No Substitutes for the Bigshots' Dream Girl Anymore!-Chapter 1662 Arnold Simmons Extra (28)
But what Tessa hated the most was Emily’s air of superiority, acting as if she was above worldly concerns.
The entire class’s atmosphere had somehow gone astray, with students beginning to compare themselves with one another—your shoes cost hundreds today, my clothes will be over a thousand tomorrow.
Conversations revolved around luxury brands and designer goods.
Of course, there were even more exaggerated behaviors in other classes, where even studying could be looked down upon.
"Wow, you’re still studying? That’s nice. Not like me; I’ve totally given up."
"No way, you actually do your homework? Everyone else just scribbles something to fool the teacher."
"Studying in secret again, what’s the point?"
These words were incredibly grating, as if "studying was a crime".
Some people didn’t dare to even bring their books back to the dormitory for a long time.
"However, after the school cracked down once, the situation got a lot better," said Tessa as she pulled two lollipops from her pocket, giving one to Hannah and unwrapping one for herself.
Arriving at the school gates, Tessa waved goodbye to Hannah, ran a few steps, then came running back.
"Hannah, I’ll wait for you at the school entrance this afternoon. We’ll walk together. That way, we won’t be afraid even if we run into Jimmy Simmons."
Hannah said, "Okay, bye."
"Bye."
Tessa then headed off with her backpack to catch the bus.
Although there were monthly tests this week, the teachers didn’t lessen the usual coursework, handing out test papers and exercise books as normal, and even the morning self-study period was changed to doing listening exercises.
Every possible moment was being utilized.
The end-of-class bell, the warning bell, the start-of-class bell—all meshed together, with the actual rest time amounting to less than eight minutes. Sometimes, teachers dragged out the class so long there wasn’t even a chance to use the restroom.
And so it came to Thursday.
Even though it was the routine monthly exam, everyone still had to tense up.
Tessa arrived early, clutching Chinese study material intently before the exam had even started, and after going through that, she flipped through the composition materials set to one side, both hands busy at work.
Hannah sat down after placing her bag, "Tessa, did you come this early for breakfast?"
Tessa shook her head, her gaze only briefly shifting from the documents, a bit anxious.
"Are you okay?" Hannah asked, somewhat worried.
Tessa didn’t seem to mind, accustomed to it, "Nothing, I’m just nervous. I didn’t even dare to eat breakfast, worried that it might upset my stomach during the exam."
This was an old problem of hers—getting stomach aches when nervous. Now it had escalated; she felt the need to go to the bathroom before any morning exam.
So, she simply skipped breakfast altogether.
Until the announcement to go to the exam hall, Arnold had still not shown up.
Seeing Hannah constantly glancing at Arnold’s seat, Tessa assumed it was out of curiosity, "The big shot never takes the monthly tests."
"Not even once?"
"It’s not that he never has. Our homeroom teacher spoke to him once, he did show up, but he turned in a blank paper."
Arnold was an anomaly in Class Two, doing his own thing, never caring about others’ opinions.
For him, missing an exam or turning in a blank paper was nothing out of the ordinary.
Hannah didn’t ask any more questions and left the classroom with Tessa.
Because she was a transfer student, with no previous monthly test scores or ranking at this school, her exam number and seat were assigned at the very last exam hall.
The exam hall was on the fifth floor of the teaching building.
The fifth floor was the top level, entirely vacant, and students were normally not allowed to go up there, only during the monthly tests was it opened up to be used as an exam hall.
