Even Top Students Fail

Summer Break2

"It's fine, Barbara is coming too. And there are a few other classmates from our class-about a dozen of us in total. Jennifer's cousin at Harvard will pick us up too. If you two come along, my classmates will make fun of me," Lilith said playfully, sticking out her tongue.

Originally it was just her and Jennifer planning to go, but when Jennifer's boyfriend David heard about it, he wanted to tag along. Once the class president got involved, it became a class event. Several students planning to apply to Harvard decided to go check it out in advance, and even some not applying to Harvard wanted to join in the fun. All in all, it added up to over a dozen people. With so many people going together, there was no way Lilith would let Louis and Maria come along.

Seeing that so many people were going together, Louis and Maria felt more at ease. "It's a pity your cousins aren't at Harvard, otherwise they could look out for you in the future." Now they were already worried about Lilith just going on a trip, and they couldn't help but be even more concerned about her going off to college in the future. Unfortunately, the two boys in Lilith's family who were in college weren't at Harvard, and the children on Maria's side of the family were still too young for college.

"It's fine, I'll get used to it gradually," Lilith said, sticking out her tongue. Ever since her exam results had come out, she had felt much more relaxed, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She truly seemed to embody the innocence and liveliness of a 17 or 18-year-old girl now. She had more expectations for her future college life at MIT. In her past life, she had attended university in her home city. This would be her first time going far from home in two lifetimes, even though Harvard was only a two-hour train ride away. But she still felt the excitement of venturing out on her own.

However, thoughts of her future college life inevitably led Lilith to think of William. Remembering how earnestly he had declared he would definitely go to MIT next year, and recalling what he had said earlier, Lilith felt the heat rising in her cheeks again. To avoid arousing her parents' suspicions, she quickly made an excuse and retreated to her room.

Submitting college applications was a simple matter. Once Lilith and her friends had completed theirs, they packed their bags and prepared to set off. With so many people traveling together, and considering the kids were older now, the parents didn't object. They simply gave the usual instructions to be careful and stay safe.

The group of over a dozen boys and girls set off for Harvard in high spirits. After touring Harvard's famous campus, they joined other future students who had come to visit their prospective school and went to the beach together. Afterwards, they headed south. If they hadn't been away for so long and with the start of the school year approaching, the group might have even hiked to Tibet. They ended up traveling for over a month. By the time they returned, even Lilith had tanned a shade darker. Jennifer and the others had turned into little coal balls, even more dramatic than during their military training.

While Lilith and her friends were having a great time, poor William was left behind. After getting some advice from Ryan on how to pursue girls, William was packed off to a review class. He had wanted to keep in touch with Lilith, but the phone number he had finally managed to get was always turned off. It wasn't until he called David that he learned the whole group had gone wild on their trip.

After secretly adding this to his list of grievances against the ungrateful Lilith, William threw himself into his miserable review sessions. His earlier declaration to Lilith about getting into MIT wasn't been a joke. Although Ryan's words had a teasing element to them, he had to admit they made sense. How could he be worse than a girl? Was he planning to be a kept man in the future? That wasn't the kind of person William was. Besides, he couldn't bear the thought of Lilith being out there alone attracting attention. Although Lilith was clueless in that department, she was young now - who knew when she might suddenly wise up?

Perhaps initially pursuing Lilith had been somewhat of a game, and later it had become tangled up with the incident with Angela. But now William had come to terms with his own feelings. Before, William's heart might not have been sincere, but now his feelings for Lilith were genuine. How could he let some foolish boy snatch away what he had set his sights on? The very thought made him sick.

So while Lilith and her friends were out sightseeing for a month, William threw himself into his studies with extraordinary dedication. He practically had his nose to the grindstone day and night. Although he had been a poor student in the regular class before, William actually had a decent foundation. After a month of intense study, he had made significant progress. Even Linda breathed a sigh of relief when she saw his grades. It seemed the boy was serious this time. If he could keep it up, even if he couldn't get into MIT, he could still get into a very good university.

By the time Lilith and her friends returned from their trip, it was already mid-August. The college acceptance letters had arrived, with less than twenty days left before the start of school. Maria had harbored thoughts of throwing a celebratory dinner once the acceptance letter came, making it official, but now she had to give up on that idea completely. Preparing for her daughter's college necessities was certainly more important than showing off to others.

After traveling for over a month and getting quite tanned, Lilith was exhausted. It took her a full week to recover, after which Maria took her shopping for new clothes and to the mall. Time flew by, and soon the start of school was just around the corner. It was at this time that Lilith received a call from William, asking to meet with her.