Chapter 98

Stella initially thought that completing the test papers would settle her debt to Ethan, but she didn't expect that over the next month, she would continue to receive more test papers from him. His attitude became increasingly justified. "Doing a few test papers means no one will bother you. Stella, you're actually benefiting from this." In fact, Ethan wasn't wrong. While he threw the papers at her, he also used the excuse of her doing his homework to fend off any disturbances from others. Because of this, Aria never came to bother her again. This was why Stella accepted this unequal arrangement and stayed up late to complete the papers. The test papers Ethan gave her weren't from the school; the questions suited her current progress and weren't a waste of effort. Over the next two months, Stella's grades improved significantly. She even ranked in the top ten of her class during the midterm exams, much to the surprise of her teachers. Dean had initially planned to hire a tutor for her, but after Jack accidentally broke his leg and stopped coming to the Carlson family's mansion, Stella politely declined Dean's offer, and the idea of hiring a tutor was postponed. Thomas knew that his granddaughter had been struggling since transferring schools and didn't want to add to her burden. He convinced Dean to completely abandon the idea of finding a tutor. At one point, Aaron also offered to help Stella with her studies, but after careful consideration, Stella declined. She didn't understand why he was being especially nice to her, but his strong sense of purpose made her instinctively want to avoid him. Uncertain of his intentions, she habitually distanced herself and built up barriers. With Dean being busy finding doctors to treat his nephew's leg, they no longer paid much attention to her. Stella enjoyed the peace and continued living her leisurely school life. Without the Fletcher family bothering her, her initial discomfort gradually faded away. Time flew by, and September arrived. Every year, Seattle organized two extracurricular activities, where students went to nearby towns to "experience life." This semester's activity was set in Emberbrook, a town not far from Seattle. On the weekend, the students gathered at the school gate and boarded the buses arranged by the school, class by class. The weather in Seattle in September was slightly cool, with a gentle breeze carrying the morning's moisture. Stella arrived late and found that Liora was already sitting next to Celeste. To her surprise, the only available seat left on the entire bus was next to Ethan. Perhaps his unapproachable demeanor had discouraged others from sitting there. With no other choice, she resignedly walked to the back row and sat down amid the curious gazes of her classmates. The curtain on the left side window was pulled up, and Ethan, with his eyes closed and wearing headphones, leaned back in his seat, seemingly unaware of her presence. Just after sitting down, Stella received a secret message from Liora. Liora: I saved you a seat, but Celeste wanted to sit in the last row. However, Ethan frowned and scared her away. Stella glanced at the person beside her, pressed her lips together, and quickly typed a reply: It's okay. Even in class, Ethan didn't have a desk mate, seemingly because he didn't like sitting with others. She tried to remain quiet. At 10 o'clock, the bus departed on schedule. The journey from Seattle to Emberbrook took over three hours, and they had to have lunch on the bus. Afraid of waking the person next to her, Stella listened to her audio lessons in silence throughout the trip. After passing the second service area, she put away her walkman and had just taken out the food from her bag when Ethan lazily opened his eyes and looked at her. One minute later— Under Ethan's direct gaze, Stella sighed and spoke up, "I reminded everyone yesterday that we needed to bring our own food before reaching the campsite." Since it was an off-campus practical activity, the head teacher had assigned several group leaders in advance, including Stella, who was seen as obedient and responsible in the eyes of the teachers. She had specifically reminded everyone yesterday to bring their own food for the journey. However, Ethan seemed to have completely disregarded her words. "Oh, I forgot," he replied nonchalantly, his tone sounding matter-of-fact. After a pause, he casually raised his eyebrows and smirked, "Aren't you the group leader? How come you're not responsible if your members are hungry?" Stella was speechless. Under Ethan's relaxed and amused gaze, Stella symbolically took out two packs of potato chips from her bag and handed them to him. He faintly raised an eyebrow, hesitated briefly over the packaging, then took them. After navigating the rough and bumpy mountain roads, the bus finally stopped at a hotel in the county town. The hotel had recently been renovated, modest yet relatively clean. However, what was disheartening was its remote location, surrounded by low hills with no entertainment facilities around, shattering many people's fantasies. After getting off the bus, Stella received the keys from the teacher for her group members. There were two boys and four girls, and they were allocated 3 rooms in total. Other classes arrived early, and by now, most had settled in. Jimmy, who was assigned to the same room as Ethan, tactfully exchanged rooms with Jason privately. Stella and Liora's room was on the third floor, where everyone else besides them belonged to the international class. As Stella took out her key to open the door, Aaron walked up beside her, smiling as he handed her a transparent bag. "There are a lot of mosquitoes in the countryside. Here, take this." Inside the bag was emergency anti-itch cream. Glancing at Liora, whose legs were covered in mosquito bites despite spraying repellent, Stella hesitated briefly before accepting the bag from her hopeful gaze, nodding. "Thank you." "No need to thank me," Aaron said, smiling. After he finished speaking, his gaze crossed the corridor, scanning the figure that disappeared around the corner. He spoke gently, "If you encounter any trouble in class, you can tell me." Stella didn't understand why Aaron suddenly brought this up. She lowered her eyes in thought. Her most annoying troublemaker should be Ethan. After a moment's pause, Stella shook her head and smiled back, "The people in the class are all very nice." Even though Ethan's arrogant attitude could be frustrating, he had never crossed her bottom line. Their relationship seemed to have a subtle balance. The two-day practice was mostly physical activities like hiking, dubbed as a way to toughen up their willpower. After reviewing the itinerary for each class, Stella finally understood why her classmates weren't enthusiastic about the trip, dubbing the extracurricular practice as a "mini military training." The first afternoon activity for the experimental class was hiking. Because it was so physically demanding, many students had managed to get excused in advance with various excuses. Mr. Cassian Fox, the class teacher, was a lenient overweight man. He was grand before departure, but turned a blind eye to a lot when he arrived, so he didn't worry about much. Besides the lively and active students, the only one who actually went hiking with Mr. Cassian Fox was Stella, who couldn't stand to be seen as a model student asking for leave. In the evening, Stella dragged her tired body back to her room, only to receive a message from the "member" who had asked for leave. After changing clothes, she went straight to the fourth floor. Standing outside the innermost room, she knocked a few times, and the door was quickly opened, revealing a tall, thin figure behind it. Meeting Ethan's deep, blue eyes, she noticed that he didn't look too well. She asked, "Are you okay?" Ethan lowered his gaze and furrowed his brow. "There's a strange smell in this room. Let's switch." "A strange smell?" Stella's voice lifted slightly at the end. The hotel was reasonably clean, and while this room might have been a bit damp due to being on the shaded side, what could possibly be causing a strange smell? Ethan glanced at her, tilted his head slightly, and said slowly, "You said yesterday that I should find you if I needed any help, remember?" Stella hesitated slightly, realizing she had completely forgotten about bringing food, but this guy seemed to remember everything else clearly. "I should check with Liora first," she replied. Ethan listened and raised an eyebrow slightly, a smirk playing at his lips. "No need to ask. There are fewer mosquitoes on the fourth floor. Jason said she doesn't mind." Well, he clearly wasn't asking for her opinion at all.