The School Belle Passes a Note

"You'll replace my glasses?" Ethan Parker was taken aback, waving his hand dismissively. "Forget it, old man. You don't look well off. I'll be on my way."

"Don't worry. I have a pair of glasses right here, the most advanced in the world, made with carbon nanotube transistors..." The old man rambled on, leaving Ethan Parker with a headache. Finally, the old man said, "I was planning to give these to someone fated to have them. I see you're a good kid, so I'll give them to you!"

Ethan Parker listened for a while, only understanding that the old man wanted to give him a pair of glasses. He found it amusing. Did the old man think he was gullible? He made the glasses sound like they were from a fantastical ad in a story magazine.

Ethan Parker took the small box the old man handed him and opened it. Inside were tiny, contact lens-like objects similar to those from Bausch & Lomb. He asked curiously, "Contact lenses?"

Receiving no reply for a while, Ethan Parker looked up to find the old man gone, along with his scattered items.

"Vanished so quickly? Could the old man be a legendary hidden master?" Ethan Parker shook his head, joking to himself, and casually put the contact lenses in his pocket, not taking them seriously.

In the afternoon, Ethan Parker uncharacteristically stayed for class, surprising Ava Bennett, who glanced at him several times in disbelief. She thought her morning words might have influenced him to turn over a new leaf and planned to talk to him more.

Ethan Parker, moved by his encounter at noon, tried to listen to the lesson. However, despite his efforts, he couldn't grasp anything; the formulas and theorems seemed like gibberish to him. Even though he forced himself to listen, he couldn't make sense of it.

Feeling disheartened, Ethan Parker lay his head on the desk. He thought that he had fallen too far behind; sitting in class had no effect. Maybe he really had no hope. If he had known it would be like this, he would have gone to play billiards instead.

Ava Bennett, who initially saw Ethan Parker paying attention, was frustrated to see him sleeping on the desk soon after.

Had Ethan Parker known a beautiful girl was secretly watching him, he would have pretended to pay attention just to get through the class. But he didn't know, and with his poor eyesight, made worse by broken glasses, he couldn't see the front of the classroom clearly.

Ava Bennett was the second girl Ethan Parker had ever been interested in. The first was Sophia Turner. He wasn't sure if his feelings for Sophia were love, but he did enjoy being with her. As he grew older, he realized he truly admired Ava Bennett.

Ava Bennett was the center of attention not only in Class 7 but also in the entire senior year. A girl with both outstanding academic performance and looks always attracted male attention. Some privately referred to Ava Bennett as the school belle of the senior year.

Ethan Parker knew his place. With his current status, he was content just to banter with Ava Bennett daily and didn't dare to hope for more.

Lost in thought, Ethan Parker suddenly found a note thrown to him by the student in front, Liam Bright. Surprised, Ethan Parker took the note.

Passing notes in class was familiar to anyone who had attended school. Students would write messages on a piece of paper and pass them along through nearby classmates to the intended recipient.

Boys and girls with crushes often exchanged notes this way. The classmates who helped pass the notes usually did so eagerly, knowing they might need the same favor someday.

Ethan Parker was no stranger to note-passing. He and Sophia Turner did it often. But in high school, he barely interacted with classmates and had few friends. He usually skipped class to hang out with Nathan Drake from Class 8. So, receiving a note now surprised him.

At first, Ethan Parker thought it was a mistake. But when he saw his name on the folded note, he knew it wasn't. Though "Ethan Parker" might be a common name, he was the only one in Class 7.

Ethan Parker took the note, wondering who would send it, and opened it. The small, neat handwriting read:

"Ethan Parker, the fact that you came back to class shows you have some drive. But why not stick with it? Senior year doesn't have much time left. If you work hard, grit your teeth, you'll get through it..."

Ethan Parker didn't need to read further. His eyes went straight to the signature: Ava Bennett.

Ha! Ethan Parker was overjoyed. This was the first time Ava Bennett had written to him. Even though she was just encouraging him to study, Ethan Parker was thrilled.

Holding the note that even seemed to carry a hint of her scent, Ethan Parker treasured it and put it in his pencil case.

Rejuvenated, Ethan Parker dug through his desk, finally finding a freshman year math book and began reading from the first page.

Ethan Parker wasn't stupid. He just had never paid attention in class. Although even freshman knowledge was new to him, his understanding was quite good. But after a while, he started feeling overwhelmed.

Algebra I, Algebra II, Plane Geometry, Solid Geometry—there were four math books alone. Then there were five other subjects: Chinese, English, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. In total, there were over twenty textbooks! With just over a hundred days until the college entrance exam, he had to go through one book every five days!

The sea of knowledge had no shore; turning back was the only way out! Ethan Parker could read a web novel in a day, but these were textbooks. Five days wouldn't be enough to read them all, let alone understand and remember the material.

"Put your books away. We have a test this period!" The math teacher, Amelia, walked in and announced to the class.