Chapter 108: Chapter 108: Unforeseen Disaster
May Lee furrowed her brows, a vague feeling of unease rising within her.
But she wouldn’t believe that Ashley Shaw really made it to the top twenty in the state, so she immediately asked, "Mr. Coleman, I heard someone from our class got into the top twenty statewide, do you know who it is?"
Mr. Coleman was surprised upon hearing May Lee’s words.
He then looked at Ashley Shaw, smiling as he asked, "Ashley, with such good news, why haven’t you shared it with your classmates yet? I thought you would have told everyone by now."
May Lee’s heart suddenly dropped, subconsciously looking at Ashley Shaw.
She only heard Ashley Shaw say calmly, "I did, but no one believed me."
"!!!" May Lee widened her eyes.
She’s not foolish, being someone who frequently ranked in the top three in the class; how could she not realize whether Ashley Shaw was the one in the top twenty statewide?
But how could it be... how is it possible...
If anyone else had made it to the top twenty in the state, she would offer her sincere congratulations, but not Ashley Shaw!
Yet, ironically, it was indeed Ashley Shaw who made it into the top twenty.
The scorn she had shown Ashley Shaw seemed like it was turning into a series of slaps, hitting her face hard.
She even heard a classmate behind her saying, "Wasn’t it May Lee who said Ashley Shaw dragged down our class’s average score just now?"
May Lee slowly clenched her fists, her face bright red.
The mixture of awkwardness, resentment, and disbelief made it nearly impossible for her to lift her head.
The class teacher on the podium, after hearing what Ashley Shaw had said, tilted his head quizzically.
"Don’t believe?"
The next moment, Mr. Coleman immediately looked at May Lee, who had just asked who was in the top twenty statewide.
Seeing May Lee’s reddened face and her head lowered, Mr. Coleman understood.
Being someone who had eaten decades more rice than these students, how could he not understand why May Lee suddenly asked that?
But May Lee’s situation... is a little special.
Mr. Coleman lightly pressed his lips together and didn’t call out May Lee’s name, only saying, "Since no one believes, let me tell you. The one from our class who made it into the top twenty statewide is Ashley Shaw. I’m telling you, so you all can’t not believe it now, right?"
"No, of course not..."
"Ashley Shaw is amazing!"
"I’m glad I didn’t question her just now, didn’t you see how awkward May Lee’s expression was?"
"If I were her, I’d want to find a hole to crawl into right now."
May Lee held her fists tight, her face, which was red, now turning slightly blue.
"Ahem, ahem!"
The class teacher coughed twice and said, "Alright, let’s all clap together to congratulate our class for having someone among the top twenty statewide."
Applause broke out instantly.
May Lee raised her hand with difficulty, her clapping stiff and awkward, like a puppet on strings.
Ashley Shaw now... must be feeling very proud, right?
She slightly turned her head, using the corner of her eye to glance at Ashley Shaw.
Only to see Ashley Shaw was not paying any attention to her at all.
All at once, May Lee felt even more displeased, her face turning from blue to a shade of blackish-blue.
But Ashley Shaw truly didn’t care about the change in May Lee’s expression and was too lazy to care.
The applause stopped, and the class teacher spoke again: "Alright, according to what I said, everyone, take out your volunteer forms. I’ll say an item, and you fill in an item. Make sure not to fill it incorrectly. If there’s anything you don’t know how to fill in, raise your hand to ask me."
"Okay, teacher..."
About ten minutes later, most people had completed their volunteer forms, in the checking phase.
Ashley Shaw had filled hers out early, so while others were checking their forms, she idly took out her phone to browse through her Moments.
Just then, a friend request popped up.
Ashley Shaw clicked on the friend verification and found that the person’s WeChat name was "Grass on the Langley Plains", with a system note showing the person had added her through a group chat.
And the group chat name happened to be the name of the class’s WeChat group.
Ashley Shaw accepted the request, and the other party immediately sent a message.
"Grass on the Langley Plains": "Ashley, it’s Fiona Langley."
Ashley Shaw instinctively looked up and saw Fiona Langley in the front row typing away.
Clearly, right in front of her, why send a WeChat message?
As Ashley Shaw wondered, the other party sent another message.
"Grass on the Langley Plains": "Ashley, do you know why May Lee dislikes you so much?"
Ashley Shaw’s fingers paused, and her thumb tapped the screen to type a line.
"It doesn’t matter, we won’t see each other again in the future anyway."
But before she could click send, "Grass on the Langley Plains" sent a long text.
"Do you remember when you were first adopted by the Prescott Family? Back then, everyone only knew Warren Prescott got a sister adopted at home, and she was a classmate from our grade, but they didn’t know specifically who it was."
"But later, some people started spreading rumors that the person Warren’s family adopted was an orphan whose parents both died."
"May Lee’s parents worked at a mine, and a month before the adoption rumors came out, her parents had an accident at the mine."
"So naturally, everyone guessed it was her, thinking the Prescott Family adopted her."
"Later, someone asked her, she didn’t deny it, but she didn’t specifically say it was her either."
"But everyone believed since she didn’t deny it, she must be the one adopted, because it seemed like besides her, no one else in the school fit the criteria at the time."
"After that, many people, out of consideration for Warren’s sake, took good care of her, and she enjoyed the attention and care."
"But it wasn’t long before someone saw you and Warren taking the school bus to school together, not just once."
"Later there were rumors that your mom also had an accident, so people started suspecting that the adopted person wasn’t May Lee, but you."
"And later it was confirmed that you were indeed adopted by the Prescott Family."
"After everyone knew the truth, they mocked her a lot, and during that period, she seemed to have some mental issues. The class teacher even asked her to see a school psychologist."
"Because of this, later on, people didn’t dare to mock her anymore, fearing they’d worsen her condition and have to bear the responsibility."
"So...do you understand now why she dislikes you so much?"
After reading through that long block of text, Ashley Shaw’s eyes nearly got strained.
Having recently undergone surgery for nearsightedness, even looking at her phone occasionally made her eyes feel sore and aching.
So after getting the gist of it, she stopped reading further.
Her lips parted slightly, and then she let out a bitter laugh.
It was truly an innocent calamity.
"Grass on the Langley Plains" sent another message.
"So just ignore her; she’s just a nutcase. Everyone appeases her on the surface, but really they’re just afraid she’ll go crazy. Actually, everyone quite likes you; it’s just to care for her feelings that they didn’t dare to get too close to you."
Ashley Shaw was silent for a while, then replied with two words: "Thank you."
At this moment, the class teacher walked over.
Ashley Shaw put away her phone accordingly.
"Ashley, please go to the playground to find the principal before the other classmates gather there. You and the other two who received scholarships need to learn a bit about the procedure."