Gwen trusted Locke completely.
After all, she felt that if she hadn't been the one to actively pursue him, Locke would have likely remained entirely devoid of desire or initiative. They would have simply spent their high school years as respectful, distant acquaintances, gone to college together, and eventually parted ways.
But...
She did not trust Helen Cho at all.
An exotic charm combined with an exceptional reservoir of knowledge—Helen belonged to the exact same world as they did. According to the combined wisdom and experience passed down by Cindy, Kem, and Helen, this Helen Cho felt like an immediate, maximum-level threat.
In the words of those three, it wasn't as if people didn't secretly slip anonymous love letters into Locke's locker. Every three days, Gwen had to help Locke clear out a massive wave of them.
Yet the only reason Locke had never taken an interest wasn't because those girls weren't beautiful enough, but because they didn't belong to the same world.
Academic deities belonged with academic deities, or at least with top-tier scholars. In the past, there hadn't been any issues simply because no student from that same level had ever appeared to give Gwen a sense of threat.
Now, Helen Cho's appearance undoubtedly sounded an alarm in Gwen's mind that had never rung before.
Therefore, Gwen turned to Mrs. Corder and said, "Mrs. Corder, our class can really only take one more at most. There's honestly no room left to place any more desks."
Listening to her student assistant's words, Mrs. Corder gave a thoughtful nod. "True, that pair of siblings transferring from Sokovia is also supposed to arrive today."
Gwen offered a polite smile.
Although the tenth-grade homerooms were mostly a formality—since students spent the majority of their time moving around according to their individual course schedules—Gwen felt Cindy was right: prevention must start from the very smallest details.
Indeed.
Mrs. Corder nodded and said, "Then let's send Jane to a different class. Helen Cho and the siblings can go to yours."
Gwen: "..."
Stepping out of the office, Gwen suddenly gripped the student handbook and let out a heavy sigh.
Locke looked at her with a trace of curiosity. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Locke offered a quiet grunt of understanding, his gaze dropping to the handbook, specifically to the names of the siblings from Sokovia.
The male was named Pietro Lynch.
The female was named Wanda Lynch.
My goodness.
Callum, you absolute fraud, do you still dare to claim you aren't Magneto?
You old Fox, you are incredibly deceitful!
Locke complained silently in his heart, though his emotions remained relatively undisturbed. After all, from the very beginning of the year, he had already mentally prepared himself for the possibility that the Scarlet Witch might crash into his life.
Consequently, Locke felt he had already accepted his fate and lay flat.
Beside him, after shaking her head, Gwen looked at Locke's seemingly indifferent reaction and felt a sudden urge to roll her eyes. Instead, she abruptly linked her arm through his and let out a brief laugh.
It looked rather silly.
Locke reached out and touched Gwen's forehead.
"...What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
This time, Gwen couldn't resist rolling her eyes before smiling. "Let's go. I wonder if the new classmates have arrived yet."
She had figured it out.
Whether Helen Cho could truly become a threat didn't actually depend on Helen Cho herself. It depended entirely on Locke.
And from the looks of it, Locke didn't show the slightest hint of being swayed. Furthermore, during dinner yesterday, Locke had answered her call completely out in the open without trying to avoid her at all.
Her mother had always said that when a man starts stepping away to answer his phone, that is the exact moment you need to be careful.
Returning to the classroom, Flash and Kahn had already carried another desk inside.
Sitting directly in front of Gwen, Kim's eyes lit up the moment she saw Gwen enter. She immediately pulled Gwen over.
"Didn't they say only two new students were coming? Why is there an extra desk?"
Gwen cast a brief glance toward Locke as he walked over to his seat, lowering her voice to speak to Kim and Cindy.
"There's also Helen Cho from Brooklyn."
Kem and Cindy exchanged a quick look.
Seated to Locke's left, Carrie looked at him as he sat down and asked out of curiosity,
"Are the new students arriving soon?"
Carrie felt she might share a bit more common ground with transfer students. After all, the year wasn't even over yet, so to some extent, she was still considered a recently arrived transfer student herself.
Locke nodded. "Yes, three of them."
Betty, who had moved directly to the desk in front of Carrie this semester to make it easier to turn around and chat with her, looked over at Locke.
"Three? Wasn't it supposed to be two?"
Locke smiled. "Helen Cho from Brooklyn is also transferring over this semester."
"What about the others?"
"Trinity High scouted two, and we scouted three. But since our class has three transfer students this term, Jane Foster and Peter Parker were assigned to the class next door."
"Next door? Why?"
Betty blinked. "Mary moved to the class next door this semester too."
Locke raised his head.
Betty shrugged. "Mary worked at a restaurant over the summer and met a few classmates from the neighboring class, so she applied to the counselor to switch rooms."
Locke offered a quiet hum of understanding.
As stated before, high school classrooms operated much like mini-auditoriums and lecture halls; there was no strict rule dictating that a specific grade had to sit together constantly. Setting up a dedicated homeroom was merely for administrative convenience.
Hadn't Jessica Campbell also moved to the neighboring class? It was a perfectly normal occurrence.
The most abnormal thing, perhaps, was Midtown High itself.
