Seeing that upright figure, Grace Bennett was reminded of that unlucky letter and immediately made up his mind, face tense as he prepared to turn and head for the back door.

Brian Brooks, however, seemed to sense something. He lifted his gaze and looked straight at him.

Their eyes met, and Grace Bennett felt a sense of doom, subconsciously quickening his pace—

“Grace Bennett.” Brian Brooks called out.

The other guys, who had been signaling frantically for their buddy to run: “?”

David Howard turned around nimbly: “?”

Grace Bennett: “……”

Are you fucking doing this on purpose?

Half a minute later, Grace Bennett joined the group with a look of pure bad luck on his face. He didn’t even glance at Brian Brooks, just went straight to stand at the far left of the line.

“Line up from shortest to tallest. How many times do I have to say it?” David Howard pointed next to Brian Brooks. “Go stand there.”

Grace Bennett: “……”

When the hell are you ever going to get over this damn OCD?

Grace Bennett moved over, extremely unwilling.

“You were trying to run just now, weren’t you?” Once he was in place, David Howard continued, “Late yesterday, late again today, and you lied to the teacher! Tell me yourself, do you act like a student at all?”

Grace Bennett asked, “What did I lie to you about?”

“I asked your teacher Ms. Zhuang. She said your parents are just working out of town. What did you tell me yesterday?”

“……”

“Saying something so heartless, I really think you’re hopeless.” David Howard said, “Only Ms. Zhuang still bothers with you. I get tired just saying one more word to a student like you!”

Grace Bennett was about to say something, but the others immediately started frantically making faces at him—Don’t say anything, bro, or we’ll be standing here all morning.

Grace Bennett clicked his tongue inwardly, looked away, and shut up.

After talking for so long, David Howard was a bit out of breath. He unscrewed his thermos and took a sip, glancing at his watch.

“Stand up straight! Don’t slouch around—show some spirit, you’re teenagers!”

After saying that, David Howard turned to the person next to him. “Brian, you can go back to class first, or you’ll miss the first period. Next time, watch the time and don’t be late again, okay?”

“Hey, Director Howard, I have a problem with that. We’re all late, so why does he get to leave while we have to stand here?” The boy in the middle with the permed, foil-highlighted hair spoke up. “That’s not fair.”

The boy’s name was Matthew Lee, from Class 8 next door. In David Howard’s eyes, he was even more of a headache than Grace Bennett.

Grace Bennett might be a troublemaker, but he usually didn’t start things. Ignoring minor stuff like skipping class or sleeping, he was relatively easy to manage.

But Matthew Lee wasn’t. He often led fights with seniors or students from other schools, causing a huge stir. And his family had some connections—rumor was he was a distant relative of the principal—so he always got off with a slap on the wrist.

After Matthew Lee finished, he instinctively looked for someone on his side: “Right, Grace Bennett?”

Grace Bennett blurted out, “I have no problem with it.”

If possible, he wished Brian Brooks would just run for it.

Matthew Lee: “……”

David Howard was about to lose his temper when he heard Brian Brooks say calmly, “No need, Director. I’m willing to accept the punishment.”

“See? Look at him, all of you.” David Howard looked satisfied. He walked up to Matthew Lee. “Fair? Your total grades in all subjects aren’t even as high as his in one, and you want to talk to me about fairness…”

David Howard switched targets and nagged at Matthew Lee for ages, while Grace Bennett stood there getting sleepier by the minute.

Since David Howard wasn’t looking their way, he leaned back against the wall and yawned lazily.

Suddenly, an annoying smell drifted unexpectedly toward him—

“Did you read my love letter?” Brian Brooks spoke in a low, slightly hoarse voice.

“……”

You’ve got some nerve bringing that up?

And right at the school gate, in front of the director??

Grace Bennett didn’t even lift his head, his tone nasty: “I tore it up.”

“Mm,” Brian Brooks reached into his pocket, “I wrote a new one last night.”

“?”

Grace Bennett instantly straightened up, and before he could pull anything out, quickly grabbed his wrist, stopping his movement.

Grace Bennett’s palm was a bit cold. Brian Brooks glanced at him and stopped.

“Don’t you understand human language?” Grace Bennett gritted his teeth. “I told you I don’t like guys…”

“Grace Bennett! What are you doing?”

Hearing the commotion, David Howard hurried over, shocked. “Why are you grabbing someone else’s hand? Let go, now!”

Like hell he’d let go—if he did, and Brian Brooks pulled out a pink envelope, who’d be responsible?

“I—” Grace Bennett gripped tightly, holding it in for a long time, “My hand’s cold.”

David Howard looked confused: “If your hand’s cold, put it in your pocket. Don’t bother other students.”

“……”

Grace Bennett still didn’t move, clutching Brian Brooks’s wrist, his whole body a bit stiff.

He was thinking of what to say when the person in his grasp suddenly used force, and Grace Bennett actually couldn’t hold him. When Brian Brooks pulled his hand free, Grace Bennett’s heart skipped a beat—

Thank god, he didn’t pull anything out.

Grace Bennett let go, feeling as exhausted as if he’d just finished a fight.

David Howard noticed something was off and frowned. “What were you two talking about just now? What guy? What letter?”

What kind of devil hearing is that?