Chapter 13: Chapter 13: An Earth-Shattering Secret
Next, whatever Elder Prescott said, Warren Prescott didn’t hear at all.
But over the next month, Warren Prescott didn’t go looking for Ashley Shaw to cause trouble again.
Aethelgard High is small and not so small.
If you don’t specifically look for someone, you won’t run into each other at all.
...
The day the final exams ended was a bright and sunny day.
Ashley Shaw walked out of the examination hall, her forehead covered in a fine layer of sweat.
She walked out with the crowd and saw a group of moms dressed in qipao, hoping their children would succeed in one try.
There was a slight sting in Ashley Shaw’s nose.
Suddenly... she really, really missed her mom.
"Mom! Why are you here?"
"Silly child, all the other mothers are here, why can’t I come? How did you do?"
"Not bad, I guess."
The crowded people, the noisy sounds.
Ashley Shaw’s ears were buzzing, and she suddenly heard the sound of her own heartbeat.
This sound drowned out everything else.
Then the world suddenly went quiet as if the volume had been turned off.
When she woke up again, she saw herself lying on a single bed in the nurse’s office.
Beside her was a blue screen.
Vaguely, she saw someone sitting behind the screen.
A faint smell of smoke wafted around the screen.
Ashley Shaw frowned, she didn’t like the smell of smoke, and smelling it made her instinctively hold her breath.
"Hello..."
She sat up, wanting to ask the person behind the screen to go smoke outside.
The next second, a familiar face appeared before her eyes.
It was Warren Prescott.
Ashley Shaw’s eyes widened.
They hadn’t seen each other for a month.
Warren Prescott’s sudden appearance left her a bit at a loss.
"You fainted." Warren Prescott broke the silence first.
Before Ashley Shaw could respond, he added, "I carried you here."
"Thank you..."
"That’s it?"
Ashley Shaw hesitated for two seconds, then turned her pocket inside out and took out fifty-five fifty.
"This is all I have."
Warren Prescott’s expression stiffened.
He closed his eyes, looking very helpless.
"Hey, what’s with you..."
"Ashley!"
Ariana Grant’s sudden entry interrupted Warren Prescott.
Too anxious, she bumped Warren Prescott’s shoulder aside and came up to Ashley Shaw.
"I heard you fainted. How do you feel now? Want to go to the hospital?"
"No need, it’s probably just heatstroke. I feel much better now."
Ariana Grant let out a sigh of relief.
"You scared me to death!"
"Ahem!" Warren Prescott coughed lightly, finally catching Ariana Grant’s attention.
"Classmate Prescott, sorry, I didn’t notice you just now..."
"It’s fine, you guys talk, I’m leaving." Warren Prescott gave a slight nod to Ariana Grant, then started to walk out.
But just after taking two steps, he turned back.
"By the way, what universities are you two planning to apply to?"
Ariana Grant opened her eyes wide in surprise.
The noble young master, since when did he care about her college choices?
Before Ariana Grant could open her mouth, Ashley Shaw answered first, "Aethelgard University."
"Hmm, Aethelgard University is quite good." Warren Prescott left this sentence and finally went out.
Ariana Grant tilted her head in confusion.
Wasn’t he asking about both of their college choices? She hadn’t even answered yet.
Wait, no, it seemed like Warren Prescott only wanted to know Ashley’s.
Realizing this, Ariana Grant showed an even more bewildered expression.
"Ashley, why did he suddenly ask you that? And weren’t you planning to apply to The Medical University?"
"Just randomly said it." Anyway, Warren Prescott was just casually asking.
"Oh... But I find Warren Prescott so strange, it feels like he’s a bit different from before. The way he talks to you, it used to be like you two had a grudge, and now, now he’s completely changed?"
"I don’t know." Ashley Shaw shook her head, not wanting to talk about it anymore.
She used to constantly try to figure out what Warren Prescott was thinking, even interpreting every expression he made.
But after a close brush with death, she felt that none of this mattered anymore.
Nothing is more important than living well and loving oneself.
Being unloved by someone is just a trivial thing in life.
"I’m planning to find a part-time job tomorrow, want to come with me?"
"Sure! I was just thinking that summer would be boring! But let me tell you, I feel like I did pretty well this time. The student sitting in front of me is a top student, and I sneaked a peek, our multiple-choice answers matched..."
Ashley Shaw shook her head helplessly.
"You."
Ariana Grant stuck out her tongue and asked, "How about you? How did you do?"
