Chapter 23
Alice was a bit taken aback by the principal’s words. She never expected him to bring this up. Glancing at Luke and Chloe across from her, she maintained a calm demeanor. However, Luke’s expression had turned quite awkward; it was always Alice chasing after him, never the other way around. He was used to being the big brother, always on a pedestal. Now, asking him to apologize felt like a fate worse than death.
Chloe quickly interjected, “Alice, you’ve become so amazing! You’ve been secretly studying at home; and we didn’t know it. You get such great grades, and they suspect you of cheating. Luke rushed to the school to help you out; he actually cares about you!”
After Chloe gave Luke an out, he coldly replied,“Chloe, stop. Some ingrates just won’t understand.”
He was clearly pleased with Chloe’s performance; that was how a sister should act. Alice shot him a half–smile, “Yes, Luke came to school. Then what? He told the teacher I cheated, forced me to write an apology, and publicly humiliated myself. Do you want that kind of ‘help‘?”
Chloe was left speechless.
Luke, embarrassed and furious, snapped, “Alice, were the one who worked hard in secret without telling us, making me think you cheated! Sure, your grades improved, but was that little stunt really necessary?”
The principal interjected, looking at the homeroom teacher, “Who was the first to accuse Alice of cheating? Bring them in to apologize.”
The teacher called the two lackeys forward. They were clueless about the situation, thinking Alie had actually cheated, and smugly said, “Teacher, we said Alice cheated to get those good grades. Isn’t it clear now?”
The homeroom teacher nodded.“Exactly, it’s been confirmed that Alice didn’t cheat. You two need to apologize to her right now.”
The lackeys were shocked. Alice hadn’t cheated? How could that be?
Chloe played the role of a good Samaritan.“Alice didn’t cheat. I told you not to spread rumors. Apologize to her.” With that, she cleared herself of any blame.
The lackeys reluctantly apologized.“Sorry, we were wrong, it was our mistake; we shouldn’t have said anything.”
homeroom
The
teacher turned to Alice.“Do
Alice shook her head.“No.”
you have any
other requests?”
The teacher smiled,“Alice has worked hard. Chloe, your grades dropped significantly.”
Chloe felt embarrassed, especially since Alice had done so well; it was downright humiliating. Chloe, with red–rimmed eyes, said, “I–I just wasted some time; I won’t let it happen again.” Luke also felt a bit ashamed, “What’s the point of good grades? When it comes to gaming, making money is way more important than this.”
Chloe actually agreed with that.
The homeroom teacher was furious, never expecting a parent to say such things. He looked at Chloe,“You should learn from Alice!”
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Chloe bit her lip and stormed out of the office.
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Luke shot Alice a glare,“So what if you got good grades? Is it worth showing off in front of Chloe? She’s just falling behind because of her gaming team. You, who haven’t put in any effort, have no right to brag.”
Alice raised an eyebrow.“Did I brag?”
The principal spoke up again, “I clearly heard the homeroom teacher say those things; Alice didn’t say a word. As a parent, you shouldn’t be so biased.”
Luke was momentarily speechless, replying, “I’m not biased. Alice’s just like that.”
After saying that, he rushed out to catch up with Chloe.
Alice turned to the principal.“Thank you“.
“No need to thank me; you’ve earned this with your talent. You can head back to class now; I need to have a meeting with the teachers to emphasize a few things.” Alice left the office.
As she walked a few steps, she spotted Jack standing in the hallway, wearing a white lab coat.
He leaned against the wall, seemingly waiting for someone. When their eyes met, her heart raced unexpectedly.
He stood up, his voice cool.“How did it go?”
“Of course, I won! The principal gave me another test, and I scored even better than in the monthly exam.” She was proud. Seeing him made her victory feel even more valid.
Jack lowered his brows, speaking slowly, “Did they apologize?”
Alice paused. Did he mean Luke and Chloe? She shook her head.“Only the scapegoats. Not the masterminds, but I don’t care. I already slapped them in the face!” She still felt pretty good about
it!
Jack’s refined
features broke into a smile, “Come see
me after school.”
With that, he walked away. Alice noticed someone approaching in the hallway but didn’t ask any further. She turned back to her classroom.
The once noisy classroom had quieted down a bit. The homeroom teacher soon announced that Alice’s grades were legitimate, and there was no cheating involved. Chloe slumped over her desk, feeling down, losing interest in the cake as well.
She had to think of a way to prevent Alice from getting such good grades. There was no way Alice could be better than her!
After school that afternoon, Alice went to the infirmary. Jack was sitting in a chair, glancing back at her, “Have you finished your homework?”
“The teacher asked me to check my mistakes, and I’ve done it all.” She hadn’t made many mistakes; the ones she did were from topics she hadn’t reviewed and didn’t grasp. Jack nodded toward the computer beside him, “Wanna play some games? Do you have an
account?”
“Yes, but I want to create a new one.”
“Good idea. Let’s both use new accounts.” He didn’t plan to use his main account with her. Alice started the game and chose the name:“Sweet Lemon“.
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Once she entered the game, she looked at Jack, “What’s your name? Let’s add each other as friends.”
She caught a glimpse of his game screen, and the name looked familiar:“If Time Could Turn Back.”
She suddenly remembered something. In her past life, she had a virtual boyfriend with the same name, identical.
Jack raised
an eyebrow.“What are you looking at? Accept the friend request.” Alice’s face flushed instantly as she hurriedly accepted the friend request, feeling a bit excited looking at her character in the game. But in her past life, she hadn’t met her virtual boyfriend at
this time.
Maybe it was just a coincidence?
Alice sneaked a glance at him, “Why did you choose that name?”
Jack paused, lowering his brows, “Just picked it randomly.”
Alice nodded; maybe it really was just a coincidence.
Once they started playing, they went straight to the newbie area to complete tasks. Alice sensed that Jack wasn’t a complete newbie; he probably made a new account just to play with her, but she didn’t ask too many questions.
But his gameplay was eerily similar to that person.
Alice
“No.”
couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher, is that your main account’s name?”
“Then is today the first time you created this new account and chose this name to play?”
Jack looked at her.“Yes. What’s wrong?”
Alice quickly lowered her head, blushing.“Nothing.”
She felt conflicted; was he really that person? But the timing didn’t match up. In her past life, she met him after the revival match, and he was the one who taught her how to improve her gaming skills, helping her advance to the finals.
Even until the end, she never met her virtual boyfriend.
But she was still grateful for his help when she was down and out.
Alice seemed a bit distracted.
After they finally finished their tasks and left the newbie area, they encountered another team while doing the next task.
Alice recognized the team’s name and couldn’t help but smirk. It was Luke and Chloe.
Jack narrowed his eyes slightly.“Should we go for it?”
“Go for what? We’re all on new accounts, and our gear can’t compete with theirs; we’d just be asking for trouble.”
Though she said that, Alice felt a bit tempted.
Jack said, “Wait until they’re almost done with their task, then take their boss while they’re low on health.”
