William Clark was well aware of his own circumstances. Although he wasn’t bad-looking, he was always just a little short of being truly handsome. He stood at 1.78 meters, but was still a few centimeters shy of being considered tall. Academically, things had been a mess since the second year of high school, and the gap between him and Helen Carter only grew wider. Because of this, he kept his crush buried deep in his heart throughout high school, and by the time they went to college, they had lost contact. This had always been a deep regret for William Clark. After becoming an adult, he treated it as a beautiful memory. But now, suddenly seeing Helen Carter again, he couldn’t help but feel a bit complicated inside.

At this moment, Helen Carter was wearing a light yellow fitted T-shirt and spotless white casual pants, with a pair of Adidas sneakers on her feet. Both her clothes and shoes were name brands, and there were hardly any students at school dressed like this. The value of the clothes was one thing, but what really mattered was who was wearing them. Helen Carter had a delicate oval face, arched brows, big eyes, and the corners of her mouth always curled up slightly, exuding a strong sense of confidence and a hint of pride. At 1.68 meters tall, she was slender and well-proportioned. Such a beauty—even though William Clark had lived sixteen years longer and seen many beautiful women—his heart still skipped a beat when he saw Helen Carter.

“Hmph!” William Clark was admiring Helen Carter when he saw her glare at him, then turn and sit at a seat diagonally in front of him.

William Clark was momentarily stunned, but quickly realized why he’d gotten the cold shoulder. Staring at Helen Carter like that was impolite even in the twenty-first century, let alone in a high school in 1994.

Seeing Helen Carter brought back all those youthful feelings. Back then, just catching a glimpse of Helen Carter twice a day would make his heart race. If he could exchange a few words with her, it was even sweeter. Sometimes, he’d even play little pranks on her on purpose—just to see her get angry and argue with him a bit, which was actually quite exciting. All he wanted was to interact with her more.

The girl who had come in with Helen Carter now sat beside her, turned to glance at William Clark, and whispered to Helen Carter, “Yueyan, William Clark keeps looking at you.”

Her name was Emily Thompson, Helen Carter’s good friend from junior high through high school. Her family had some background, but as for her looks… Helen Carter was like a budding rose, while she was the green leaf beside it, setting off the rose’s beauty. Because William Clark always remembered the rose that was Helen Carter, he hadn’t forgotten the green leaf that was Emily Thompson either.

At this moment, Helen Carter was frowning. Usually, the boys only dared to sneak glances at her, and if their eyes met, they would always look away. She liked that feeling. But today, William Clark actually dared to stare at her. What was even more infuriating was that when she glared at him, he actually smiled back, as if he wasn’t embarrassed at all. Instead, it left her feeling a bit flustered.

She silently grumbled to herself: William Clark, that jerk, always causing trouble for me. I usually let it slide, but now he dares to look at me so boldly. If I don’t fight back, he’ll think I’m afraid of him.

Emily Thompson looked indignant and said, “He’s so shameless, daring to look at my Yueyan like that. I’m going to teach him a lesson.”

Helen Carter curled her lips and said, “Forget it, read your book. The midterm is tomorrow and you still have so much to worry about.”

Emily Thompson pouted and said, “Hmph! That guy put a caterpillar in your pencil case a couple of days ago. He really deserves to be taught a lesson.”

Helen Carter’s body trembled slightly, and her face instantly turned a bit pale.

“Such an annoying guy, and he still dared to look at you like that just now. He’s clearly provoking you.” Emily Thompson seemed to get very angry whenever William Clark was mentioned, chattering on and on.

Helen Carter didn’t say anything more, just picked up her book and started reading. Emily Thompson muttered another sentence, then picked up her own book as well.

Their voices weren’t loud, but they weren’t exactly whispering either. William Clark was now focused on listening to their conversation and caught most of it. When he heard about the caterpillar, he suddenly remembered something and a smile appeared on his lips.

That time, William Clark had secretly put a black caterpillar into Helen Carter’s pencil case. When Helen Carter opened it, she screamed in fright, even bursting into tears. Because of this, William Clark almost got punished, but for some reason, the matter was dropped. He hadn’t expected that this had just happened, and now he understood why Helen Carter hadn’t pursued it.

Thinking back now, William Clark just felt how childish and ridiculous he had been to do something like that. If you want to pursue someone, just do it openly—why resort to such silly tricks? But that hazy, youthful feeling suddenly surged in his heart, and it was actually very sweet. At this moment, he even felt a sudden urge to turn that youthful affection into something real.