Henry had not forgotten that when he spoke with Gwen Stacy on the phone, the girl's mood had seemed rather low. Could she have gotten herself into trouble somewhere again, just like Skye and Lorna?
So even though Gwen had not brought it up, once everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and were chatting with beer bottles or Coke bottles in hand, Henry took the initiative to approach the college girl standing by the rooftop edge, enjoying the breeze.
"You look worried. Did something happen?"
Rather than answering directly, Gwen hurriedly pulled out a mirror and repeatedly examined herself. "Do I? Was it that obvious? Sorry, I didn't want to bring my personal problems to this party celebrating Skye's recovery."
Taking out two fresh bottles of beer, Henry twisted off the cap of one and handed it to Gwen. "Don't worry. You handled yourself perfectly at the party. No one felt uncomfortable or offended. Can you tell me what happened?"
After taking what was probably the biggest gulp of beer she had all day, Gwen let out a long sigh with the help of the alcohol. "Ah... my future seems to be over!"
Henry jumped in surprise. "What happened? It can't be that serious, can it?"
As she spoke of her predicament, the girl's tone was full of sorrow. "Ever since Professor Connors was injured in that car accident, I haven't been called to the lab to help for a long time. I could only stay at the university and in the library, studying on my own.
"Not long ago, Professor Connors finally called his research assistants—and me—back to the lab to continue our previous research. Although the professor's attitude seemed somewhat different, we still kept up the same enthusiasm.
"But when I saw how far the research had