Ethan glanced at the timer:
[Sophia, I have to hang up now. When you come to the US, I'll definitely take you to try all the American food. By the way, I'll be starting at NYU in September]
A hurried response came from the other end:
[Wait! Did I say something wrong? Or am I interrupting your studying?]
[How could that be!] Ethan couldn't help but laugh. [Chatting with you is the best part of my day. It's just...] He sighed helplessly, [If I chat another minute, I'll have to pay for an extra hour of VPN access]
[Oh my... VPN?] Sophia repeated the term in confusion. [Ethan, are you under construction over there?] (Completely misunderstood)
[It's not a literal construction!] Ethan was amused by her innocence. [I mean...] He hesitated, trying to figure out how to explain the complexities of international internet access.
[Ohhhhh—] Sophia's suddenly prolonged tone was filled with dawning realization. [I understand! So every time you talk to me, you have to... Oh my God!] Her voice suddenly softened. [You're really the most special friend. Then we'll talk tomorrow...]
[Actually...] Ethan interrupted her gently, his knuckles unconsciously tapping on the table. [I'll be going into lockdown mode for the next two months to prepare for the SATs.] He thought for a while and added: [It's like your A-levels, but more... intense]
If it weren't for preparing for the SATs, who would be willing to spend ten bucks an hour on VPN access just to chat?
But on second thought, this was way cheaper than a tutors at cram schools.
Those tutoring sessions often cost hundreds of dollars an hour, and you had to sit up straight listening to grammar lessons. Unlike now, where he could not only practice speaking but also hear Sophia's characteristic little laugh, like decorative notes dancing on piano keys.
What's more... The Cambridge punting photo Sophia had sent suddenly came to mind.
The way the blonde girl looked back and smiled in the sunset made him suddenly feel that the VPN fee didn't hurt quite so much.
Most importantly, this girl was genuinely gorgeous...
After hanging up the voice call, Ethan glanced at the group chat again.
Ashley and Sarah's avatars had long been grayed out, and the last message was still Jack's comment.
He smirked, didn't even bother replying, and switched directly to Diana's chat.
Diana had sent a message saying she was going to sleep ten minutes ago. He casually replied with a "good night" emoji, tossed his phone on the nightstand, and went to sleep.
The next morning.
Ethan stood in front of the mirror and completed his "three-piece set of men's highest grooming standard":
Carefully wash hair with shampoo Use a hair dryer to blow out a styled look Squeeze two pumps of face wash to scrub his face clean and fresh
After putting on the pressed suit, he nodded with satisfaction at himself in the mirror—this was already peak effort for a straight guy.
When Ethan yawned and pushed open the door, he was almost blinded by the scene before him—Jack was wearing a sharp slim-fit suit, polished Oxford dress shoes, and had even used gel to style his hair. The whole guy looked incredibly put-together.
Ethan had washed his hair, blow-dried it, used face wash, and put on his suit before heading out.
Using shampoo and face wash was the highest level of grooming etiquette for guys going out.
Seeing Jack's well-styled hair, Ethan was genuinely impressed.
But whether it needed to be said or not, when Jack actually dressed up, he was pretty damn handsome.
His appearance had jumped straight from a 70 to an 80.
Seeing him like this, Ethan thought of what Jack had looked like when he'd gotten married in his previous life.
That guy had married a virtuous and beautiful wife, looking totally accomplished. But in this life, he wanted to bring Jack to New York to study together.
Which meant the wife he'd met in Boston probably wouldn't cross paths with him given the current trajectory.
Ethan was thinking about when he should take Jack to Boston so the two of them could "coincidentally" meet. Such a great girl—he couldn't let Jack miss out just because he'd dragged him to New York instead.
Ethan knew the whole process of how they'd gotten together from when he'd first learned about their relationship. It was safe to say that as long as Jack met this girl, he wouldn't have to worry about anything else...
Jack fiddled with his styled hair and walked toward Ethan. "Yo Ethan! Does your boy Jack look good or what?"
Ethan squinted and looked him over, then suddenly grinned. "Not bad, not bad. You've got like three percent of my charm. Worthy of being my son."
After saying that, he took off running three meters away.
"Screw you!"
"You asshole! Can't you just give me a compliment this early in the morning without the BS!"
Jack reacted and chased after him, cursing.
According to the school's arrangement, two class periods were specially set aside this morning for graduation photos.
Senior Class 2 was their class.
The students of Senior Class 2 lined up neatly in front of the academic building.
45 students, plus teachers from various subjects, the grade director, and even the principal had taken time to come. The steps were packed with people.
Ethan and Jack stood in the back row on the left, while Sarah and Ashley stood in the front row directly in front of them.
Sarah was quite tall at 5'10", and Ashley was also 5'8". Plus wearing heels, the two of them were almost the same height, standing perfectly in front of Ethan and Jack.
"This is probably what youth looks like..."
Ethan looked at the camera, and a sudden trance washed over him.
Sunlight cast dappled light and shadow on his classmates' faces through the tree leaves, and he quietly pinched his palm—real pain reminding him this wasn't a dream. There shouldn't be... a third rebirth, right?
With Ethan muttering internally, the photographer said loudly, "One, two, three!"
All teachers and students shouted: "Cheese!"
Click.
Forty-five smiling faces bloomed in the early summer morning light, like sunflowers suddenly bursting into bloom.
Those youthful, innocent, and sweet smiling faces were forever frozen by the camera, becoming precious memories!
This might be the true meaning of photography!
After the group photo, the next step was finding people to take individual photos with.
Homeroom teacher and the English teacher were immediately surrounded by swarming students—after all, who wouldn't want to take a solo photo with these two most popular teachers?
Ethan was no exception.
He squeezed to her side and threw his arm around her shoulders with a smile. "Ms. J, let's get a shot of the Class 2 dream team first!"
There were boos all around. The boys smiled on the surface, but their eyes had already rolled back into their heads internally:
When the other boys in Class 2 heard this, they were all complaining in their hearts. 'Ethan, you're really shameless. You think you're the most handsome? Am I not better looking?'
But none of them spoke up. One reason was that Ms. Jensen was standing right there and they didn't dare contradict her. The other was that they wanted to argue with Ethan, but damn it, this guy actually did have the face of a teen drama lead. Everyone could only grumble internally: 'So what if you're handsome? My stamina would definitely crush yours!'
Of course, Ethan had no idea about these complaints in their heads. If he knew, he'd have to whip it out and compare right then and there. How dare they say their hardware was better than his? That couldn't possibly be true!
There are 30 advance chapters ahead in my Patreon. If you are interested can check it out.
patreon.com/B_A_3439