Chapter 4 - I Wish

Ashley's appetite suddenly improved, holding the bowl and finished the porridge with a grunt. She rejected her father's offer to drive her to school, she put on her school bag and went to school by bus as usual.

As she approached the station, Ashley bowed her head and struggled to find the student card in her schoolbag.

Ashley noticed the convenience store nearby. She hesitated and went in.

The convenience store was small in area and the freezer for drinks was left at the door.

Ashley stared at the row where the milk was placed. No one knew what she was thinking.

Seeing that she had been there for a long time, the clerk standing at the cashier could not help asking, "Kid, do you want to buy milk?"

In normal times, Ashley must not bother to care.

But at the moment, she inexplicably looked back and pointed to her school uniform, “I'm in junior high school, so don't call me kid."

Without waiting for the clerk to respond, she continued, “I won't buy it, I just have a look."

After that, she said goodbye, then left the shop, just in time to catch a bus full of people.

Ashley hurried up, squeezed in along the flow of people, and found a place to stand.

The car was shaking badly.

Because of inertia, Ashley stood unsteadily and had to stand on tiptoe to grasp the ring, which was extremely difficult.

At a sudden stop, she fell forward uncontrollably. The next second, someone grabbed her school bag and pulled her back.

There was a steady stream of complaints.

Ashley stretched out her hand and reluctantly grasped the lever in the distance.

In this situation, she drew a space to look back and caught Ethan's eyes.

The boy was about 1.7 meters tall, a head taller than her. His face looked soft and tender, “Are you all right?"

Ashley nodded and did not answer.

Ethan gave her his place, “You can stand here."

He was tall enough to grasp the ring, so Ashley just stood there and said "Thank you".

Silence.

After a while, Ethan held back a sentence, “I heard Bella say, the teacher wants to meet your parents?"

Ashley looked at him and said, "Why does she tell you everything?"

"Didn't you go to the bookstore yesterday? I asked her. "

Ethan seemed a little nervous, "That's all. I just wanted to tell you that I was in the same boat, too."

Ashley gave a lecture, “Really?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Unable to think of an answer for a moment, Ethan said vaguely, "Just didn't listen in class."

Ashley nodded, “I'm pretty much the same."

"Why didn't you listen?"

"It's too easy." Ashley said, "I don't want to listen."

"…" Ethan scratched his head and said quietly, "Me too."

Ashley wondered, "But didn't you rank at the bottom of the grade in the last exam?"

Sweat fell along Ethan's forehead. He did not look at Ashley and tightened his grip on the ring, but the mood on his face was faint, “Yeah. The exam was so simple that I don't bother to write it. "

Thinking this explanation was quite reasonable, Ashley nodded and did not say anything.

The scene quieted down.

It was awkwardly quiet.

Ethan coughed and took the initiative to break the embarrassment, “What did you rank in the last exam?"

Ashley, “First."

"…"

Ethan gritted his teeth and soon let go. "OK, I'll have the first rank in the exam next time," he said.

Ashley scanned him up and down, “Do you want to take the first place next time?"

Ashley nodded and lost half his strength, “…What's the matter? "

"No, just to remind you." Ashley didn't take this to heart and said, "It's impossible since I will take the exam."

"…"

In this way, the situation of the two people seemed inexplicably hostile.

After that, Ethan didn't know what to say. In this regard, he had no experience, and he didn’t dare to continue some embarrassing topics, so he became silent.

When they arrived at the station.

Ashley got out of the car first and walked quickly to the school.

Ethan followed her, racking his brains to save the situation. When he didn't have any clue, he happened to meet a guy he knew. The boy greeted him and naturally grabbed him by the neck and walked forward.

The boy's stride was big and fast and soon surpassed Ashley.

Ethan looked back and shouted, "Ashley, I’ll go first."

Ashley waved to him perfunctorily.

The other boy also looked at Ashley, gave a meaningful "Oh", and then laughed.

Ethan raised his foot and kicked him, glancing unconsciously at Ashley's side.

"What’s wrong with you?"

Ashley didn't notice what they were saying.

She didn't listen to a word and didn't care at all. The things in her head were the approaching “friendly parent meeting”, as well as the man she saw yesterday.

In such a hurry yesterday, Jacob promised her that he would come temporarily and Liam was there, so she didn't say anything clearly.

Ashley didn't have his contact information and didn't know how to tell him to come over at 4:30 in the afternoon.

‘Don't know when he will come.’

Because she was always thinking about this, she didn't listen to the class all day, and from time to time she looked along with the window in the direction of the school gate. She reined in a little after being criticized by several teachers.

The clock on the wall kept turning.

The bell rang punctually at 4:20 and the last class ended.

Thinking that Ashley was probably going home with her brother, Bella didn't wait for her, so she said goodbye and left the classroom.

Ashley had nothing to do, so she pulled out the book from the drawer and continued to draw.

As time went by, when she looked up at the clock, she found that it was close to five o'clock.

She was the only one left in the spacious classroom.

She was stunned for a moment.

Jacob hasn't come yet.

Ashley didn't know whether he didn't know that junior high school ended early or forgot about it. She managed to calm her mind and wanted to continue to paint, but this time she was completely out of mind and her head was in a mess.

She waited for another 15 minutes.

