Even Top Students Fail

Summer Break1

Lilith rushed away from William without saying goodbye to Jennifer, only sending a quick text before fleeing home. She feared William might corner her again - his behavior had changed drastically lately, and who knew what he might do next.

If you can't beat them, avoid them. Just thinking about William's face now made Lilith incredibly nervous. She'd never experienced such intense emotions in her past life. It felt like a mix of attraction and fear.

Truth was, Lilith had a major flaw - she hated making decisions. She preferred letting things happen naturally and procrastinating as much as possible. Only when absolutely necessary would she show her claws, and so far Candy was the only one who'd seen that side of her. Before, William had been arrogant and Lilith oblivious, neither willing to make the first move. But now that William had suddenly changed his approach, Lilith found herself unable to cope.

Thankfully, Louis had just rewarded Lilith with a new phone a few days ago. Otherwise, she would've had to go back to the classroom and risk being cornered by William again, which would've made her cry for real.

Even after returning home, the flush hadn't left Lilith's face. Seeing her enter so red-faced, Louis quickly ushered her inside to cool off. As for Maria, it wasn't that she didn't care about her daughter - she was just busy on the phone.

Ever since Lilith's college entrance exam results had come in, Maria's phone hadn't stopped ringing. She was desperate to tell everyone about her wonderful daughter.

After a while, having had her fill of compliments, Maria finally hung up contentedly. Seeing Lilith sitting nearby eating ice cream with a flushed face, she happily sat down next to her and said, "Why are you back so early? We were planning to pick you up later. Look how hot you are! Did you finalize your college applications?"

"I'd already decided which school to apply to, so there wasn't much point in staying. Just came back early," Lilith said somewhat guiltily. It wasn't that she had nothing to do - she was purely trying to avoid someone.

Maria didn't notice her daughter's unease. Lilith had fair skin that easily turned red in the sun, a trait inherited from her mother.

"I was just discussing with your dad about having a dinner in a few days to invite relatives, friends, and your teachers too. A celebration for you. But your dad doesn't agree. What do you think, Lilith?" Lilith's results were excellent, and not just Maria - even Lilith's grandfather had been bragging about it all over town despite the heat.

"Why have a dinner party? You'd be better off using that money to sponsor me instead. I've already made plans with Jennifer to go on a nice trip," Lilith said, feeling a headache coming on at her mother's suggestion. It wasn't enough that her mom had been calling people day and night now she wanted to throw a party too? Lilith didn't want to do that; it would be so awkward.

"You silly girl, don't you have enough money already? Didn't your grandparents just give you a big red envelope the other day? And there's the scholarship money from your school too. You're still eyeing your mom's little bit of cash? Besides, everyone who comes to the dinner will give you a red envelope. It'll all be yours in the end." After learning about their granddaughter's exam results, Lilith's grandparents had immediately rewarded her with a generous red envelope. The school's 10,000 yuan reward had also been given entirely to Lilith by Louis and Maria. On top of that, Louis had rewarded Lilith with a new phone and was planning to get her a computer before she started college. It was quite a lot already.

"I think we shouldn't show off too much. We have other relatives who took the college entrance exam this year too. If their kids didn't do well, won't this just rub salt in the wound?" Louis was happy too, but he was more rational than Maria. The acceptance letters hadn't even arrived yet - if they were going to celebrate, shouldn't they wait until then?

"Can't I be happy that our daughter is so outstanding?" Maria said.

"Mom, I've already made plans with Jennifer to go on a trip after submitting our applications. We're also going to visit MIT and Yale. Let's not make such a big fuss - can't we just celebrate quietly?" Lilith tugged on Maria's arm, pleading. In truth, she felt somewhat embarrassed. No matter how you looked at it, her results did have some water in them.

"I give up, you two. I've already been thinking about who to invite these past few days." Maria said with some regret, seeing that both her husband and daughter disagreed. "So Jennifer is applying to Yale? That's great, you two can look out for each other in the future." Her disappointment quickly faded as her attention shifted elsewhere. Although it was time for college, Lilith was only 18 this year. Neither Maria nor Louis felt completely at ease with their young daughter leaving home.

"Is it just you and Jennifer going on the trip? Why don't you wait a bit? Once I finish this project I'm working on, your mom and I can go with you. It's too dangerous for just the two of you young girls to travel alone," Louis said. Although he had already agreed to let his daughter go on the trip, he was still worried. After all, it didn't feel as safe for young girls to be out there compared to boys.