Meg was swimming in a sea of mixed emotions, wondering why Mr. Hammond had decided to invite them back to pump up the current senior ss at Parkside High. It dawned on her that maybe this year''s batch wasn''t living up to the rep of their predecessors.


    "I mean, when I was at Parkside, I never heard of Mr. Hammond pulling a stunt like this before," she mused, clicking her tongue in disbelief.


    Shaking her head, she scanned the cafeteria, which looked a bit more worn than she remembered from her high school days. "Looks like Parkside High''s glory days are behind it," she remarked, a hint of nostalgia in her voice.


    Glory days behind it? Matthew nced at Meg, recalling how his cousin had updated him during the holidays. Parkside High wasn''t on the decline; in fact, it had climbed two spots up in the national rankings, now sitting proudly as the third top high school in the country.


    How could it be sliding down if its national ranking had actually improved?


    Clearing his throat, Matthew felt the urge to defend his alma mater. He was about to set the record straight, saying, "Actually, starting fromst year, Parkside High School has..." when Meg''s phone interrupted him.


    "Sorry," she said to Matthew, then answered the call. "Taylor, you''re at Parkside now, right? Cool, Matthew and I will head over to meet you."


    With a quick goodbye and a pleased smile, Meg looked up at Matthew. "Taylor''s arrived. He''s over by the admin office."


    Matthew decided to let the Parkside conversation go for now. "Let''s go meet up with our senior then."


    "Yep," Meg agreed, and they both made their way out of the cafeteria toward the admin office.


    There, they found Taylor chatting with Anthony, looking sharp in a navy peacoat that made hisplexion glow and his handsome features stand out. Meg''s eyes lit up at the sight of him, and she greeted Anthony with a nod before turning her attention to Taylor. "Finished with your meeting, senior?"


    Taylor smiled gently. "Yeah."


    Matthew, trailing behind, nodded at both Anthony and Taylor. He wasn''t as acquainted with Taylor, who was two years his senior and had shined brightly during his time at Parkside, graduating as the salutatorian. Taylor majored in Aerospace Engineering with a minor in Gic Engineering at Prestige College, a path quite different from Matthew''s Physics experiments.


    Their paths might never have crossed if not for Mr. Hammond''s invitation to speak.


    Meg, on the other hand, was deep into Biology, being the protégé of the department head, which exined her familiarity with Taylor.


    As Anthony excused himself to fetch Mr. Hammond, Matthew took a seat, asionally chiming in when Taylor asked something rted to his field. But mostly, it was Meg and Taylor who were deep in conversation, discussing intricacies of Biology that went over Matthew''s head.


    He couldn''t help but remember Mirabe mentioning her interest in Biology, his thoughts drifting as he idly yed with his knee. It was during a visit to his department head to request time off for this school visit that he bumped into one of the heavy-hitter professors.


    Upon learning that Matthew was a Parkside alum and knew Mirabe, the professor didn''t hesitate to entrust him with a task.