Chapter 1 : Class Assignment

Verdantia High School

The second-year Class Seven was bustling with noise. Today was the first day of school and also the first day of class assignments. Everyone was looking at the boy sitting by the window.

Some girls were already whispering, "I can''t believe it, we''re really in the same class as Henry Taylor!"

"Who wouldn''t be excited? So lucky! I remember seeing Jason Johnson on the class list too, but I haven''t seen him yet."

"Oh my god, both of the top guys are in the same class, unbelievable."

The discussions grew louder and louder. Henry, by the window, frowned. He didn''t like this kind of scene, so he put on his headphones to block out their chatter.

At the back of the classroom, someone was texting, "Jason, why aren''t you here yet?"

The message was quickly replied to, "What''s up?"

"Do you know that you''re in the same class as Henry this time?"

"And?"

Frank looked at Jason''s reply and was speechless, "The two top students in the grade are in the same class, and Jason, you''re always just a bit behind him. I can''t believe the school put you two in the same class."

"What''s so strange about that? Anyway, I''m almost there."

Frank put down his phone and talked to Lucas next to him, putting an arm around his shoulder, "Hey, do you think Jason will compete with him? Everyone''s been discussing them on the school forum."

The person with the game in hand glanced at him and continued playing, "Seriously, Frank, you''re such a gossip. Even though Jason''s always a bit behind him, Jason doesn''t care, so why do you?"

"Come to think of it, they really don''t seem to care. But there''s always someone on the forum betting on whether Jason will surpass Henry." Frank said, thinking of the bets he had seen.

"Don''t bother me, I''m playing a game. Move." Lucas said mercilessly.

Carter walked in from outside and saw Henry sitting by the window. He walked over, "I can''t believe we''re in the same class again, Henry. Is this seat taken?"

Carter was naturally friendly. In their first year, he had greeted Henry the same way. Henry wasn''t much of a talker, but Carter, being who he was, became close friends with him in no time.

Henry looked up at the sound and saw it was Carter, "No one''s sitting here, you can sit."

Compared to others, having Carter as his deskmate was a good choice, since they were in the same class before.

Hearing Henry''s agreement, Carter sat down, "How was your summer? I spent mine in tutoring classes. My mom wouldn''t let me off."

If Henry was a top student, then Carter was definitely a slacker.

"It was okay."

"Hey, I heard Jason is in this class too. Two top students, huh." Carter said.

Henry didn''t care much about these things. It didn''t matter to him who was in his class; it had nothing to do with him.

Just as Carter was about to say something else, the homeroom teacher walked in. The classroom fell silent as the teacher looked around and introduced himself, "Hello, everyone. I am your math teacher and also your homeroom teacher. My name is Jordan, you can call me Mr. Martinez."

At this moment, Frank said, "Mr. Martinez, I didn''t expect you to be our homeroom teacher, what a coincidence!"

The teacher couldn''t help but respond, "Frank, who are you calling by their first name? Do you want to run laps on the field?"

"Come on, Mr. Martinez, don''t be so harsh. I believe you wouldn''t punish me." Frank quickly said.

His words made many students laugh. Mr. Martinez coughed twice, "Quiet down. It''s the first day of school, no classes today. It''s fate that brought us together in this class. I hope we all get along well. If you have any issues, you can come to me. Now, let''s introduce ourselves."

A tall figure appeared at the classroom door, "Excuse me, I''m sorry I''m late."

The students in the classroom looked towards the door and saw a strikingly handsome young man with chiseled features and a face that looked like it was sculpted.

Someone exclaimed, "That''s Kyle Johnson, right? He''s even more handsome in person!"

"He''s a different kind of handsome compared to Henry, but I like both of them!"

"It''s okay, come in and find a seat," Mr. Martinez said.

Kyle nodded and looked around for an empty seat. He saw Frank waving at him, indicating an empty seat next to him. As he walked over, he noticed the person sitting in front of him was very attractive.

That face was hard to ignore. He thought this person looked even better than the photos on the honor wall. They hadn''t been in the same class before, so he had never seen him in person, but their photos often appeared in school posts and on the honor wall.

He walked over and sat down. Frank immediately started talking, "Jason, why are you so late? Luckily, I saved you a seat."

"Got held up."

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let''s start the introductions."

One by one, the students went up to the podium to introduce themselves. Carter pulled Henry into a conversation, "Henry, I didn''t expect Jason to sit behind us!"

Henry also noticed Kyle who had just come in, "Yeah."

"What the heck, just ''yeah''? Aren''t you excited?" Carter said exaggeratedly.

"Why should I be excited?"

Carter looked at him, feeling helpless. He had known Henry for so long and had never seen him show any emotional fluctuations. He always had this distant and indifferent demeanor towards everyone.

"Ah, right, you''re always like this. Never mind, forget it."

Seeing that Carter had stopped talking, Henry turned his head back to look out the window. The playground outside was bustling with people playing ball. He watched with an unchanged expression, as if none of it concerned him.

Kyle, sitting behind, watched Henry looking outside with no expression. He thought, "He really is an ice prince." The way he looked at things made Kyle feel a bit uncomfortable, as if this person didn''t belong to the surroundings.

Kyle couldn''t quite describe the feeling, but it made him want to protect the person in front of him. This thought startled Kyle. Why would he have such a thought about him?

Then he saw Henry stand up, walk to the blackboard, write his name, and say, "My name is Henry, nice to meet you."

With that brief introduction, he returned to his seat and continued looking out the window, as if something outside had his attention.

A moment later, someone next to Kyle called out, "Jason, what are you doing? It''s your turn."

Kyle snapped back to reality, stood up, and walked to the podium, "Hello everyone, my name is Kyle. Nice to meet you all. I don''t have much else to say; I think you all know enough about me already."

Returning to his seat, he chatted idly with Frank. About ten minutes later, the self-introductions were over.

"Alright, I believe everyone knows each other now. In a moment, a few of the boys will go get the books for this semester," Mr. Martinez said. Many of the boys eagerly followed him to get the books.

Henry stayed in his seat. Since it was the first day of school, the campus was bustling. Many people came to Class Seven''s door to see Henry, but he didn''t pay any attention to the girls outside.

He was busy writing something in his practice book. Kyle watched him, then looked at the girls outside, thinking, "He really is cold. It''s like nothing can disturb him." This piqued his interest. What could possibly make him show any emotion?

Henry, engrossed in his work, had no idea what the person behind him was thinking. He was completely absorbed in his own world.