95!!!
We’re actually in the 95th rank, guys!!
I’m super motivated now!!
Yosh!!!
***
Jack, adopting a surprised look, turned and looked at the red-haired girl holding books against her chest, standing between two bookshelves.
“Gwen? What are you doing here?” I have asked.
“Reading,” Gwen said as she raised the books, then she glanced at the empty seat close to the two.
“Mind if I sit here? Everywhere’s a bit crowded.”
“Sure, you can sit,” Jack replied.
Gwen smiled, walked to the seat, and sat down, dropping her books on the table.
“Oh!” Remembering something, Jack turned to Eve, who wore a mask of confusion.
“Eve, this is Gwendylon Tennyson.” I have turned to Gwen.
“Gwen, this is Samantha Eve Wilkins.”
Eve recovered and gave Gwen a smile.
“Hey.”
“Hey,” Gwen returned the greeting.
Sensing the awkwardness that permeated the air, Jack chuckled nervously and brought out a chemistry textbook from his bag, placing it on the table.
“I’m having trouble with Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“I can’t seem to map out the resonance structures for the intermediate steps.”
The two stared at him in surprise.
That topic was second-year college stuff!
(A/N: Those that don’t want a brain ache—a victim of that is warning you—just skip this to the time-skip.)
Gwen’s eyes squinted as she drew her chair closer and opened the book.
“I didn’t expect that you’d actually started learning second-year college stuff,” she said, finally stopping at the page introducing Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution.
“The trick to learning Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution is just following the ortho and para directors. Once you memorize which functional groups donate electrons, the intermediate steps practically write themselves.” This story is hosted at g.com.
Eve scoffed and drew her chair closer, pointing at a diagram in the book.
“Sure, if you want to just memorize rules from a book. But it’s easier if you actually visualize it, Jack. Think of the pi-electrons like a cloud of negative energy. The electrophile is starving for it. It doesn’t just ‘follow a pattern’—it physically pulls those electrons out of alignment to form a sigma complex.”
Gwen raised an eyebrow and stared at Eve in surprise, but she refused to back down.
“A cloud of negative energy? That’s an… interesting way to conceptualize subatomic physics,” she said, her words tinged with admiration.
“But clean mathematical notation is a lot faster on an actual exam.”
“Maybe,” Eve said with a shrug, then she smiled confidently.
“But my way makes sure you actually understand what the molecules are doing in real life.”
The two—Gwen and Eve—slowly spiraled into a debate over which theory was better, stating facts and chemical reactions, completely forgetting Jack, the one who asked—although he didn’t feel offended.
He have already learned the topic; the only reason he had brought it up was because—
‘They’re finally warming up,’ Jack thought with a smile.
Both Gwen and Eve were extremely intellectual individuals, and the only way he could think of to lighten the awkward atmosphere was this…
and it seemed to be working perfectly.
By the time the school bell for the end of lunch range, Gwen and Eve had unknowingly grown closer, with Eve even inviting Gwen to the after-school study session.
***
Time slipped by like sand through a hand, and three months went by, with major news spreading across the globe.
In these months, Vought experienced a drastic change because of Homelander’s desertion.
Having no other choice, they selected a new member to fill the Seven—Starlight.
Another massive news item was the recovery and emergence of Omni-Man, who continued his hero-saving.
Jack’s life also experienced some changes: his senior sister had been newly promoted and was planning to change houses; Gwen joined him and Eve’s study session, and they had undeniably become closer; and the most important thing—his template had reached one percent!
***
It was evening, and Jack, Eve, and Gwen stepped out of the school building, chuckling.
“I didn’t expect you to have such a cousin, Gwen,” Eve said with a smile.
“But honestly? I still prefer him to my parents.”
“Ugh, what can I do? I’m stuck with that doofus for life,” Gwen said with a groan, now more free than she was three months ago.
“You okay?” Eve asked.
“Yeah… yeah,” Jack replied.
“I just remembered that I need to be back home early today. Sorry, I won’t be following you guys to that newly opened store.”
Gwen blinked in confusion, but she still agreed.
“Okay. We’ll all go next time.”
“Sorry once again,” Jack said and ran, leaving them behind.
“He’s always like this,” Gwen said to Eve as she shook her head.
“Yeah…” Eve muttered with a furrowed brow.
Beep!
Beep!
Beep!
Suddenly, Gwen’s watch let out several consecutive beeps.
She hurriedly tapped it, switching it off, then turned to Eve.
“Well, since Jack isn’t coming and we promised to reschedule, I might as well head back.”
Leaving those words, Gwen ran, leaving a confused Eve alone.
***
Superboy flew through the sky at breakneck speed, the violent wind whipping his cape as he listened to Robot’s cold voice from the comm.
“We have just received an urgent communication from Director Stedman. Invincible has reportedly assaulted an influential figure downtown—the cybernetic crime lord known as Machine Head. Cecil has requested our immediate intervention to contain the situation. Would you mind accompanying us?”
Superboy’s mind worked fast at the information passed from Robot.
‘Machine Head?’ he thought, a smile he didn’t know appearing on his face.
‘This means Battle Beast must also be there…’
“Yeah…” he replied.
“I’ll be there shortly!”
***
I’ve finally cleared my debt!