Cheryl picked up another potato chip, took a bite, and then looked at the head coach. “Oh, okay.”
Then, she saw the head coach pacing back and forth in front of her as he looked at her earnestly, looking like someone who wanted to ask her something yet didn’t dare to.
“… Coach, is there something you want to ask me?” Cheryl asked.
The head coach coughed and said, “Um, I’m just asking about this casually. I am absolutely not insinuating anything, nor am I looking down on you! But, well, what kind of university do you think you can get into?”
After speaking, the head coach wanted to give himself a tight slap.
What was he even asking?
The teen obviously looked easily embarrassed. What if the young lady couldn’t even get into a university at all? How was she going to answer him?
The head coach immediately tried to repair the situation. “No, what I mean to say is, it’s okay even if it’s just a specialist school. Er, it doesn’t matter whether you go to university or not…”
“Yes, yes, that’s right! I also think that academic qualifications aren’t important in our industry!” Lionel had also seen the posts and comments on Facebook. He came over immediately to comfort her and said, “Look at me, I only attended a lousy second-rate university while these guys here went to even worse ones!”
The rest of the team also hurried over and comforted her.
“Exactly, so it’s alright no matter how you score in the exams!”
“It’s okay even if you don’t attend university!”
“Haha, mutants like Captain Zac are a rarity in our industry. Nobody can ace their exams while being an expert gamer too, right?”
“We compete with our abilities, not academic qualifications!”
…
While they were talking, Cheryl sensed that something was amiss.
The smart girl blinked a couple of times and then opened up Facebook, where she saw that someone had at-mentioned Club HS.
As she stared at her cell phone, her big eyes widened in disbelief.
Upon seeing this, the head coach next to her became even more distressed. “D-don’t cry, Cheryl… Everything will be fine, they are just jealous that you’re pretty!”
“Yeah, you’re so much prettier than that live-streamer lady, so she could only try to make up for the difference with her academics…”
“Ignore them. They’re just trying to embarrass you!”
“Their fans all seem to feel some kind of sense of superiority to others online. Ha, it’s not like having good grades will let them win the championship, right?”
As everyone comforted her, they saw her look up.
On her flawless little face, they didn’t see any sadness in her eyes but faint… excitement instead?
The head coach felt like his eyes must be playing tricks on him. He was about to speak when Cheryl said docilely, “Coach, can I reply to the message?”
The head coach: “?”
The teen spoke so innocently that he couldn’t even make himself say no!
The corners of his lips spasmed as he considered the proposal for a moment. Then, he replied, “Alright, go ahead, but don’t argue with them. People online are just being led on by others… Don’t cry, either, nor do you have to feel like you’ve let the fans down just because your grades are poor… Oh, and don’t use foul language. We’ll deduct $30 per swear word you use.”
“Okay!”
Cheryl opened up her Facebook settings and changed her name to Cherry HS.
She knew that the club didn’t want her to reveal her identity yet, so she didn’t change it to “C”. After the change, the head coach made a welcome post on the club’s official Facebook page: ‘Welcome to the club, @Cherry HS.’
With that, everyone now knew that Cherry HS was the new member of Club HS.
After that, Cheryl lowered her head and started typing a message.
The head coach watched her from a distance away and shook his head slightly.
Lionel was a little worried. “Coach, aren’t you concerned that she may use abusive language or argue with them?”
The head coach replied, “She has promised me that she wouldn’t. Besides, she’s so innocent. Do you think she would argue with them?”
Lionel nodded after hearing this. He certainly didn’t dare to even speak a little loudly to Cheryl. The girl looked so delicate that it was as if she would shatter like porcelain if he spoke even a little louder than usual.
The two of them thought that even if the girl panicked for real and argued a bit with the people online, she would probably just say something like “If you continue insulting me, I’ll beat you up with my little fists”.
There was no firepower whatsoever.
In fact, Lionel couldn’t help but suggest, “Coach, should I help her hurl a couple of insults?”
The head coach looked at him coldly at once. “Ha ha, that would be $30 deducted per word, then.”
Lionel shut up immediately.
He was the embodiment of a miser.
While the two were chatting, a staff member of the club suddenly approached them anxiously. When he saw the head coach, his expression immediately changed, and he looked as if he wanted to cry!
“Coach!!”
The head coach looked at him. “What’s wrong?”
He subconsciously looked at Cheryl and asked, “Did you use abusive language?”
Cheryl shook her head, the look in her eyes cute and innocent as she answered, “Nope!”
“Nope”…
She was just too cute!
The head coach completely believed her.
The staff member next to him was caught between laughter and tears, though. He said, “God C, it’s true that you didn’t use abusive language… but it might have been better if you had!”
The head coach was stunned when he heard this.
At last, he sensed something amiss belatedly and picked up his cell phone, where he saw that the welcome post for Cheryl had been pinned at the top.
In the post, someone had at-mentioned her and asked: ‘Jimy scored 1300 on her SAT. Do you know how she scored so high?’
At the sight of the question, the head coach’s heart suddenly sank.
He suddenly thought of Cheryl’s response when Lionel mentioned Zac’s near-perfect score in his mathematics paper during the college entrance examination.
He continued scrolling down, and sure enough, he saw Cheryl’s reply: ‘Did she miss out chunks of questions in one of the papers?’
The head coach: “??”
He felt his vision blacking out!
He was getting that vague feeling of someone showing off again!!
Nevertheless, he asked, “S-she must be joking, right?”
The staff member sighed. He felt as though the head coach, who was strict with everyone, had been blinded by Cheryl. He said, “Keep reading.”
The head coach continued scrolling down.
Then, he saw someone at-mention her again. They asked: ‘Oh wow, since you are so smart, which university do you think you can get into?’
Cheryl replied: ‘I am considering Harvard and MIT, but I haven’t decided which yet.’
As expected, the comments that followed were full of jeering. Everyone was guffawing.
The head coach: “!!!”
He looked up at Cheryl.
Still speaking in the same innocent tone, Cheryl said, “See? I didn’t use any abusive language.”
“It might have been better if you had!”
The head coach panicked.
If she had used abusive language, it would at least have been because the other party had provoked her first, so she couldn’t help but retaliate, which would have made her reaction justifiable. But what was she bragging so freaking much for?!
Harvard and MIT? She was considering them?
Were those two schools something one could joke so carelessly about?!!!
His voice shook as he said, “Um, if memory serves me right, the college entrance examination results will be out in ten days, right?”
Cheryl nodded. “Yup!”
She was giving him that same harmless and adorable feeling again…
The head coach felt like he had been completely bewitched by her. The corners of his lips spasmed and he found himself utterly at a loss for words.
Next to him, the staff member couldn’t help but ask, “What do we do, coach?”
The head coach replied, “What else can we do? Have the PR department ready! They’d better do a good job at handling this matter on the day the college entrance examination results are released!!!”
That girl was still so young and was even so pretty, but why must she be such a huge braggart?!!
