novelraw Chapter 166: Dating Also Depends on Grades
Chapter 166: Dating Also Depends on Grades
The math teacher: "..."
’What a headache.’
He slapped the lectern with his textbook, signaling for the students to quiet down. He then looked at Anna Willow and Iris Kensington with exasperation. "Now that you’ve had the milk tea Holly Winslow bought, you two should at least try to put a little more effort into your studies. I’m not asking for much—just get a seventy or eighty in math. Stop trailing at the bottom with forties and fifties."
Anna Willow and Iris Kensington were already studying diligently under Holly Winslow’s occasional supervision, but math was a lost cause. It seemed to possess a magical ability to put them to sleep.
The second they started studying it, they’d get drowsy, and that drowsiness would last until the bell rang.
Sometimes they even slept right through the end of class.
The two of them guiltily lowered their heads and took the scolding.
...
Holly Winslow and Mortimer Quincy were shopping near the gate of Jarton High, checking items off a list as they went to make sure they didn’t forget anything.
Everyone was finally getting a break from the usual cafeteria food. If they forgot anything, the others would probably cry.
The food for a dozen or so people filled two large bags. You could smell the barbecue even from a distance. If the security guard hadn’t let them through on Mortimer Quincy’s account, they almost wouldn’t have made it back inside.
The two of them waited until the end of the fourth period to carry the food inside. A crowd immediately swarmed them to get their share.
Gabe Chaucer walked by after his class and glanced over. Seeing them dividing up food, he just smiled. "Throw your trash in the can when you’re done. Don’t make a mess." With that, he returned to the faculty office.
As long as the students didn’t go too far, he was willing to turn a blind eye most of the time.
They were just kids, after all. It wasn’t good to be too strict with them.
Paul Powell grabbed a milk tea, quickly set it on Luna Lynch’s desk, and then went back to get his barbecue as if nothing had happened.
Luna Lynch glanced at the tan-skinned boy before putting the milk tea under her desk.
Chase Hawkins: "..."
’Damn, it reeks of sickeningly sweet puppy love.’
Holly Winslow handed a warm milk to Cynthia Owens and said sweetly, "Cynthia, this is for you. Mortimer bought it."
"I know what he’s like. Thanks, hon."
Cynthia Owens had grown up with Mortimer Quincy. He wasn’t the type of person to go out of his way to buy things for a girl.
She and her older sister had always agreed that he would never be able to find a girlfriend.
The fact that he had a girlfriend now just proved her older sister’s other prediction: Mortimer Quincy must have gotten ridiculously lucky.
Holly Winslow, having been exposed: "..."
She returned to her seat and glanced at Mortimer Quincy. "You’ve certainly made a ’deep’ impression on your cousin."
Mortimer Quincy raised an eyebrow, unconcerned. "You’re the only one I care about."
It wasn’t that the Quincy cousins had a bad relationship—quite the opposite, in fact. They were all just a bit precocious, so they mostly managed their own affairs.
Independent.
Holly Winslow huffed in satisfaction but still pouted. "I’m not a three-year-old child."
Mortimer Quincy thought for a moment, then said meaningfully, "Of course you’re not. Otherwise, raping a child would get me a prison sentence of ten years or more."
Holly Winslow: "..."
That afternoon, during nap time, Iris Kensington shamelessly shared Anna Willow’s embarrassing moment in the group chat.
Iris Kensington: Hahaha, Holly, you won’t believe this. I’m dying laughing at Anna. It was hilarious.
Her milk tea rolled out of her clothes in front of the whole class.
She looked so sketchy picking it back up.
Holly Winslow pictured the scene and couldn’t help but laugh out loud. Resting her head on her desk, she furtively typed a reply: Anna, you know what they say—’a man fears fame like a pig fears getting fat.’ Congrats on getting fat.
Iris Kensington: Hahahaha, Holly’s right.
Anna Willow: I’m breaking up with both of you. For ten seconds.
Ten
...
One
Okay, breakup over.
I have to tell you guys, I think I’m falling in love again.
Iris Kensington: !!! You got back together with Charles Langley?
Holly Winslow: !!!
She glanced at Zeke Zane, who was sitting in front of her working on problems.
’So useless,’ she thought.
