43. The Prologue to the Birth of the Lizard

Hawk and Gwen asked and answered each other.

Their tone was natural.

Their demeanor was relaxed.

As they spoke, the two walked side by side toward the direction of the lounge corridor.

Behind them...

Mary Jane's mouth was open as wide as it could possibly go.

Holy crap!

What on earth did I miss this summer vacation?

Peter felt a bit dazed at the moment as well.

He felt as though he understood something, yet at the same time, he felt as though he didn't understand anything at all.

Harry, on the other hand, looked at Mary Jane and tried to greet her.

Mary Jane was Peter's neighbor. During the period before Harry went to England, whenever he went to visit Peter, Mary Jane was sometimes present.

Therefore, Harry knew Mary Jane.

Harry thought for a moment, then patted Mary Jane on the shoulder.

"Hey, Mary, long time no see."

"...Hey, Harry."

Mary Jane turned her head, glanced at the newly appeared Harry, gave a bland greeting, and then snapped her gaze toward Peter beside them: "Peter, do you know about this?"

Harry froze.

Wait, this reaction is not right.

Is this how you should react when seeing an old friend?

It's way too lukewarm.

Peter froze as well.

Meeting Mary Jane's sparkling gaze, he blinked blankly.

"What?"

"Gwen and Hawk, of course."

Suppressing the gossip in her voice as much as possible and fighting down the urge to scream, Mary Jane said hurriedly to Peter: "Aren't you Hawk's only friend in school? You must know. When did this happen?"

Peter was completely bewildered.

"Since when did I become Hawk's on..."

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to ask you."

Seeing how unhelpful Peter's reply was, Mary Jane's curiosity completely overpowered her reason. Leaving behind that single sentence, she lifted her feet and chased after Gwen, who had already walked ahead.

She intended to listen to the gossip at close range.

But right at that moment.

Mary Jane suddenly stopped in her tracks as if remembering something. She turned her head and saw Harry, who also looked completely bewildered and felt like he might as well be invisible.

The next second.

"Ah!"

After recognizing him clearly, Mary Jane let out a shriek, ran quickly up to Harry, and threw her arms around the still-sulking Harry: "Harry, Harry, when did you get back?"

Harry was happy.

Watching Mary Jane release him, he smiled and was just about to resume the small talk when Mary Jane hugged him once more: "I'm busy right now, can't talk, see you later."

Obviously, at this moment, the return of a good friend from England was far less important than Mary's burning desire to pry into the gossip about her best friend and the school's number one cold-faced guy.

Therefore, as soon as she finished speaking, Mary Jane turned around once more, spotted Gwen, who was already nearing the lounge corridor, and hurried after her in a trot.

It was obvious that Mary would never dare chase after Hawk to ask about the gossip.

So...

For the entire morning, Mary chased behind Gwen, wearing a pleading expression.

The core message boiled down to just one thing.

"Please, tell me a bit more, just a little more detail, I'm begging you, Gwen."

"..."

Because today was the first day of the new semester, things were relatively relaxed, and no classes had even been scheduled for the day.

Everyone was busy with their own business, picking up their class schedules, or visiting their academic advisors to seek advice for their final semester.

Consequently, Gwen was thoroughly annoyed by Mary for the entire morning.

Finally.

As the two headed toward the cafeteria, Gwen looked at Mary, who was still by her side looking pitiful and eager to hear more gossip about how she and Hawk got together, and she finally snapped.

Gwen sighed.

"Come on, is it really that strange for me to be with Hawk?"

"Mm-hmm."

"What's so strange about it? Since the ninth grade, during physics class, I've always shared a desk with him, and we even have the same academic advisor."

"Oh please, Gwen, that's Hawk."

"So?"

"Don't you really know what people say about Hawk?"

"What?"

This time it was Gwen's turn to be curious.

Mary looked around and lowered her voice: "Everyone is saying that either Hawk is a completely straight-laced guy, or Hawk swings the other way."

Gwen rolled her eyes: "No way."

She suddenly thought of the time in Maryland by the waterfall when Hawk stood in the water wearing only a pair of swim trunks.

Swings the other way?

Hawk was straight.

Straight as a police baton.

Wait.

What on earth am I thinking?

Gwen shook her head, instinctively banishing the image of the police baton from her mind, and then said to Mary with a serious expression: "Hawk doesn't swing the other way."

Mary paused, then seemed to realize something as she blinked at Gwen.

Her smile grew somewhat ambiguous.

"Tried and tested?"

"... "

Gwen froze for a moment, then looked at the ambiguous smile on Mary's face and took a deep breath.

The next second.

She turned around and walked away without a word.

As expected of a dance major.

Dirty.

Far too dirty.

Watching Gwen walk away and leave her behind without a word, Mary hurried to catch up.

"I'm sorry, Gwen, please forgive me."

"..."

When Hawk arrived at the cafeteria, Mary was still trying to extract information from Gwen.

But Gwen turned a deaf ear.

Realizing that Gwen had become completely immune to her pleas, Mary sighed. Then she spotted Harry, who had just entered the restaurant led by Peter. Her eyes lit up instantly, and she said to Gwen: "If you won't tell me, I'll go ask Peter."

As she spoke, Mary Jane stood up and, before Gwen could react, picked up her tray and ran off toward Peter and Harry.

When Hawk placed his tray down and sat across from Gwen, Mary Jane had already left.

"Did Mary finish eating?"

"Obviously, since she couldn't get any gossip out of me, she went to find Peter."

Gwen glanced at Mary, who had already pulled up a chair next to Peter, and shook her head with a helpless smile.

Hearing this, Hawk asked in confusion, "What does this have to do with Peter?"

Gwen shrugged.

"Probably because last semester you and Peter spent time together in the old gymnasium, so this semester everyone assumes Peter is your friend."

"...Fine."

Hearing this, Hawk let out an involuntary chuckle, too lazy to refute anything. He picked up the burger on his plate and began to eat.

Because they had arrived at the cafeteria early, Gwen had already finished eating.

Gwen rested her elbows on the table, cupped her chin, and watched Hawk eat his burger.

"By the way, did you call Dr. Connors to thank him?"

"Yeah, I did."

Hawk nodded. After swallowing a bite of his burger, he remembered something and said to Gwen, "When I called, Dr. Connors mentioned that his experiment seemed to have made a breakthrough. He sounded very happy."

Gwen blinked.

"A breakthrough?"

"No way."