Chapter 195
When Zinnia returned home, Yannis was already there with dinner ready. He made three dishes and a soup.
“Yannis, what’s wrong with you?” asked Zinnia during dinner.
Zinnia frowned in confusion as she noticed Yannis across the table, who kept stealing glances at her.
She finally put down her fork and asked Yannis what was wrong.
She wondered, ‘Why is he staring at me? It makes me nervous. But I don’t think I’ve dorie anything wrong lately!
“Zinnia, isn’t there anything to tell me?” Yannis folded his hands on the table, with his eyes fixed on her.
“About what?” Zinnia asked hesitantly. She blinked and felt genuinely puzzled.
Yannis said, “I heard you just had exams.”
“Well, yeah.” Zinnia ate her bread and quickly pulled back her hand, which was about to reach for a dish. Feeling guilty, she just kept eating her bread.
She thought, ‘Did he find out I ranked last? It’s embarrassing enough that Mom knew it. How did he find out, too?”
“So, Zinnia, isn’t there anything you want to tell me?” Yannis asked.
Seeing Zinnia stop picking up any dishes, Yannis grew suspicious and helped her put some food on her plate.
“Well, I don’t think so,” Zinnia replied with hesitation. She stared at the buffalo wing on her plate but was too nervous to take a bite. She just kept eating
her bread.
“Really? Nothing at all?” Yannis asked slowly. Seeing Zinnia not eating the buffalo wing, he felt she looked even more guilty.
Zinnia felt like she was sitting on thorns. “Well, Yannis, I don’t think there’s anything I need to tell you.”
She thought worriedly, ‘I only secretly ate some candy and chocolate last night. Did he discover it?‘
“Zinnia, why do you look so guilty? Did you do something behind my back?” Yannis pressed.
Yannis felt her behavior was even more suspicious. He straightened his back and squinted at her.
Zinnia was way too nervous, and Yannis found it hard not to suspect her.
“Yannis, I just secretly ate some candy and chocolate last night. That’s all.” Zinnia finally confessed, with her head down and her voice barely above a
whisper.
“So you ate snacks at night?” Yannis gave her a sidelong glance.
“You didn’t know that?” Zinnia suddenly looked up.
“I know it now,” Yannis replied with an expressionless face.
“Yannis, you tricked me.” Zinnia looked at him resentfully.
“I didn’t. You told me yourself,” Yannis said, refusing to take the blame. He thought, ‘If I admit it, she’ll just think I’m always setting her up. Not this time.
Yannis really hadn’t expected Zinnia to confess about the snacks. He just wanted to ask about her grades, but she ended up spilling everything herself. What a twist.
“So why do you keep asking if I have something to tell you?” asked Zinnia.
Chapter 195
Zinnia felt defeated after blurting out about secretly eating snacks. She wondered, “If he didn’t catch me snacking, why does he keep i
this?‘
“Didn’t you have exams lately?” Yannis sighed after seeing Zinnia truly had no clue about what he was getting at.
“Yeah.” Zinnia glanced at his face, trying to read his expression.
She thought, ‘So he wants to know my grades. But why doesn’t he ask directly? Why does it feel like I’m the one who needs to confess something?
“So, how did you do, Zinnia?” asked Yannis.
“Just… you know… average,” Zinnia mumbled and lowered her head with guilt.
“Really? Just average? Do you have your report card? Let me take a look,” Yannis said.
He watched Zinnia as she almost lowered her head onto the plate.
“Yannis, there’s really nothing worth seeing. Can we just skip it?” Zinnia muttered with her head down, trying to negotiate.
“You’re a senior now, Zinnia. I need to keep an eye on your studies, so I can help you plan for the future,” Yannis explained.
He hadn’t planned to insist on knowing Zinnia’s grades, but her guilty and furtive look only made him curious.
“Yannis, I didn’t do well. Let’s just not look, okay?” said Zinnia.
Zinnia thought about her terrible scores and felt embarrassed. She didn’t want to let Yannis laugh at her.
“It’s okay if you didn’t do well. Let me take a look and help you analyze it. Maybe we can figure out what path suits you best. Life isn’t just about studying, but we should find the right path for us,” Yannis reassured her.
“Yannis, you’re not some old–fashioned guy, are you?” asked Zinnia.
Seeing how insistent Yannis was, Zinnia let out a sigh.
Yannis thought, ‘How did this turn into a debate about me being old–fashioned? I’m only twenty–four. How does that make me an old–timer?‘
“Zinnia, I am indeed older than you, but I’m only twenty–four. That’s hardly old,” Yannis said after thinking it over.
He felt he was still young, after all.
“Fine. Here,” Zinnia pulled out the crumpled report card that she had stuffed in her pocket.
Her look of utter resignation only made Yannis more curious. He took the wrinkled report card from her and slowly unfolded it.
Zinnia’s eyes darted away. She didn’t dare to meet his gaze. Thus, Yannis wondered what kind of grades could make her this embarrassed.
Yannis thought, ‘By all accounts, if my guess was right, Zinnia was raised by Nathan, so her grades wouldn’t be that bad.‘
After Yannis checked the scores, he became speechless.
If this were a school with departmental teaching, Zinnia could get into a decent college famous for liberal art
such scores.
But Evershine High was different. It emphasized the all–around development of students.
Every student there was a top contender from their region. For them, this kind of workload was nothing special.
Even those who fell behind could catch up with extra help from teachers.
But Zinnia’s scores were rare enough to make Yannis, who had been a top student and had even skipped three grades, pause for a moment,
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Chapter 195
There were indeed students with worse grades. After all, some families spent a fortune just to get their kids in for connections.
However, in Yannis’s circle, it was unusual to see such poor grades.
Yannis studied Zinnia’s report card curiously and noted her weaknesses in science, especially physics and chemistry.
“Go ahead and laugh if you want,” Zinnia said. She propped her chin in her hands as she watched Yannis stare at the report card in silence.
“Why would I laugh? This proves how hard you’ve been working,” Yannis replied, with his face completely free of mockery.
“I ranked last,” Zinnia mumbled, turning her head away.
“You’re outstanding in reading and writing, as well as language. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. You haven’t studied at this school for long. It’s normal to need some time to catch up,” Yannis said gently.
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