Reborn with My Genius Husband-Chapter 25: Holly, They Are Jealous of You

By her second lap, Holly Winslow was clearly running out of stamina. Panting heavily, she looked at Mortimer Quincy beside her. "Hubby, I want milk tea later."

Mortimer Quincy had a habit of jogging in the morning, and ever since they’d gotten together, he would drag her along. She would always set some small condition, and would only go if he agreed.

"Alright."

Mortimer Quincy chuckled. He glanced back at the distance between Holly and the runner in fifth place, then said, "Slow down a little, catch your breath. For the last fifty meters, give it everything you’ve got."

Holly sped up in the final fifty meters, overtaking the runner in third and securing a respectable third-place finish, which earned three points for her class.

This was the first time they had scored any points today, so of course, Julian Carlton was delighted. He generously gave the class president money to buy lollipops for everyone on his behalf, and even Mortimer Quincy got one.

Seeing that Julian Carlton was in a good mood, Holly asked for an hour of leave. Perhaps it was for Mortimer Quincy’s sake, but Mr. Carlton didn’t even ask for a reason before signing the leave slip.

He had just given the young couple a chance to go on a date right under his nose.

The two of them left the sports field and headed for the school gate. Mortimer Quincy unwrapped the lollipop in his hand and gave it to Holly. Knowing he didn’t like such things, she took it and popped it into her mouth.

She said with a grin, "Old Calder seems to really like you. In the past, if I wanted to take leave, he’d have to call my dad."

Mortimer Quincy smiled. "After our senior year ends, we should find some time to pay Mr. Carlton a visit."

Just imagining Julian Carlton’s face if he found out they were a couple, Holly couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

After leaving the school, they found a milk tea shop and ordered one milk tea and one lemonade. They didn’t say much, just sat quietly for over ten minutes.

Mortimer Quincy still had half an hour of his leave left. He walked Holly back to the school gate before catching a taxi back to Jarton High.

The events on the sports field were still ongoing. Holly Winslow returned to Class 8 carrying two milk teas and handed them to Iris Kensington and Anna Willow. "My cousin told me to get these for you."

The two of them immediately started sucking up in unison, grinning. "Your handsome cousin is so great! He’s the best cousin in the entire world."

Holly Winslow: "..."

After she sat down, Anna Willow leaned in close and exclaimed, "Holly, you didn’t see it just now! Xavier Jennings jumped 2.86 meters and took first place!"

When Holly thought about how far *she* could jump... Ahem, she was too embarrassed to even say it out loud. She couldn’t help but sigh. "Wow, that’s really far."

"Feeling your heart flutter a bit?" Iris Kensington nudged her with an elbow, a teasing look on her face.

Holly pretended to snatch the milk tea back from her. "On behalf of my handsome cousin, I’m taking this back."

...

The sports meet ended on Wednesday afternoon, giving way to the evening self-study session.

Julian Carlton came in with a stack of test papers and announced he would be using both periods to go over them.

’This was the one good thing about being a homeroom teacher: you could commandeer self-study periods.’

Groans of despair erupted from the students.

He slammed a blackboard eraser on the desk. His easygoing attitude from the sports meet was gone, replaced by a stern expression as he said fiercely, "You have the nerve to groan? What’s there to groan about? Look at your scores! These were all basic theory questions from the textbook, and there’s a whole pile of you with scores in the thirties and forties! What, did you all think it’d be fun to fail together?"

"When I hand the tests back, any student who scored below sixty will copy the entire test out by hand."

This time, no one dared to make a sound. They all just lowered their heads and stayed silent.

After that, Julian Carlton began reading out names and scores. "Wendell Hayes, 89. Mina Shaw, 87. James Raines, 81. Holly Winslow, 80..."

He paused there, looking at Holly with a gratified expression. He then praised her in front of the whole class, "Holly Winslow did very well this time. Everyone, give her a round of applause."

