Me After You ✔

005

"Question 29: In the ocean, the clownfish's brightly coloured body often causes it to be the target of numerous predators. Although the bright and vivid colours of sea anemone give it a beautiful exterior, its tentacles are highly poisonous. Therefore, the rest of the marine animals often stay away from it. However, the mucus coating on the clownfish contains some unique properties that allows it to survive the sea anemone poison and live safely beside the sea anemone. Whenever the clownfish encounters danger, the sea anemone would use its body to shield the clownfish from its predators. Similarly, the immobile sea anemone would use the clownfish as bait and attract other fishes to its vicinity in order to prey on them. The clownfish would also share its food with the sea anemone.

In the world of nature, such relationships are known as ......."

Arthit swiftly wrote the answer "A" on the answer sheet.

It was the second half of the school semester, and the school began to hold preliminary tests once every month. The students no longer complained and whined like they did in the first half of the semester; those whose results were poor had already given up all hope, whereas those whose results were excellent simply treated these tests as regular checks to verify their understanding of the school material. In addition, these tests also helped them to accumulate more courage and confidence for the final graduation exam.

Integrated science was Arthit's favorite subject. Within an hour, he had already completed the final problem in the Physics paper. He flipped to the front of the paper and started checking his answers and shading them in the Optical Answer Sheet (OAS). The pencil lead moved swiftly across the OAS. The shaded circles were black and reflected a mild metallic shine. They reminded him of the boy's eyes in the dark of the night.

He suddenly recalled the deep kiss Kongpob gave him that night.

But within a second, he had already collected his thoughts.

Very soon, students started rising from their seats and submitting their exam scripts, causing a slight stir within the classroom. Jay and his minions always handed in their script ahead of the deadline, so that they would be able to head out and play. The teacher warned them to keep their volume down so that the other students would not be affected.

Affected? Nobody would be affected – not a single student seated in the first half of the classroom raised his/her head to look at Jay, their energies totally focused on solving the questions. Conversely, the students seated in the second half had already been preparing to head out of the classroom.

Just as Arthit completed the Chemistry paper, Jamie rose from her seat. Although her results were extremely good, Arthit was still mildly surprised at the unexpected speed at which she solved the questions.

The resultant effect of watching a good student hand up their paper earlier than expected was vastly different from that of a delinquent student handing up their paper early. The moment Jamie rose from her seat, an invisible pressure settled on the remaining students who were still struggling with the papers, and they casted numerous peeks at her from their desks. There were times when Arthit, too, would hand in his paper early and walk towards the podium with a calm and collected expression, casting the invisible pressure on the rest of the students.

You had to be the first in order to exert pressure on the rest; being the second was meaningless.

Jamie raised her head and walked out of the classroom calmly. She didn't stray far from the classroom, and simply leaned against the railing, watching the sky.

Arthit lowered his head and resumed solving the exam questions. When he completed his Biology paper, he cast a quick glance at his watch. There was 40 minutes left. He took a swift look outside the window. There was nobody at the railing. Jamie was gone.