Was someone watching him?
David seemed to sense it and turned his gaze in that direction. The others turned to look as well.
A man in a black jacket with slicked-back blond hair stood there, his face cold, like an indifferent predator at the top of the food chain. It was as if the four of them did not exist in his eyes. He turned and headed in the direction Lana had left.
"Was that cool guy just now Gregg?"
It took several seconds after he had passed before Pete turned back, his face full of astonishment.
"It took me a few seconds to recognize him too." Chloe's eyes were filled with shock.
She had previously commissioned articles from Gregg and published some of his insect-popularization pieces in the Torch Report she ran.
But compared with the Gregg she had known before, who had not even dared make eye contact with girls, he was practically a different person.
"He didn't just take off his glasses and change clothes. His whole person changed."
Chloe rubbed her arms suspiciously. "He gave me goosebumps."
It was not embarrassment or shyness, but an instinctive discomfort, like a fawn encountering a hyena—her body was warning her to stay away.
David and Clark did not feel what Chloe felt at all.
The four continued chatting as they headed toward the classrooms.
Chloe flicked the newspaper and brought up another strange incident she had seen in it.
"Look at this. Jeremy Kree was also a student at our high school over a decade ago. He was found unconscious after the meteor shower and never woke up. After an electrical leak accident involving medical equipment, he disappeared from the State Hospital, only to be found yesterday outside our Town Hospital."
"Sounds like someone stole a person in a vegetative state from a hospital, then dumped him outside ours?" Pete asked, puzzled. What was the point?
David and Clark exchanged a glance, and Clark looked a little nervous.
"I'm putting it up on my Wall of Weird."
Chloe had a Wall of Weird in the activity office the school had assigned her, where she documented all sorts of odd happenings.
"Ahem, there's nothing that strange about this, is there?"
Clark said guiltily.
"What's interesting is that after this incident, a doctor discovered that this vegetative patient, whom no one had paid attention to before, seemed not to have aged at all in over a decade. The reason is unknown."
As they spoke, they arrived at the office. Chloe opened the storage room and pinned the newspaper to the wall.
The entire wall was covered with similar newspapers and clippings, all about bizarre incidents caused by meteorites.
There was a magazine cover among them.
"It's Lana."
A trace of sadness flashed through Clark's eyes.
The cover showed Lana as a child, dressed in an adorable pink princess dress and holding a fairy wand, looking as though she had been waiting for her parents to take her to an amusement park.
Yet she was filthy, as if she had just experienced a disaster, crying with a grief-stricken expression.
The magazine headline read—Heartbroken Angel After the meteor shower.
The meteor shower more than a decade ago had caused a disaster. Some people had died, including Lana's parents.
It was because of that incident that Clark noticed Lana. After secretly watching her many times, he had developed some different feelings toward her.
"Insects are arthropods among the invertebrates, the largest animal group on our planet.
"Cockroaches, ants, bees..."
"Students, don't underestimate these little creatures. Insects have enormous potential and can easily do many things that seem unbelievable to us humans.
"It's just that most of their lives are as brief as meteors, and they do not survive even a single summer.
"So once insects become adults, driven by powerful genetic instincts, they generally begin looking for mates and courting them at once, doing everything they can to defeat competitors and produce offspring..."
A day of school passed in the blink of an eye, ending with a tedious biology class.
By the time school let out in the afternoon,
dusk was beginning to tint the horizon as David, Clark, and the others walked out of the school gates.
At the entrance, Gregg, who had worn a cold expression at noon, now had a smile on his face as he said something to the exhausted-looking Lana.
"Lana, you don't seem to be in a very good mood.
"I heard there's a nice café in town. Would you like to go sit there together?"
He waved the homework in his hand.
"I wanted to ask you to help tutor me for my literature report."
"Gregg, I told you at noon that I really like the butterfly you gave me.
"But I'm not in the mood to accept an invitation right now. Could you let me have some peace?"
Desperate to win back his girlfriend, Whitney had pestered her all over campus, but only made Lana formally suggest that they separate for a while.
Having just gone through a failed relationship, she was exhausted in both body and mind.
"O... okay."
The smile on Gregg's face became a little stiff.
Lana nodded at David, Clark, and the others in greeting, then turned and left tiredly with her books in her arms.
"Even though Gregg looks completely different now, he still doesn't know how to deal with girls."
Chloe shook her head teasingly.
"Buddy, I think what you need to do right now is definitely not stand here."
Pete patted Clark on the shoulder and waggled his eyebrows.
What a rare opportunity.
"David..." Clark came to his senses, his eyes lighting up. Embarrassed, he said, "Tell Mom and Dad I'll be home late."
David folded his arms, looking not at all surprised as he walked around him.
"If you run into some punks while walking a girl home, I'd advise you to protect yourself first, Clark."
Lana had put her Kryptonite necklace back on.
If some clichéd scene really happened where someone jumped out to harass Lana, Clark might be the first one to hit the ground if he tried to play the hero.
If the future Superman and leader of the Justice League tried to save a damsel in distress in high school, only to be beaten to death by some punks in an alley, that would be quite a joke.
"I know."
Already nearly used to his younger brother's unusual brand of sarcastic reminders, Clark helplessly ran off to catch up with Lana.
David and the other two boarded the school bus and left.
"If you don't want to get stuffed into a trash can, insect freak..."
At the school gates, Gregg coldly watched Clark run after Lana, seemingly lost in thought.
Suddenly, someone heavily slapped his shoulder and issued a low threat.
"Stay away from my girlfriend!"
After throwing out that threat, Whitney was about to go after Clark and warn him again.
But a strong, powerful hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder, preventing him from moving forward.
"A failed competitor should have the awareness of a failed competitor."
Gregg's hand was like a hydraulic press, squeezing Whitney's bones until they creaked. A sharp pain shot through him. In pain and fury, he turned and tried to drive an elbow into Gregg's face.
"Let me go!"
"You're out, Whitney."
His icy words were as emotionless as those of a cold-blooded creature. Before Whitney's movement could land, Gregg flung him backward. Like a weightless stuffed toy, Whitney was sent flying straight into a trash can by the school gates, knocking it over before collapsing unconscious in a miserable heap.
Ignoring the cries of alarm from the others,
Gregg expressionlessly looked at Clark, who had caught up with Lana and was trying to speak to her, then glanced at the departing school bus.
"I'll be the one who wins the mate in the end!" He turned and left.
Before you continue