. I'll assign the homework now. From the textbook, page thirty-five, problems one and two. Do them in your homework notebooks. As for the workbook, do multiple-choice questions one through seven."
After assigning the homework, he began his usual speech about safety on the way home from school.
Iris Kensington poked Holly Winslow in the back. "Holly, want to walk home together after school?"
Her route home was the same as Holly Winslow's, while Anna Willow lived in the opposite direction.
Holly Winslow glanced at the homeroom teacher droning on at the front of the class, turned her head slightly, and whispered, "You go on ahead. My cousin is picking me up to have dinner at his place."
"Okay," Iris Kensington nodded.
A little while later, the school broadcast system came to life. "Students, it is now time for dismissal..."
With a wave from Julian Carlton, the students swarmed out of the classroom.
"Holly, Anna and I are leaving now." Iris Kensington waved to Holly Winslow.
"Okay."
As Holly Winslow left the classroom, Xavier Jennings came up to her. "Holly, let me buy you a bubble tea."
The boy's dark-skinned face looked a little awkward, but his bright, clear eyes were exceptionally radiant.
"I can't, I'm in a hurry to get home." Holly Winslow shook her head and started down the stairs.
Xavier Jennings followed behind her. "Come on, that bubble tea shop is your favorite."
"I don't like bubble tea anymore."
"Then how about I treat you to some BBQ skewers?"
"I don't want that either."
"Fried chicken strips?"
This was getting nowhere. Holly Winslow stopped walking and said very seriously, "Xavier, I don't like any of those things."
Xavier Jennings froze for a moment, then raised a hand to scratch the back of his head. He asked cautiously, "Holly, did I do something to offend you?"
'Holly has been so cold to me these past few days.'
'She was always a bit cold before, but never like this, so clearly drawing a line between us.'