Suddenly the subject changed, and she winked sharply. "I just don't know which girl is going to suffer. I remember back in the day, your dad was also wearing such a sharp-looking suit when he tricked me."
"???"
Robert's hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air, caught completely off-guard by his wife "exposing his past."
The tea shook in the cup and almost spilled out.
Ethan was also stunned. He hadn't expected his mother to suddenly come out with that.
Father and son looked at each other and tacitly chose silence as their best option.
"So... Mom," Ethan cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Mom, how much do you think this whole outfit cost?"
"Cut the suspense and just tell me!"
Linda rolled her eyes at her son.
Ethan smiled. "Clothes, pants, and shoes—total of 500 bucks. How's that!"
Linda heard this. "Not bad bargaining skills! The outfit looks great. I'll use the remaining 500 to make you breakfast for the next few weeks!"
"Sweet! Deal!"
"I'm gonna go take a shower then!"
After saying that, he took his clothes and headed back to his room with a smile.
In California, May and June were muggy and hot every year. Sometimes you had to shower multiple times a day.
If you took a cold shower at this time, it felt absolutely incredible.
Ethan stood under the shower head, the cold water washing away the stickiness all over his body. His whole body felt refreshed, as if brought back to life.
He casually draped a towel over his shoulder, water droplets sliding down his chest and splashing small droplets on the tile floor.
He put on a pair of shorts and then tidied up his room.
Sitting at his desk, turning on the lamp, he pulled out a notebook from a drawer and started writing some plans, the pen tip scratching across the paper.
The most detailed among these was the World Cup—the scores of each team, as well as the odds for each game, all listed out one by one.
In the 2014 World Cup in his previous life, he'd watched every game in its entirety, and even browsed through various information on major websites and sports forums after each match.
Not only did he have game information, but he'd also skimmed through some gambling odds data, and even the tabloid news from British papers.
This World Cup started right after the SATs. They'd have time. He and Jack had camped out every day watching the games, so his memory of this World Cup was very complete.
He even remembered some very popular memes and jokes online at the time—all of it vividly appearing in his mind at this moment.
The phone vibrated on the desktop, emitting a series of "ding ding" notification sounds.
Ethan swiped open the screen. The messaging app showed a text from Diana:
[Little man, are you asleep? I heard from Ashley that the home-cooked feast you made was delicious! When will you make it for auntie?]
At the end, there was a drooling emoji.
When he switched to the group chat, the four-person group was chatting enthusiastically, discussing tomorrow's photoshoot. Ethan couldn't help but smile. "Yo! Pretty lively!"
The messages in the group came one after another.
Ashley: [I need to go to bed early tonight so I can wake up early tomorrow]
Jack: [Why? Can't we just head out at the normal time!]
Ashley: [You're such a clueless guy. Don't you think makeup takes time? Trying on outfits takes time?]
Sarah: [giggling emoji]
Ashley: [By the way, what kind of suits did you guys buy today! Do you have pics? Send them out so we can see. @Jack @Ethan]
Sarah immediately chimed in: [Yeah! curious emojicute emoji]
Jack directly tagged Ethan: [@Ethan, dude stop lurking and come talk!]
...
Fortunately, at this point, they'd completely moved past the era of cringy usernames.
He remembered when they'd first started middle school a few years ago, all their social media handles had been embarrassingly edgy.
Ethan first replied to the group chat message:
[Exactly! @Jack you dummy why are you acting like a clueless guy] (quoting Ashley)
[Your boy just got out of the shower, what am I supposed to say!]
[@Sarah @Ashley, you'll see tomorrow, gotta keep the mystery! dog emoji]
After sending the group message, he switched back to Diana's chat to reply.
In the evening quiet of his room.
Ethan was bored scrolling through his phone screen when something suddenly popped into his mind, and he sat up abruptly.
The cold light of the computer screen reflected on his face as he skillfully logged into a social media account he hadn't checked in several days.
The message bar prominently displayed more than a dozen unread messages, all from Sophia.
He clicked on the chat window, and a series of concerned messages jumped before his eyes:
[have a really fun event coming up...] (three days ago)
[have you been preparing for an important exam?] (two days ago)
[You haven't been online in several days...] (yesterday)
[Can you call me if you're free? My number is +44 772...] (this afternoon)
Ethan stared at the messages on screen, realizing he hadn't replied to her in several days.
His fingertips hovered over the keyboard for a moment, then he simply pulled out his phone to activate international calling for a month.
A voice call with Sophia would be a perfect chance to test his English speaking skills...
Then he made a voice call to Sophia on WhatsApp.
On a London afternoon, Sophia was scrolling through her phone on the bay window of her dorm room. Suddenly an unfamiliar number popped up, and the area code showed it was from the US.
She frowned slightly, hesitated for a second, and slid the answer button.
[Hello? May I know who's speaking?] (Standard British pronunciation came through the receiver)
Ethan on the other end of the phone took a deep breath—this voice was even more beautiful than he remembered, with a lazy London accent, as elegant and charming as cello strings.
[Hi Sophia, it's Ethan!]
[OMG! Ethan!] (A delighted whisper came from the receiver, accompanied by the rustling sound of fabric, as if she'd suddenly sat up straight) [I've been waiting for your call for ages! Are you swamped with your studies?]
[Yeah, the SATs are just around the corner...]
[Sorry I missed your messages on Instagram.]
[Don't be silly!] (Sophia's laughter was as crisp as wind chimes) [Academics come first! I totally understand!]
There are 30 advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
patreon.com/B_A_3439