Ashley Shaw looked calm, "Should be alright."
"I believe you’ll be fine! Come on, let’s go home!"
"Okay."
The next day, the students all returned to school to pack up their final belongings.
Ashley Shaw had already moved out her things two days before the college entrance exam, but unfortunately, the lazy Ariana Grant hadn’t brought a single book home.
She had to give up her part-time job interview to accompany Ariana Grant back to school.
"Sorry, Ashley, there’s just too much stuff, I can’t carry it all myself."
"It’s okay."
She had been eating and living at Ariana Grant’s for so long, what was one part-time job interview?
When the two of them entered the classroom, they found most of the classmates had returned.
Many people weren’t back for their things but to write in the yearbooks.
"Remember to write down your phone number!"
"OK!"
The lively chatter quieted down as Ashley Shaw and Ariana Grant walked in.
After just one month away, the classmates looked at Ashley Shaw with a hint of unfamiliarity.
Fortunately, this awkward silence quickly disappeared, and the classmates started chatting again.
Ariana Grant pulled out her chair for Ashley Shaw to sit down.
"I just remembered that I still have a phone that was confiscated by the teacher. You sit here, I’ll be right back."
"Alright."
Ashley Shaw agreed but didn’t just sit idly; she started helping Ariana Grant pack up her things.
Suddenly, a black leather notebook was placed in front of her.
Ashley Shaw looked up.
It was the class sports committee member, who rarely interacted with Ashley Shaw.
"Yearbook." The sports committee member gestured with his chin.
Ashley Shaw nodded, "I’ll let Ariana Grant know when she gets back."
She had already excluded herself from the class, so she didn’t think the book was for her to sign.
However, the sports committee member shook his head.
"Not just her. Both of you should sign it."
"...Alright."
The sports committee member was about to leave but suddenly turned back.
"Oh, I forgot to say, this isn’t mine; it belongs to Warren."
Ashley Shaw paused as she picked up the pen, then calmly nodded, "Got it, thanks."
After the sports committee member left, Ashley Shaw pulled out a chair and sat down, slowly opening the front page.
Sure enough, the bold letters "Warren Prescott" were written across the top.
She recalled that in the past, she hadn’t written in this kind of thing, and at least this yearbook hadn’t circulated to her hands.
As for now...
If the other person wants her to write, she’ll write.
If Warren Prescott didn’t want to see what she wrote, he could just tear it out.
As she had thought before, once she really let go, she didn’t have the energy to think about what he would think or do.
Ashley Shaw casually opened to a blank page, thought for a moment, and seriously wrote a few words.
By the time most of the things were packed, Ariana Grant still hadn’t returned. After hesitating for a moment, Ashley Shaw got up to find her.
But after searching everywhere, she couldn’t find Ariana Grant, so she had no choice but to return to the classroom.
However, once she returned, she found that the yearbook was gone.
She asked the classmate in the front row, who shook his head and said indifferently, "Don’t know."
She decided to no longer concern herself with it, assuming it had been taken by other classmates to sign.
Afterward, two or three people came to her to sign yearbooks, and she returned each with a smile, carefully writing and handing it back.
But she never saw that black leather notebook again.
After a while, Ariana Grant finally returned.
She was sweating on her forehead, panting as she said, "The homeroom teacher was in a meeting at the administration building. I nearly died running!"
"Did you get the phone?"
"Here it is! It hasn’t been turned on for half a semester, but it still works. I’ll take it to the phone shop to sell it later, and then we’ll go for hot pot!"
"Your stomach..."
"Come on, Ashley, you’ve really become like my mom. Just this once, okay?"
Ashley Shaw thought about it and made a concession.
"Then let’s have mushroom soup hot pot."
"Alright!"
Better than nothing!
...
Rooftop of the teaching building.
A tall figure leaned against the rooftop railing, eyes fixed on the two people struggling to carry books towards the school gate below.
"Warren, I brought it for you!"
"I thought you wouldn’t bother with these yearbook things, really didn’t expect..."
The sports committee member said as he handed the black leather notebook over.
Warren Prescott didn’t open it immediately but instead nodded downwards.
"Go down and give them a hand."
"Huh?"
The sports committee member looked in the direction Warren Prescott indicated—it was Ashley Shaw and Ariana Grant.
"Oh..." He snapped back to reality, internally connecting the yearbook and "give a hand," suddenly realizing something big.
It seemed like he had discovered something incredible!