This time, it seemed Midtown High was truly going to become a gathering place of extraordinary talent in every sense of the word.
Just look at the luxurious lineup currently assembled in this tenth-grade class.
Locke—the embodiment of destiny itself, no further explanation needed.
Gwen needed no explanation either; an academic God since childhood. If she hadn't been fated for tragedy because of a certain spider in her original world, the achievements of a fully grown Gwen would likely have been thoroughly astonishing.
Wait a moment!
Mary Jane.
Peter Parker.
Was this the classic version of the Spider-Man storyline?
Locke pondered silently.
To be completely honest, Locke didn't remember the details of that specific version of Spider-Man very clearly anymore.
He only recalled that particular iteration of Spider-Man being incredibly arrogant—the kind of punchable, irritating arrogance. To put it colloquially, he had that attitude of a lowly beast suddenly gaining power and becoming utterly wild with conceit.
Just then, the classroom teacher walked in from the hallway. Once again, the never-ending clamor of the classroom vanished into instant silence the very moment the teacher's right foot crossed the threshold.
It was the usual opening speech, followed immediately by the introduction of the transfer students.
Like the rest of his classmates, Locke clapped his hands to express a welcoming gesture for the three transfer students walking in from outside.
A few male classmates who possessed zero presence in the room immediately began whispering to one another upon seeing the two beautiful girls who had just entered.
Helen Cho went without saying—possessing the traits of an academic deity paired with an exotic, aloof charm.
As for Wanda, that iconic red leather jacket, her crimson hair, and that distinctly wild aura made her incredibly difficult to forget at first glance.
Upon entering, Helen Cho waved slightly toward Locke, who was seated below.
Locke gave a nod of acknowledgment, his peripheral vision drifting toward Wanda.
Huh?
Wasn't Wanda supposed to be the inheritor of chaos magic? Why did she feel exactly like an entirely ordinary Wanda?
Locke raised an eyebrow.
Up on the platform, Helen Cho revealed a faint smile.
She had chosen to come to Midtown High precisely because of Locke's invitation, coupled with the fact that the terms offered by Mrs. Corder were quite generous, including access to a laboratory owned by one of the school board directors' biotech companies to run her own research data.
How high your achievements reach depends entirely on your horizon and the people around you. This was what her mother had told her.
Compared to Midtown High, where two massive academic deities shone brightly alongside a multitude of top-tier scholars, Brooklyn High seemed to have nothing left to boast about other than claiming to be Captain America's alma mater.
Furthermore, even when knowing that Midtown High and Trinity High were simultaneously scouting her, Brooklyn High had shown absolutely no reaction. Some students had even offered mocking, sarcastic remarks after their twelve-game losing streak.
Combined with the phone call she had shared with Locke the day before school started, Helen Cho had ultimately called Mrs. Corder at the very last moment to express her acceptance of the transfer invitation.
Standing beside Helen Cho, Wanda also took notice of Locke.
She had heard Callum mention Locke's name in passing just yesterday. In fact, Wanda felt Callum had accidentally let the name slip, but because of that, she had memorized the name Locke.
Mm.
Aside from being excessively handsome, he didn't seem to have anything particularly different about him.
Seated to Locke's right, Gwen watched Helen smiling on the platform before glancing briefly at Wanda. Ultimately deciding that Helen Cho posed the significantly larger threat, she placed Wanda entirely into the safe zone. Her eyebrow twitched imperceptibly.
In front of her, Kim turned her head to give Gwen a look, seemingly asking if they needed to give this new female classmate a little lesson. That sort of welcoming prank game was Cindy's specialty.
Sensing Kim's gaze, Cindy raised her head slightly to look toward Kim and Gwen, blinking her eyes.
Something seemed to click in her mind, and she looked at Gwen as if to say: just say the word, and my sorority can immediately arrange a series of pranks to let the new student experience the absolute warmth of Midtown High.
Gwen retreated immediately from the idea.
But...
When Helen Cho raised her hand, pointing directly at the empty space in front of Locke—left vacant because of Betty's relocation—and said,
"Teacher, may I sit in that spot?" Gwen took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a strong urge to agree to Kim and Cindy's instigation.
Fortunately, Gwen took another deep breath and restrained herself.
However, once the three students had taken their respective seats, those male classmates in the room who didn't even deserve a proper name cast envious glares toward Locke once again.
After all, Locke's seating arrangement felt like an absolute treasure trove of good feng shui.
To his left was Carrie, with her icy, aloof demeanor.
To his right was Gwen, with her soft, warm, girl-next-door vibe.
Directly in front of him was now Helen Cho, with her exotic charm.
Directly behind him was Wanda, radiating an aura filled with a distinctly wild beauty.
In reality, those two specific seats had originally been reserved for Wanda and Pietro. However, because Helen Cho had actively spoken up first, Pietro had been dispatched to the far upper left corner to sit as Flash's desk partner.
Following that, the teacher clapped her hands, a brilliant smile appearing on her face.
"Alright, everyone. A new semester means a new beginning. Let's start with a test to warm up and see how well you've maintained your academic levels over the break."
The very first test of the opening season.
Achievement points...
Here I come!