No Substitutes for the Bigshots' Dream Girl Anymore!-Chapter 1731: Arnold Simmons Side Story (97)

The internet cafe was quite quiet, with only the sound of keyboard taps, occasional low cursing, and the air filled with the mixed scents of instant noodles and various fast foods.

Arnold replied, "Got it."

Hannah quickly sent a message back, "Afternoon exam, don’t be late."

He curved the corners of his lips and said, "Okay."

Francis stealthily craned his neck to have a look; Arnold, unfazed, flipped his phone face down on the table. "What are you doing?"

"You’re not yourself," Francis said, stroking his chin and giving him a once-over, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. "Arnold, something is off with you."

A guy at a nearby station joined in the fun, slurping noodles as he asked, "What’s off? Where does he seem off?"

Arnold reached for his headphones that were on the side and hung them around his neck, letting them joke around.

Francis had just finished a game and wasn’t in a hurry to start another. "Arnold, be honest, are you together with that girl from last time?"

"Which girl?" the guy next to them interrupted again, unwilling to let his tasty noodles interfere with his gossip.

"The one who looks very sweet."

"From First High?"

"Yeah, her."

The topic shifted back to Arnold; he finally responded indifferently, "Not together."

"Not together?" Francis looked shocked. "No way, I thought you liked her."

Arnold glanced at him.

Francis immediately realized, "Arnold, for real?"

The game on the computer had already started; Arnold seemed distracted, reclining lazily in his chair, though his hand movements were swift, feigning ignorance, "What’s real or fake?"

Francis had known Arnold for so long, how could he not understand his thoughts.

"I mean, if you really like her, just confess, or someone else might beat you to it."

He still remembered that girl; even the oversized school uniform of First High still hinted at her graceful figure, her features bright and clear, even without makeup she was heart-wrenchingly beautiful.

Completely different from the other girls they typically saw.

Arnold was well aware of how much girls liked him, but somehow that girl matched him particularly well, neither outshined the other.

"I’m in twelfth grade," Arnold closed the game he had just started and, thinking of the afternoon exam, searched online for materials to review.

Francis hadn’t caught on, "What about twelfth grade?"

Arnold looked at him sideways and said softly, "Need to study hard, aim high every day."

Francis was stunned for a second and then burst into laughter without any politeness, nearly crying from laughter.

Arnold couldn’t be bothered with him, reaching into his pocket and feeling two pieces of fruit candy.

Hannah had given them to him before the morning exam started.

Both were orange-flavored.

It seemed she really did like this flavor of fruit candy.

Even so, she had shared some with him.

Francis was in stitches laughing and then saw Arnold seriously studying in front of the computer, and simply said, "Arnold, you’re smitten, you’ve really fallen for her this time."

He indeed had fallen for her.

But he had fallen willingly.

...

The results of the mock exam came out quickly.

The difficulty level of this exam was relatively higher than usual, causing the average scores of the whole grade to drop.

Even students who usually performed well slid down in the rankings more dramatically than expected.