The whole class let out a collective "Whoa," but unlike the envious gasps for the previous students, this one was tinged with clear disbelief.

Holly’s previous scores were usually in the forties. For her to suddenly score an eighty, it was natural that people would be skeptical.

Holly paid their reaction no mind and got up to get her test. Mr. Carlton offered a word of encouragement, "Keep up the good work, Holly. Try to follow your cousin’s example."

’He had looked into Holly’s file before. Her grades in middle school were excellent, but they had dropped in high school. It was obvious she just wasn’t applying herself.’

Holly took the test paper and looked over her mistakes. There were two questions she knew how to do but had gotten wrong due to carelessness. She circled them with a red pen, making a mental note to be more careful next time.

Seeing her with her head down, Anna Willow and Iris Kensington exchanged a look, thinking she was upset.

Anna Willow leaned over and gave her a big thumbs-up. "Holly, you’re amazing."

"Holly, don’t mind them. They’re just jealous," Iris Kensington whispered.

Looking at her two friends, Holly smiled warmly. "I’m fine."

Holly was fine, but Anna Willow and Iris Kensington were not. They were part of that "pile" of students Mr. Carlton had mentioned who scored in the thirties and forties.

Even though it wasn’t the first time they’d scored that low, it didn’t make them any less dejected.

Over the two self-study periods, with Julian Carlton lecturing and criticizing in equal measure, he only managed to get to the third fill-in-the-blank question on the physics test. At this rate, he might not even finish it this week.

Back in the dorm after evening study, Anna Willow and Iris Kensington borrowed Holly’s test paper to copy.

Holly resignedly fetched a large basin of water for the two of them so they’d have water to wash their faces and feet after lights out.

Before getting into bed, she even placed a carton of milk in front of each of them, thoughtfully putting a straw in each one.

Anna Willow took a sip and blew her a kiss. "Holly, I love you to death!"

"Holly, I love you to death too," Iris Kensington added, nodding in agreement.

"Alright, alright, enough with the flattery. Don’t just copy blindly; make sure you memorize the answers. It’s all just theoretical knowledge, it’s not that hard," Holly said, amused by her friends. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

「On the dorm balcony」

Sunny Chaucer glanced at the three girls inside, then moved closer to Mina Shaw, who was washing up. "Mina," she whispered, "did Holly Winslow copy your test?"

"No."

Mina Shaw was usually a loner and didn’t have any close friends. Her relationship with Sunny Chaucer was mediocre at best. Not one for gossiping behind people’s backs, she just picked up her basin and went into the bathroom.

...

After the second period the next morning, the tests for the remaining five subjects were handed out.

Holly looked at her math test score: sixty-two. Mortimer Quincy’s estimate had been right. Her scores for the six subjects added up to over four hundred and eighty.

’Not bad at all.’

She gave herself a small mental pat on the back.

"Oh god, my six subjects only add up to 324. I’m doomed, I’m so doomed," Anna Willow wailed, burying her face in her test papers.

Iris Kensington also tallied her scores. She was thirty points higher than Anna. Her English grade had always been relatively good, which pulled her total up quite a bit. Her other scores were about the same as Anna’s.

"Anna, it’s a lost cause. Stop wailing. I’ll buy you a lollipop at lunch to commemorate your dearly departed scores."

"Make it two," Anna Willow mumbled, holding up two fingers without lifting her head.

"Don’t sulk. I’ll treat you both to spareribs for lunch to get your brains working. You’ll do better next time," Holly said, comfortingly patting Anna Willow’s head.

’Anna Willow was on the track for art school, so her academic scores didn’t need to be exceptional. In the future, she would get into a key university on the strength of her art, and after graduating, she’d open her own art training center, becoming the little "rich woman" of their trio.’

Anna Willow’s head shot up. She threw her arms around Holly, grinning. "Holly, you’re a little angel." Then she planted a loud SMOOCH on her cheek.

"Get off, get off. Stop that," Holly said, leaning back with feigned disgust.