Anna Willow: Of course not! I haven’t even been in contact with Charles Langley. Ahem, it’s Zeke Zane.
Iris Kensington: The AI?
Holly Winslow: ...
Anna Willow: We were playing a game, and I casually mentioned that I’d gotten fat and no one would want me if I gained any more weight.
I was really just lamenting, you know?
And he replied with two words: I do.
I thought he was joking, so my brain glitched and I replied with one word: Okay.
And then he asked me to go see a movie with him after the school break this month.
Iris Kensington: ...
Anna, you idiot. You sold yourself off just like that.
Holly Winslow commented: This whole storyline is a bit cringey and melodramatic.
Anna Willow: ...
Iris Kensington: ...
Anna Willow: Not as cringey as your teen years. Your cousin is your boyfriend, hahahaha.
Iris Kensington: Hahahaha.
Holly Winslow: ...
We’re done.
But before we break up, you owe us celebration candy.
Iris Kensington: +1
Anna Willow: Ah, but seriously, I don’t think we’re a good match.
Iris Kensington: ?
Holly Winslow: How are you not a good match?
Anna Willow: My grades are only a little more than half of his.
Holly Winslow: ...
Study hard.
Iris Kensington: ...
And improve every day.
Anna Willow: You two are completely brainwashed. Let me go get a bottle of Anti-Study Potion to save you.
Holly Winslow chuckled. Seeing her grinning like an idiot, Mortimer Quincy leaned over to peek at her phone for a few seconds. He saw Anna Willow’s message about her grades being just over half of Zeke Zane’s and raised an eyebrow. "Do you have to consider grades when you’re dating now? I thought it was all about looks."
Holly Winslow, feeling targeted by that remark: "..."
She put her phone away and began to lecture him seriously, "Have you ever heard the phrase ’well-matched in social status’?"
"Nope."
Mortimer Quincy shook his head nonchalantly and added, "All I know is that Mortimer Quincy and Holly Winslow are a match made in heaven."
Faced with his sudden sweet talk, Holly Winslow was speechless. "..."
She buried her head and continued working on her test paper.
Mortimer Quincy wouldn’t let her off the hook. He leaned in closer. "Wifey, am I right or am I right?"
’Right, my ass.’
Holly Winslow turned her head to say something back, but in the next second, he stole a kiss.
"Yes," that rascal Mortimer Quincy answered for her.
She: "..."
...
In the span of a single month, there were at least a dozen exams, big and small. The teachers had stopped grading them. They simply went over the questions right after, letting the students check their own answers and estimate their scores.
It was all to save as much time as possible.
Pantheon checked his answers for the English test. He’d only scored in the one-twenties. He couldn’t help but sigh in frustration. "Is my English score just a random number? It always jumps around between 110 and 130."
"Can’t it just stay in the one-thirties?"
"If I bomb the college entrance exams, I guarantee you it will be because of English."
He turned around to see if the two behind him had gotten a "random" score for once. To his disappointment, their scores were still "fixed."
A perfect score.
He was filled with envy, jealousy, and hate.
Then he looked over at Zeke Zane. A score in the one-thirties.
Fuck.
He sighed dramatically. "I guess I’m destined for the School of Hard Knocks."
Zeke Zane glanced at him, twisting the knife without a shred of mercy. "The way you look? The School of Hard Knocks wouldn’t even accept you. Too ugly."
Pantheon: "..."
Fuck off.
Zeke Zane immediately followed up with a critical hit. He glanced at Mortimer Quincy. "But someone who looks like *this*? The School of Hard Knocks would be fighting to enroll him."
"Rich old ladies."
Pantheon: "..."
Holly Winslow couldn’t help but stifle a laugh; she actually agreed. Back when Mortimer Quincy had just opened his law firm, a wealthy female developer had offered to pay him half a million to be her boy-toy for a year.
Mortimer Quincy’s expression had turned thunderous, and he’d stormed out on the spot.
She hadn’t been there herself; she’d heard the story from Zeke Zane’s retelling. Afterward, Mortimer had the sofa the woman sat on carried out and thrown away.
Thinking of this, she started laughing even more delightedly.
Mortimer Quincy first kicked Zeke Zane, then fixed his gaze on Holly. "Do you want another demonstration?" he asked ominously.