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After dinner, Penny dragged ter to the library for a briefing. Seated on the chair, ter’s jaw hit the floor at the stacks of books in front of him. This sight was too overwhelming for him.
“This…” ter scoffed, averting his dted eyes at the little sister standing behind the table. “I have to read all of this?”
1
“There’s more. Don’t worry.” ~
“There’s more?!” his face drained of colors as his face twisted in dismay.
Looking at him, Penny wondered if she even made the correct
decision. These books were just too basic. Even Penny in the first life understood them quickly.
“Penny, I can’t do this,” ter confessed, while shaking his head vigorously. “This is too much for me! I can’t do it like this or I’ll die – ack!”
–
ter nearly bit his tongue when her hand struck the back of his head. He gasped in disbelief, looking at her with dted eyes.
“Did you
—
did you just smack my head?”
“I did. So what?”
“Penny!”
“You said you want to die or just be Keith’s ve for the next year until he mysteriously goes missing.” Her expression died and her tone was cold. “You hadn’t even opened one book and you’re saying you can’t do it? Goodness.”
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<i>He </i><i>wouldn’t </i><i>need </i><i>to </i>be a ve <i>if </i>she <i>didn’t </i>bring <i>it </i>up!
ter rubbed the back of his head as he sulked. “I don’t want to be
a ve,” he mumbled. “Fine. I’ll read.”
“Good. Start with this one.” Penny casually picked up one book from the stack and dropped it in front of him. “Go, chop chop!”
He thought once she said that, she would leave. But Penny sat right next to him and started writing on a piece of paper.
<i>‘</i>She isn’t even <i>studying</i>. Does she even <i>know </i>these lessons from this <i>book</i><i>?</i>‘ he mentally grumbled, opening the book to start some reading.
Getting smacked in the head by his little sister was scary, but he had to do this as well. If he didn’t, then he should start epting his fate of being Keith’s dog. Although ter wasn’t spared from Keith’s deathly res all day, Keith didn’t step into his personal space. For ter, that was already freedom, and after having a taste of it, he wanted to live like that.
Silence quickly hung in the air with only every flip of the pages resonating every few minutes. Penny quietly skimmed through the lessons ter’s grades were focused on.
With her achievements in her past life, Penny could remember a
lot of lessons. She was often invited to teach in universities or take
on a ss as a professor. But this was junior secondary. Fortunately, her subjects and ters aren’t that far since she is in grade 7 and he’s in grade 8, so she could easily follow the stages.
Half an hourter, Penny fully grasped ter’s lessons from the previous semester and the current one.
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She drew her head back a little to check on him. The stacked books
in front of him blocked her view, so she had to tilt a little. When she saw him, her face twisted in an ugly way.
ter was just sitting there like a statue, staring nkly at the open book in front of him. It was as though his brain went into overdrive and he automatically went into default mode.
“Are you still alive?” she asked quietly, watching his nk eyes veered in her direction. “I see. You’re not.” 2
“Penny! This is insane!” ter pped the book as he harrumphed. “My brain’s not functioning! I couldn’t understand a word from it!”
“Not even the first lesson?”
?
“Not even the introduction!”
“…” Penny pinched the bridge of her nose in distress.
She confidently took this challenge not just because she believed in ter, but because the adult ter she remembered was very clever, humorous, and a critical thinker. Or so what she knows from his interviews and the shows he appeared in.
<i>Was </i><b>that </b><i>just </i><i>a </i>PR thing<i>? </i>
Truthfully, Penny wasn’t that sure because when they were adults, she rarely met ter. She might try to visit him or reach out to him, but he was too busy to give her a minute of his time.
<b><i>‘</i></b><b><i>But </i></b>then again<b>, </b>after <i>that </i>bullying incident, he didn’t end up <i>at </i>the bottom of his <b>ss </b>in his new school. Although not <i>at </i>the top, he wasn’t on the <bst</b><b><i>.</i></b>‘ Penny peeked at the distressed ter and sighed. <i>“</i>This is gonna be a piece <b><i>of </i></b>work.‘
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“Fine. Tell me what you don’t understand.”
“Everything!” ter didn’t even have the slight reluctance to
admit. He dragged his chair closer to her and said, “Penny, this isn’t gonna work.”
“Then do you want to be a ve?” because if he did, Keith would have to go. Where? That would be her <i>darkest </i>secret in this life.
“No, of course not.” His tone calmed down, but still in great distress. “I don’t want that, but I also know this is not gonna work.”
Penny observed him and was slightly pleased there was still a fighting spirit left in him. “Got it.”
After saying that, Penny grabbed the paper and pen and wrote
down something. Curious, ter nced at it. He only had a glimpse of it before she slid it in front of him.
“Answer it,” she said as she ced the pen on top of the paper. “Try to analyze it and answer. I want to determine what grade you left your brain. This is an example problem fromst year.”
ter looked at it up close and then back to her. “I don’t know how
to answer this.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen this problem ever in my life.”
Penny quietly retrieved the paper and flipped it to the clean page. She wrote in big size;
[1+1= <b>?</b>]
This time ter frowned. “Are you mocking me? I know that. It’s
two!”
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63 1+1=? Belonging to N?velDrama.Org.
“Good!!” Penny sighed in relief. “At least we know that’s not the grade we’re starting! Then how about this one?”
Instead of quickly jumping to the next level, she did subtraction, multiplication, and division. She started from one digit to two, three, and then more. ter felt like she was mocking him, but he still answered diligently.
“Here.” After the ten–digit division problem, ter slid the paper back to her. “Is it correct?”
“I don’t know.”
“What?! You’re making me answer all of that and you didn’t even know?”
Penny nced up at him and said, “Do you think I’m a calctor? These problems are just to stimte your brain so it can slowly enter study mode.”
She clicked her tongue and looked at the answer. Of course, she knew the answer. It was just that she was checking his method, as it was most essential.
“Oh.” ter was taken aback, only realizing now that he felt less pressured.
“It’s correct.” Her satisfied smile was akin to a drop of confidence back to him. She then pulled out one book near her. “Since you remember the basics, let’s move on to this topic.”
As she exined, ter quickly pulled his chair close to hers and listened to her instructions. Since doing it alone could easily confuse him, Penny showed him a few examples and answered them step by step. After that, she gave him one exercise for him to
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do it himself.
While the two were busy, they didn’t notice that peeking by the door were Allison, Charles, Haines, and Hugo. They knew Penny and ter would have to study together because of the bet, and that As had to focus on his own.
Watching ter be this focused on his studies and how he was listening to Penny so attentively brought a smile to their faces.
“I think… ter will be fine; Haines whispered, earning a nod <b>from </b>the three.
“Let’s not disturb them for now” Allison suggested, and they all reluctantly agreed,
As the four of them walked away from the library, their steps slowed down and the silence building up between them grew palpable.
“Just another peek; said Charles and in a sh, all four of them found themselves back in their spot, peeking at the library to watch the two.
Putler len, who saw them walking away from the library, only to run back and continue spectating, couldn’t help butugh.
“I guess everyone’s gonna stay upte tonight. Fortunately, it’s the weekend. Should I serve them some tea?”