Ashley heard the sound of the doors of other classes being slammed shut outside. Perhaps it was psychological effects. She felt that it seemed quieter than it had just been.

A very small noise magnified up at the moment.

What he said the day before was like a joke.

Ashley couldn't wait any longer and sprang to her feet.

The chair slid back and made a big noise, causing pain in the ear.

She stood still, her eyes gradually turned red. She forced herself to suppress her grievances.

"Forget it."

Ashley stuffed a few books into her school bag and walked out.

The end of school in the first year of junior high school was early, and the day's class was over at four o'clock. Just after five o'clock, the corridor was empty and only a few scattered students could be seen.

Ashley trotted downstairs with her head down. Her pace was very fast, and she didn't look at the road ahead, like a headless fly.

Suddenly she hit a human wall, she stepped back a few steps, gloomily apologized. Without even looking up, she moved on.

At the same time, the person she bumped into shouted, “Hey, do you know how to get to Class one, Grade One?"

The man's voice was slightly raised, the tail voice was long, and he always spoke with a bit of indescribable laziness, as if close to the ear, with the breath, scratching on the heart.

A little familiar.

Ashley looked back.

Jacob stood by the railing, dressed in a white suit. The bangs were slightly long, covering the eyebrows, and the facial features were so excellent that they were too gorgeous. When he lowered his eyelids and looked at her face, the corners of his lips loosened, “Ashley?"

Ashley stared at him for a few seconds, then quickly bowed her head and said nothing.

She didn't know if she should say it was unexpected or expected.

Noticing her red eyes, Jacob squatted down to look at her, “You cried again?"

"…"

He was amused, “Are you afraid?"

Ashley clenched her lips and said nothing.

Jacob, “Don't cry, brother will be scolded for you."

Ashley looked at him.

Jacob rubbed her hair and asked, "Are you going to the classroom or the office now?"

Ashley did not answer his question, accusing, “How can you be so late?"

Hearing the words, Jacob said with a good temper, "What time should I come?"

Ashley said coldly, "I finished school at 04:20."

"That early? I’m sorry I didn’t know. Please accept my apology."

Jacob's tone was very indecent, like teasing a pet, "I’m sorry."

Because of his arrival, Ashley was not that mad, holding back the sentence, “No."

It has been some time since school was over.

Afraid that the teacher had been waiting for a long time, Ashley said, “Let's go."

"Where?"

"To the office."

The teacher's office was on the first floor.

The two stopped five meters from the door.

Ashley thought for a moment and confessed a few words, “I have a lot of experience with this. The teacher will tell you about my situation all the time, and then you just need to listen to him. "

Jacob nodded.

The next thing to do, for Ashley, was the most outrageous and serious thing she had ever done, uniting with others to deceive the teacher.

Ashley's expression was dignified, “And, brother, you try to talk as little as possible. Otherwise, if we get exposed and get caught, we're both screwed. "

Jacob licked her lips and smiled, “Why does that sound scary?"

Ashley was very nervous and looked at him with a bluff, “Be brave!"

"Okay." Jacob laughed out loud, "I will be brave."

At this time, there were only two teachers left in the office.

One was Mr. Smith.

The other was the headteacher of Class 6 and the English teacher of Class 1, Miss Green.

Their desks were side by side, and Mr. Smith was correcting the homework and chatting with Miss Green.

Ashley walked over and said, "Mr. Smith."

Mr. Smith looked up and said, "Coming?"

Ashley bowed her head and said, "Well, my brother is here."

Jacob stood beside her.

He was not so guilty, speaking frankly and calmly, “Hello, teacher. My name is Liam. I am Ashley's brother."

Originally Ashley was afraid that he would be too scared to speak, but she accidentally heard the word "Liam". Moreover, he lied in a calm tone with full confidence.

She couldn't help looking at him.

Mr. Smith stood up and said hurriedly, "I am Ashley's headteacher. Please have a seat. "

Miss Green joked on the side, “This has been done several times."

Mr. Smith lowered his voice and said angrily, "Aren't you too?"

Hearing this, Ashley noticed that there was a fifth person in the office at this time.

Ethan stood in the corner behind the two teachers, silent, like a transparent man.

After the eyes of the two met. Ethan moved his steps as if he were struggling.

Soon, he came over and stood two meters away from Ashley, right in front of Miss Green.

The distance between the two was close.

They were of similar age and looked good.

It was easy to think of an idea.

Jacob sat on the chair next to Mr. Smith, looking at both of them, with a little meaning in his eyes, and then waved to her, “Come here."

Ashley obediently went over and said, "What's the matter?"

Mr. Smith was looking for information on one side and did not pay attention to the situation on their side.

Jacob held his face in one hand and hooked his finger at Ashley.

Ashley paused for a few seconds and leaned over in compromise.

"Kiddo." He bowed his head and whispered to her in an angry voice, "Are you in puppy love?"

When the first word came out, Ashley was still a little dissatisfied.

But the sentence that followed left her head blank for a moment, “What?"

After the reaction, Ashley's face immediately filled with blood, red as a small tomato, not knowing whether it was angry or anxious.

Afraid of being heard by the teacher, she said angrily, "You are in puppy love!"

"Hmm? I wish. "

"…"

Jacob leaned back to the back of his chair and said lazily, "I’m not young."