Gwen Gets Jealous

"That really is the car!"

Li Si had no idea that, after he'd entered the school building, one of the students who'd left the crowd had returned and was now staring in amazement as he ran a hand over Bumblebee's body.

"The real thing looks even better than it did in the dashcam footage!"

A fascinated look flashed in Reed's eyes.

Ever since the car had passed him last night, he'd regretted not getting a good look at it. It wasn't until he got home that he'd had the bright idea to copy the footage from his dashcam. He'd had to slow it down more than ten times just to make out the car's shape.

When he'd watched from a distance with his classmates a moment ago, he'd already thought the car looked a lot like the yellow streak of light from last night. Now that he was seeing it up close, he was certain.

He wasn't as clueless as everyone else. He'd loved racing since he was a kid and knew the major sports car brands inside and out. He was certain this car wasn't any model currently on the market.

Its perfectly streamlined body paired with its bright yellow paint job was a sight to behold.

Reed had heard its engine roar, so he could just imagine how thrilling it would be to drive. And with speed that left even modified cars in the dust, it was the dream ride of every racer.

"This has to be a custom car. Maybe even a professional racing car!"

Now that his suspicions were confirmed, Reed's eyes burned with excitement. He took out his phone and called someone. "Tom, I found yesterday's car..."

"..."

"Standing right in front of Bumblebee and plotting how to steal it. There really are all kinds of weirdos..."

Li Si had just reached the classroom door when the conversation coming through his earpiece left him speechless.

The wireless earpiece was always connected to Bumblebee. Bumblebee could hear him, and he could hear anything happening around Bumblebee.

And now he was hearing someone calmly discuss how to steal Bumblebee over the phone.

They had to admit, their plan was pretty detailed. The caller would stay out of it and keep watch on the car's location, while the other guy would wait for his chance to make a move. They even argued over who would get the compensation money and who would get the car.

In the end, the caller won. He'd get the car if the theft succeeded, but he'd have to pay the thief a hefty two hundred thousand dollars.

All Li Si could think was... Damn, what an idiot.

If you could afford two hundred thousand dollars, why steal a car? And if you were going to steal one, why pick a Transformer? He wasn't sure whether the guy had good luck or bad.

In any case, Li Si silently mourned the two idiots for five seconds before heading into the classroom.

As soon as he walked in, he noticed that his classmates—and even Mr. Pierce—were staring at him strangely, as though they were seeing him for the first time.

Li Si didn't have the energy to worry about that. He walked right past everyone and went to Peter Parker, who was slumped over his desk, looking dazed.

"I'm so sorry, Peter! I just got the news."

Li Si put an arm around Peter Parker, who was still blaming himself for his uncle's death, and tried to comfort him.

Although he'd actually seen Peter the night before, Peter had been wearing his masked Spider-Man getup at the time, so Li Si still had to play along.

Rubbing salt in someone's wound wasn't kind, so they didn't say much. The uncomfortable conversation ended with a quiet "Thank you."

Only then did Li Si have a chance to look over at Gwen. She turned her head away, looking glum.

"What's wrong? Who upset you?"

Li Si asked, completely baffled.

"Someone disappeared without a word for three days and didn't even answer his phone. Then he shows up driving a sports car and flirting with girls. Who do you think upset me? You looked like you were having a great time just now."

Gwen shot him a glare and turned away again, this time toward the window.

"Oh no. Someone's jealous!"

Li Si followed Gwen's gaze and groaned inwardly. He finally understood why his classmates and Mr. Pierce had looked so strange when he'd come in.

The classroom window offered a clear view of where he'd parked. They must have seen every bit of his shameless behavior earlier.

He didn't care what these barely acquainted classmates thought of him. The problem was that Gwen was in the classroom too. Most of the people who'd crowded around to watch had been boys, but there had also been plenty of fangirls whose eyes had sparkled as they eagerly sized him up.

He was panicking inside, but he had to put on a smile and explain. It took him ages to convince Gwen that he'd been so absorbed in his experiments that he couldn't tear himself away.

But just as Gwen began to warm up, Li Si's clothes ruined everything.

"Why do you smell so strongly of alcohol? Didn't you say you'd been in your garage at home these past few days?"

Gwen eyed Li Si suspiciously, her expression turning hostile.

"I finished the experiment, and this is from celebrating last night. I was with Max from our company's Power Department. There was absolutely nobody else!"

Li Si quickly raised both hands and swore it was true.

"I'll take your word for now!"

Gwen rolled her eyes at him, but eventually smiled.

She wasn't unreasonable or the type to cling to a grudge. In fact, she'd always been decisive and strong-willed. But she was still a girl, and sometimes she wanted to be pampered.

Li Si understood that. He couldn't help smiling to himself. The fact that she was getting jealous and acting cute over him meant their relationship was coming along nicely. Maybe all they needed was for one of them to make the first move.

"What are you smiling about? Think you've gotten away with it? I'm going to the Power Department to check with Max myself!"

They were used to teasing each other at work, and only now did Gwen seem to realize how inappropriate her behavior was. On top of that, their classmates were grinning at her, so her cheeks flushed slightly before she shot Li Si another glare.

"Ahem, no, I'm not smiling!"

Li Si quickly shook his head.

"Take me home tonight. Got a problem with that?"

As if she'd decided to throw caution to the wind, Gwen gave the grinning onlookers a defiant glare, then stared straight at Li Si.

"Not at all!"

Li Si nodded without hesitation, then pretended to be bashful. "But I don't think I'm ready to meet the parents yet..."

"It's just a family dinner to fulfill my promise from before!"

Gwen drew a deep breath and glanced around before replying expressionlessly.

"Ahem, all right. Just a promise!"

Sensing that Gwen was so embarrassed she might explode, Li Si stopped teasing her and quickly covered his mouth with a cough. He also shooed the onlookers away with a dismissive wave, earning a chorus of good-natured laughter, though some of it was tinged with envy and jealousy.