As Matthew strolled forward, he chattered, "Mr. Hammond was saying, once our junior enters Prestige College, he hopes we''ll look out for her a bit, you know? It''s that school spirit, kinda makes us more of a family than..."


    Meg halted in her tracks, gripping Matthew''s arm. "Hold up, Matthew. Did you say our junior''s gonna be at Prestige College?"


    Her eyes widened in shock, disbeliefcing her voice.


    Matthew turned around. "Yeah, Mirabe got a direct entry spot to Prestige College."


    "Direct entry? How did shend one of those?" Meg''s eyebrows shot up. "Weren''t we just talking about how she''s struggling with English?"


    "Because she nailed thatpetition, remember? The one Prestige College co- hosted with the Academic Alliancest year? Winning that got her the spot," Matthew exined.


    Hearing this, Meg just shook her head. "I was buried in research with my professor at that time. Didn''t really keep up with the news."


    "Fair enough," Matthew paused, then added with a chuckle, "You were the star of our year, getting handpicked by the dean himself. Makes sense you were busy."


    Meg couldn''t help but beam at that, clearing her throat modestly. "Well, I just got lucky, I guess. Plus, there aren''t that many of us in the biology department."


    Taylor, who had been silent till now, chimed in, "My professor always sings your praises too."


    He had taken a gic engineering course in biology and Meg''s name came up in lectures more times than he could count.


    Meg gave Taylor a pleased nod, then let the conversation drift away from


    Mirabe. Just a try-hard, she thought, even with a direct entry spot, not worth my attention.


    Meg brushed a curl away from her face, shifting the topic to lighter conversations with Matthew and Taylor.


    The moment the school bell rang, Mirabe was out of her chair, stuffing her books into her bag and rushing out the door. She made a beeline for a nondescript ck sedan parked by the curb, pulling open the passenger side door and sliding in.


    "How long have you been waiting?" Mirabe buckled up and turned to James who was behind the wheel.


    "Just a few minutes," James started the car. "Just came from the pet shop, picked out a couple of options for you."


    Mirabe nodded. "Thanks for that. I wouldn''t have the time to pick something out for Zach myself."


    James arched an eyebrow, ncing her way. "No problem."


    "Is the pet shop far?" she murmured.


    "Nah, less than twenty minutes by car."


    With a nod, Mirabe leaned back, resting her feet against the car door, absently tapping her knee.


    Soon, they pulled up in front of a pet shop that screamed luxury from its fa?ade. Mirabe stepped out, pausing to take in the shop''s exterior, not immediately heading in.


    James noticed her hesitation and turned back, his gaze filled with curiosity. "What''s up?"


    Mirabe fidgeted with her school uniform''s cor, her gaze dropping. "Is it expensive?"


    James paused, then chuckled, shaking his head. "Don''t worry, it''s not."


    Hearing that, Mirabe strode towards the entrance, her concern not about the expense but rather that Zach wasn''t worth splurging on.


    They entered the pet shop together. The owner recognized James, having seen him just half an hour ago.