Chapter 21: Chapter 20
"What’s with him!"
[’Right? What’s with him!’] 166 chimed in.
[’Hey, why didn’t you go in just now?’] 166 couldn’t help but ask. ’You rushed to take a taxi all the way here, but then you just stopped at the door. What was the point of all that effort?’
Joanna Kennedy rubbed her cold arms and said in a worldly-wise tone, [’This is where you don’t get it. He was forced to quit. Think about it, why is Paul Pemberton targeting him? It’s because of me, isn’t it? I should be avoiding him, so why would I bring this up with Simon Lockwood on my own? You think he doesn’t hate me enough already?’]
That actually... made a lot of sense. 166 was convinced.
Joanna Kennedy breathed a sigh of relief.
The rain was coming down harder and harder, and the air was growing cold. ’I need to find a place to get out of the rain,’ she thought.
A sudden gust of wind blew, making the umbrella wobble. "Whoa, whoa!" Joanna Kennedy cried, forcing the umbrella down with all her might.
The next second, a strong hand reached out from behind her and grasped the handle, steadying the umbrella.
A warm body pressed against her side. Joanna Kennedy felt the side of her body that was being touched go numb and soft as the familiar, clean scent of soap wafted to her nose.
In the moment she was lost in a daze, Simon Lockwood had already taken the umbrella from her hand with a natural movement.
Simon Lockwood had run out in a hurry. His short black hair was soaked with rain. He frowned, his tone unfriendly. "It’s raining. What are you doing out here? Putting on some kind of performance art?"
’Like some emo girl getting angsty in the rain.’
Joanna Kennedy shivered in disgust. She wanted no part of that persona. "You’re the one putting on performance art."
Simon Lockwood didn’t argue with her. He pulled her by the wrist over to the bus stop shelter and asked, "Did you just go to the coffee shop?"
"Nope," Joanna Kennedy denied.
Simon Lockwood stared at her silently.
Ten seconds later, Joanna Kennedy deflated. "Okay, fine. I went."
"I saw you were busy with work, so I didn’t want to bother you..."
Simon Lockwood didn’t buy that reason. He refused to believe Joanna Kennedy could be that considerate. He was about to ask again, but—
Joanna Kennedy stood on her tiptoes and boisterously ruffled his hair. "Oh my, you ran out, didn’t you? Why didn’t you bring an umbrella? Were you afraid I’d run away?"
Joanna Kennedy blinked, a sly look in her eyes. "Simon Lockwood, just admit it. You’re falling for me too, aren’t you?~"
You couldn’t find someone this narcissistic in eight hundred years.
furiously spewed garbled code.
Simon Lockwood froze for a second. His gaze flickered almost imperceptibly before he put on a stiff face. "What nonsense are you talking about?"
’In public... at a big bus stop.’
Thrown off by Joanna Kennedy’s interruption, Simon Lockwood couldn’t press his question any further.
「The autumn air was crisp and clear.」 The school had arranged a trip for the twelfth graders to visit two top-tier universities, hoping to let them experience the college atmosphere and spark their passion for studying.
"Seven a.m. tomorrow, gather at the school’s south gate," the homeroom teacher announced.
Joanna Kennedy woke up bright and early. After groggily washing up, it was already past 6:40. She didn’t even have time for breakfast and had the driver take her straight to school.
When she arrived at the school gate, she just barely caught the last wave of students boarding the school bus. Joanna Kennedy followed them on.
The bus was almost full. She immediately spotted Anna Yates waving at her, and then she saw Simon Lockwood sitting in a window seat in the back row.
The seat next to Simon Lockwood was empty.
Given how much she liked Simon Lockwood, she naturally wouldn’t let this opportunity slide. She decisively abandoned Anna Yates and headed for the back row.
Simon Lockwood had seen Joanna Kennedy when she was running to catch the bus. He watched from the corner of his eye as she got closer and closer, until a gentle breeze passed by and Joanna Kennedy sat down in the seat beside him.
"Simon Lockwood, did you save this seat for me on purpose?"
