During evening study hall, I wore the school jacket with the stitched-on pink *Hello Kitty* patch, and it drew quite a few glances. Luckily, most people just looked at me with mild surprise—only a couple of the less attractive girls whispered about how I, a guy, had made my uniform look so girly. I shot them a cold glare, and they immediately fell silent. After all, I'd fought with Chen Yong and even had conflicts with Boss Ba—most classmates were a bit wary of me now.
When Harper saw me walk in wearing the patched-up jacket, she was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but burst into a giggle. When she saw me notice, she quickly composed herself, pretending to be calm, though the smile still danced in her eyes.
As I passed her, I said again, "Class Rep, exams are coming up. Could you help me review after school?" The underlying message was clear: *Harper, I did this much—can you forgive me now?*
Harper glanced at the *Kitty* patch on my sleeve, her big eyes gleaming mischievously. "We'll talk after school," she said with a playful smile.
Just like that, Harper forgave me.
The next day at lunch, Harper resumed tutoring me. She told me to eat in the classroom so she could tutor me while we ate.
I still owed Bucktooth and the others a lot of money, and with so many expenses lately, I had to be frugal. I got just a small portion of rice with one meat and one vegetable—four yuan total—then carried it back to the classroom.
Harper was already there, holding a cute bento box. Her rice portion was small, but it was topped with chicken legs and braised eggs—more food than rice. My mouth watered a little, and I felt embarrassed comparing her lunch to mine—it made mine look downright pitiful.
She had me sit at her deskmate's seat. While we ate, she helped me review. Since I had a solid foundation and had only missed a few days of class, catching up was fairly easy.
"Hey, Andrew, why are you eating so little?" Harper asked, eyeing my bowl, which had just a few greens and a couple of bits of lean meat.
We were both still growing, and I normally had a good appetite—if I had the money. I just smiled awkwardly and said, "I think I'm gaining weight lately, so I'm dieting."
"Dieting, my foot," Harper said. "You look fine—nowhere near fat." Then, suddenly, she picked up her chicken leg and dropped it into my bowl. Her cheeks turned red, but she tried to play it off casually. "I ordered too much food. Help me out and finish it for me, okay? Don't let it go to waste."
I stared at the chicken leg in my bowl, feeling a little uncomfortable. After all, it came from her lunch, and we weren't *that* close yet. I was about to politely decline when Harper said firmly, "If you don't want it, I'll just throw it out. I can't finish it."
Now I really couldn't throw it away. Blushing, I muttered, "Alright… thank you."
Her cheeks flushed even redder, like ripe apples. She kept chatting while watching me eat with bright, happy eyes. As soon as I finished the chicken leg, she added a braised egg, sweet and sour ribs, and more into my bowl. "I'm full," she insisted. "Help me finish the rest so it won't go to waste."
I wasn't stupid—I could tell Harper was acting differently. Then I remembered: she always only got just enough food for herself in the cafeteria. Why had she suddenly gotten so much today?
Then it clicked—she *knew* I was broke. Last week, she had paid the 800 yuan for my hospital visit. She must've figured out that I was barely affording meals, so she deliberately bought more and shared it with me.
More than that, she was tactful. She knew I had pride and wouldn't accept money or a free lunch directly, so she pretended she'd over-ordered and asked me to "help" her finish it. She was protecting my dignity.
My heart softened. *She's such a good girl…* I thought. *If it weren't for the shadow Linda left in my heart, maybe I'd have fallen for Harper already.*
Just as that thought passed through my mind, I noticed someone outside the window. It was our homeroom teacher—Linda.
She was frowning, staring at Harper and me. From the look on her face, she must've seen Harper feeding me earlier.
Harper, unaware, blushed as she placed the last sweet-and-sour rib into my bowl. "Here, have this one too. I'm full."
Normally, the moment I spotted Linda, I'd act like a mouse seeing a cat—never daring to be too close to another girl in her presence. But after what happened Saturday night—thinking she may have been with another man—I felt uneasy and bitter.
So I pretended not to notice Linda and smiled at Harper. "Thanks, Ning."
Then, intentionally, I scooted my chair closer to hers.
A guy and a girl, sitting alone in a big empty classroom, already seemed suspicious. But sitting this close? And Harper feeding me? Anyone would've assumed we were dating.
Sure enough, from the window's reflection, I saw Linda's shocked expression. Her face darkened as she walked to the classroom door and knocked gently, then coughed.
"Ah, Miss Zhang…"
Harper jumped in surprise when she saw Linda, then noticed how close we were sitting. She shot me a nervous look, clearly trying to get me to move away before the teacher misunderstood—Second High strictly forbade student relationships.
But I *wanted* Linda to misunderstand. Instead of moving, I grabbed Harper's hand on purpose and looked provocatively at Linda. "Hello, Miss Zhang," I said.
Linda's eyes landed on our joined hands, her gaze chilling. "What are you two doing?"
Harper hadn't expected me to hold her hand in front of the teacher. She turned red, panicked, and yanked her hand away. "It's not what it looks like, Miss Zhang. Andrew's missed a lot of classes, and I'm just tutoring him."
Linda didn't seem fully convinced. She replied coolly, "Tutoring is a good thing, but be mindful of appearances. Remember, relationships are not allowed on campus."
Harper was clearly anxious and flustered. Linda hadn't *explicitly* accused us of dating, but her words implied it. Harper turned to me and glared—obviously blaming me for grabbing her hand and causing this whole misunderstanding.
After delivering her warning, Linda gave me a frosty look and walked off.
"What were you thinking, holding my hand like that in front of Miss Zhang? She totally thinks we're dating now—ugh!"
Harper's eyes were red with frustration as she half-cried, half-scolded me. I instantly regretted using her to get back at Linda and quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"
"Go away. Don't sit so close."
She shoved me aside, clearly feeling wronged.
I was terrified—crying girls always scared me. But I didn't know how to comfort one, so I resorted to joking, "Hey, stop crying. If your tears wet the floor, your deskmate Xu Jie might think you peed yourself."
Harper's mood slowly eased. She blushed and snapped, "*You* peed yourself!"
Once I got her to stop crying, I apologized profusely and begged her forgiveness. Eventually, she forgave me, though still flustered. "Andrew," she asked, "why did you grab my hand like that in front of the teacher? And why did you call me 'Xiao Ning'?"
I didn't dare admit I was trying to provoke Linda, so I lied, "I… don't know. Maybe it's because you've been so nice to me—helping with my jacket, tutoring me, even feeding me. No one's ever been so kind. I guess I just lost control…"
Harper turned red again and waved her hands. "Okay, okay, I get it. It was a moment of impulse, right?"
I nodded quickly. "Exactly!"
She rolled her eyes—looking every bit the gentle, mature young woman—and said sternly, "We're just good friends. It's normal for me to help you. Don't read too much into it. We're students—we can't date. We need to focus on studying."
Ever since I told her I would defeat John even for her sake, she probably misunderstood that I had feelings for her. And maybe she felt something too, or she wouldn't treat me so kindly.
But she was a model student—the type who'd never even break a minor rule, let alone something like early romance, which the school explicitly forbade. She made her stance clear and even urged me to focus on academics.