No Substitutes for the Bigshots' Dream Girl Anymore!-Chapter 1743: Arnold Simmons Extra (109)
A lot of things feel meaningless.
His world was a muddy expanse, like a place abandoned by light, untouched by anyone.
Until one day, flowers bloomed upon that land.
"Hannah." He suddenly called her name, his tone carrying an unprecedented seriousness. In his eyes reflected her figure. "I’ll go to A University." 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦
The day before the final exam, it rained.
The rain wasn’t heavy, but it quelled the restless heat of the past few days. The breeze carried a hint of coolness, as though offering a special tenderness to all the high school seniors.
In Class Two, nearly half the students were taking their exams at the same site. The school had assigned teachers to accompany them, and the first day’s escort was Oscar Evans.
Usually appearing somewhat rigid, always nagging them to take care of their health, even he had donned a red vest and held a small flag that read, "Good luck on the final exam."
Standing outside the exam hall, the teachers seemed to have shed their usual tenseness and pressure, sincerely reminding the students to maintain calm.
"Treat it like just another regular exam, do your best, don’t be afraid, and don’t be nervous. Your teachers will fight alongside you until the very last moment. Lastly, I hope that for the exams over the next two days, everything you know will come out correct, and everything you guess will also turn out right. Victory for First High!"
"Victory for First High!"
Clad uniformly in their school uniforms, the students from First High stood together, cheering each other on.
Wearing their uniforms was a pre-exam agreement for the entire grade. This way, even in an unfamiliar exam hall, sitting in the same room as strangers, just seeing their school uniform felt reassuring.
Just like the countless exams they’d taken together in school before.
Both days of tests passed amidst pleasantly cool weather.
With the ringing of the final bell, the invigilators collected the papers, and cheers erupted throughout the teaching building. Some screamed as they bolted out, racing to be the first to leave the exam hall.
But some lingered, slowly gathering their things, unwilling to part from the classroom that had accompanied them through three full years of youth.
Hannah was one of the early ones to leave. They weren’t taking the test at their school, but they still needed to return later to pack up their belongings and attend a seminar on college applications.
At ten past five in the afternoon, more students began trickling out from the exam hall.
Amid the crowd, Arnold Simmons immediately spotted Hannah standing in the sunlight.
Their eyes met, and in that instant, the world softened.
It felt as though an old house lit up with lanterns and adorned with paper cutouts, and amidst the dazzling firelight, his world cracked open, spilling starlight.
This world didn’t favor him, but she had still walked in without hesitation, becoming the light of his life.
Chasing away the darkness, coaxing flowers to bloom in barren soil.
He walked over and wrapped her in his arms, resting his head against the curve of her neck. His voice carried a hint of huskiness. "Hannah, we’ve graduated."
He didn’t like the world at all, but he really, really liked her.
So much that—this world suddenly seemed kind of lovely too.
"Mm, we’ve graduated." She reached out, gently circling his waist, her hand lightly ruffling his hair, her voice soft as she comforted him, "Don’t cry, okay?"
"I’m not crying." He held her even tighter, burying his face, like an exposed little puppy feeling flustered and annoyed.
Hannah went along with him, nodding with a smile. "Okay, my Arnold would never cry."
Her voice was so soft, so sweet, like cotton candy melting under the sun, bit by bit wrapping around his heart.
"What did you just say?"