"No," Simon Lockwood said, his expression unchanged. "It was just empty."
The boy in front of them couldn’t help but turn around. "Hey, ace, didn’t you say this seat was taken?"
Simon Lockwood: "..."
Joanna Kennedy: "Hahahaha, for real? Simon Lockwood, did you really say that?"
There is nothing more embarrassing than being caught in a lie after acting tough, especially for a ’strong’ guy like Simon Lockwood. It was a critical hit.
Open up once, shut down for life.
It wasn’t quite that serious for Simon Lockwood, but for the next two hours of the bus ride, no matter how much Joanna Kennedy teased him, pouted, or threw cute little tantrums, Simon Lockwood didn’t say a single word.
She talked until she was tired, then opened a bottle of mineral water to drink. Her eyes scanned the bus a few times, and she asked 166, [’Where’s Serena Sutton?’]
’I don’t see her.’
[’Just take a look behind you,’] 166 said passive-aggressively.
Joanna Kennedy followed its instruction and glanced back, coming face to face with Serena Sutton’s red, resentful, almond-shaped eyes. She nearly spat out a mouthful of water, suppressing it into a series of coughs.
[’How long has she been staring at me like that?’] Joanna Kennedy’s head throbbed. [’My god, why didn’t you warn me?’]
’If I’d known, I wouldn’t have flirted so shamelessly with Simon Lockwood.’
[’You didn’t ask,’] 166 replied matter-of-factly.
Joanna Kennedy coughed until her face was red. Simon Lockwood frowned. Thinking she was bothering him, Joanna Kennedy immediately covered her mouth and turned her head to keep coughing.
The muffled sound of her coughing was grating to listen to.
Simon Lockwood pulled her hand away. "Are you trying to suffocate yourself?"
His tone was cold, but it carried a hint of some unidentifiable emotion. Startled like that, Joanna Kennedy... hey, she stopped coughing.
Joanna Kennedy’s eyes darted. It would be such a waste not to do something in a situation like this.
She stuck out her hand and pointed dramatically behind her. "Serena Sutton, why are you everywhere I go!"
"I..."
"What ’I’?! If you hadn’t suddenly stared at me, would I have choked on my water?!"
’Jeez, she’s even blaming her for that,’ the surrounding onlookers thought.
Serena Sutton felt a flash of guilt, but she quickly recovered, biting her lip. "You were the one who turned your head..."
This inevitably brought to mind that classic retort: "How did you know I was looking at you if you weren’t looking at me?"
A logical and well-reasoned comeback.
Joanna Kennedy put on a speechless, choked expression, her eyes wide. It was truly comical.
Someone in the crowd let out a low laugh, mocking Joanna Kennedy for failing to bully someone and getting exposed instead.
"Miss Kennedy, why are you always targeting Serena?" The girl sitting next to Serena Sutton spoke up indignantly. She had been holding it in for a long time. "Don’t tell me you’re jealous."
She was good friends with Serena Sutton. When Serena was feeling down, she had told her a lot about Simon Lockwood.
She knew Joanna Kennedy was a shameless "homewrecker" who stole other people’s boyfriends.
Serena wasn’t willing to embarrass people, but she herself wasn’t so kind. Amid the confused gazes of the other students, she deliberately kept her words vague: "Some things just aren’t yours. No matter what tricks you use, they won’t be yours in the end."
After speaking, she gave Joanna Kennedy a provocative smile.
Joanna Kennedy: "..."
[’She called Simon Lockwood a ’thing’.’] Joanna Kennedy tattled.
166: [’...’]
A small number of people who knew the "inside story" immediately turned their gazes to the cold-faced Simon Lockwood, only to be frozen by his glare and quickly look away.
Amid the quiet chatter of the others, Simon Lockwood noticed that Joanna Kennedy’s eyes had quietly turned red around the rims.
That flicker of annoyance he had just started to feel instantly vanished. He was filled only with a sense of helplessness and a pang of heartache he himself hadn’t even realized was there.
