Chapter 97

At 6:30, Stella returned to the Carlson family's mansion. Troy stepped forward and took her schoolbag. "Welcome back. Mr. Thomas Carlson and everyone are waiting for you to have dinner." Stella nodded, changed her shoes, and walked directly into the dining room. At the dining table, Dean and Avery were there, with the latter clinging to Thomas's arm, acting spoiled. When she saw Stella enter, her smile faltered slightly but quickly recovered. "Welcome back." Stella smiled lightly, keeping her head down as she sat opposite Avery. To others, her demeanor seemed a bit shy and uneasy. "Last time Aaron suggested that you transfer to the international class. What have you decided?" Avery's voice was sweet and natural, but she felt uncomfortable inside. Stella hadn't done much since returning to the Carlson family, but Aaron had been very cold toward her recently. During their few recent conversations, he mainly asked about Stella's life at home or about Dean. Despite promising her grandfather to get along well with this cousin, Avery was reluctant to have Aaron and Stella spend too much time together, particularly given their awkward "engagement." "Stella, what do you think?" Thomas also looked over. "I don't want to transfer classes," Stella pressed her lips together and then said softly. "The progress and schedule of the international class are different. I need time to adjust myself." "It's okay too. I'll hire a tutor to help you with your academic subjects," Dean said kindly, then added, "By the way, Jack's academic subjects aren't very good either. How about having him come here and study with you?" If he hadn't noticed that Aaron was paying too much attention to this girl and neglecting his daughter, Dean wouldn't have thought to have his nephew spend more time with her at this moment. Stella breathed a sigh of relief inwardly and then smiled, saying, "Thank you, but the school's workload is heavy, and I haven't fully adapted yet. Let's wait a bit." Dean didn't insist and followed up, "Then let's wait a bit. It takes time to find a tutor anyway." Although she temporarily declined Dean's "kindness," Stella soon received the results of her first monthly exam since coming to Jefferson High School. Even though she was mentally prepared, the result still hit her hard. To be honest, in just a few months, Stella couldn't develop a sense of belonging to the Carlson family. Even though Thomas treated her well, she still wanted to be independent. But it was clear that this was somewhat difficult for her now. She didn't know how to improve her current situation. "You've done very well," Liora offered some comfort when she noticed her deskmate's low mood. Jefferson High School's progress was fast, and Stella was nearly a year behind everyone else. The completely different test papers made it difficult for her to adapt quickly. She knew the other person meant well, so she tried to suppress her emotions. "I'm fine. You go ahead and eat." At lunchtime, the classroom was empty except for Liora, who stayed behind out of concern for her. "Then I'll head to the cafeteria, okay?" Stella smiled and nodded. After Liora left, the classroom became quiet again. Stella sat silently at her desk for a long time before picking up her cup to get some hot water from the end of the corridor. She didn't expect that on her way back to the classroom, she would be blocked by Aria, who suddenly appeared in the corridor. "The other day on the playground, did you intentionally lead the teacher over there?" Aria asked. A few days ago, after school, Aria saw that middle school girl talking to Stella. Ella liked Steven Anderson from the third year of high school, so she had stopped Layla, who was delivering something to Steven, to question her. As a result, the Dean of Students discovered them, and Ella was embarrassed. Ella hadn't caused trouble for Stella before because she thought it was a coincidence. Aria knew Ella was easily provoked. If Ella found out that it was Stella who had led the Dean over, she would definitely give Stella a hard time. As for why Aria disliked Stella, it was because she had seen Stella trailing behind Aaron and Avery while shopping at the mall. When Avery went to pick out a gift, the gentle expression Aaron had while talking to Stella was something she had never seen before. Stella didn't respond to Aria's words, keeping her head down as she prepared to walk past her. Aria frowned and grabbed Stella's arm directly. "Are you deaf? I'm talking to you!" The force Aria used was considerable, causing Stella to lose her balance and her shoulder to collide with the corridor wall, resulting in a dull pain. Aria wanted to ask more, but the overly calm look in Stella's eyes as she raised her head made the words stick in her throat. In the midst of the standoff, a lazy male voice came from the side. "You're blocking the way." Seeing who it was, Aria froze. Ethan stood there with one hand in his pocket, his expression indifferent and his voice emotionless. "If I remember correctly, you're not in our class, are you?" Intimidated by him, Aria instinctively let go of Stella's arm and replied awkwardly, "I'm from the next class." She often came to find Ella even though they were not in the same class. Ethan sneered, his gaze arrogant and his tone lazy. "I don't care which class you're in. If you keep causing a scene here, I'll make sure you regret it." Aria's face turned red with embarrassment. She knew very well that Ethan was always this arrogant and unrestrained, never showing mercy to anyone. Aria glanced at Stella, her expression filled with anger. After a moment's pause, she turned and left. Before leaving, she couldn't help but mutter as she looked at the grades posted outside the experimental class, "Doing exercises all the time, but the grades aren't that good." The corridor fell quiet again. Stella straightened her school uniform, which had been wrinkled by Aria, took a deep breath, and softly said, "Thank you." Regardless of Ethan's reasons, he had helped her out of the situation. Ethan glanced down at her, his eyebrows slightly furrowed, and his voice carried a hint of reproach. "Can't you have a little temper?" In his dictionary, there was no such thing as swallowing one's anger, and he couldn't understand her reluctance to stir up trouble. He noticed her slightly reddened eyes, and his brow furrowed even deeper. His tone became somewhat unnatural. "Why are you crying?" Why was she crying? Even Stella didn't know the answer. Maybe it was because the pent-up emotions had been too much and needed an outlet. Life after coming to Seattle was much heavier than in the orphanage. She had to deal with Dean, become more independent, and suppress the strong sense of pride she felt when seeing her grades. All of this made her feel utterly lost. She tried to escape the sudden changes in her environment by dialing the orphanage's number. However, Director Moore told her, "Don't come back." She knew she should move forward, but she didn't know how to do so. Suppressing the emotions in her heart, she didn't explain and turned to go back to the classroom. Sitting in the empty classroom, Stella stared blankly at the open test papers. Suddenly, a bag of snacks dropped on the corner of her desk. Seeing that she still didn't react, the young man lowered his gaze and tapped his long fingers on the desk. When Stella looked up, he turned his head to avoid her gaze. "I bought too much at the supermarket. If you don't eat it, just throw it away." If he remembered correctly, she didn't like wasting things, so she probably wouldn't throw it away. "And, do my homework for me." Before she could respond, Ethan threw a few blank test papers in front of her. Seeing her frown, he said leisurely, "What, do you think I helped you just now for nothing? A thank you should be practical. Instead of daydreaming here, can't you do a few more test papers?" Stella had never encountered such an unreasonable attitude. The emotions stuck in her chest were stirred by the absurdity, and her brow furrowed again. After hesitating for a moment, she still took the papers. Since he was using this as a reason to pressure her, she didn't want to owe him any so-called "favor." At the end of the school day, Jason was, as usual, waiting at the exit of the teaching building. It was only when the teaching building was nearly empty that he finally saw the tall figure of Ethan arriving late. Seeing the wad of crumpled paper in his hand, Jason frowned in confusion. "Why did you tear up the report cards?" Not only had he torn them up, but he had torn up so many that all the report cards from the teaching building and the bulletin board had been shredded by him. "They were an eyesore." Ethan finished and casually tossed the handful of crumpled paper to him. "Throw these in the trash." Jason smoothed out one of the wrinkled report cards and glanced at Aaron's high-ranking scores, immediately understanding the situation. Alright then, they really were quite an eyesore. Well, what's so great about being first? They all got torn up by Ethan anyway.