As Matthew''s words trailed off, Meg, who had been poring over her speech notes, lifted her head. Her delicate eyebrows arched slightly as her gaze swept over to Mirabe''s hands, pausing for a couple of seconds before she indifferently shifted her attention away.


    Mirabe turned her head toward Matthew, noticing the concern on his face. The phrase "all you need is a mouth" suddenly seemed too embarrassing to utter.


    After a moment of thought, aiming to keep a modest profile, she cleared her throat and said, "I don''t need a script."


    Matthew was taken aback. "No script... So, you''re nning to wing it up there?"


    "Yep." Mirabe''s reply wasnguid, her voice trailing off with a hint of nonchnce.


    Matthew rubbed his nose, realizing he might have underestimated her. Impromptu speaking probably wasn''t a big deal for Mirabe, given her capabilities.


    Coughing slightly, Matthew gave Mirabe a thumbs-up, "Impressive." After a pause, he sighed, "I couldn''t do that. Just the thought of preparing a script is enough to make me feel like I''m going bald, not to mention memorizing it..."


    Mirabe simply nodded slightly, offering him some encouragement: "You got this, senior."


    Suddenly, Meg, who had been sitting beside them, closed her notebook, stood up, and with a light smile on her meticulously made-up face, interrupted their conversation, "I''m going to the restroom."


    With that, she nodded politely, not even ncing at Mirabe, and walked away with graceful steps.


    Afterwards, Matthew didn''t engage much in conversation with Mirabe. He pulled out a piece of paper crammed with notes from his pocket and silently resumed his memorization.


    He couldn''t help feeling a bit nervous about going on stageter.


    In the auditorium lobby, students hadn''t fully gathered yet, with about fifteen minutes to go before the speech session started. Seeing this, Mirabe pulled up a chair and took out her phone.


    The professor from the Prestige College physics department, whom she''d connected withst year, had been frequently messaging her about physics introductions. If she didn''t respond, he''d send a sad emoji her way, making her feel almost guilty for ignoring him.


    -_-II


    Upon returning from the restroom, Meg saw Mirabe casually ying on her phone, looking even more disdainful than before.


    Not to mention Matthew, even senior Taylor was earnestly preparing for his speech, while this representative from the senior ss was just... ying around. Meg shook her head.


    Though somewhat speechless, she didn''t let it show on her face.


    After all, she didn''t believe such a non-serious person could get into Prestige


    College, and they probably wouldn''t cross paths in the future.


    *


    Soon, the speech sessionmenced.


    For an influential event like this, the opening remarks were undoubtedly given by Mr. Hammond, with Mirabe and the others waiting behind the curtain as it began.


    After Mr. Hammond''s speech, it was time for the invited alumni to take the stage, with Matthew being the first.


    Clutching the thick curtain, his ck-framed sses couldn''t hide his nervousness. He turned to Mirabe, "I''m kinda nervous, junior."


    As a STEM guy, Matthew''s days were usually filled with physics experiments. Though he was outgoing, giving an inspirational speech to nearly a thousand underssmen was a first for him.


    Mirabe lifted her hand and patted Matthew on the shoulder, "You got this, senior."


    Seeing Mirabe''s calm demeanor, Matthew took a deep breath, straightened his back, and said, "Thanks for the encouragement, junior."


    He couldn''t afford to look bad in front of his junior. He wanted to leave a good impression, hoping to eventually convince her to join the physics department.