"Clint just gave them to me."
"The Poseidon? VIP tickets?"
"Mhm."
Gwen looked at the two tickets in her hand, noting the dates. she turned her face slightly toward Locke, who was focused on the road. "Are you going?"
Locke shrugged. "Might be fun to check it out."
Back in Texas, Christmas usually meant being home alone, watching TV, ordering a pizza, and washing it down with some bourbon while puffing on a cigar. It was a cozy enough routine, but these tickets were worth half a million dollars. Not going would be a criminal waste of money.
Gwen blinked. "With who?"
Locke glanced at her and smiled. "I'd love to invite you, but don't you usually go to New Jersey with George to chop down a Christmas tree?"
"This year, I can let little George do the chopping."
"..."
Gwen let out a small cough, put the tickets down, and leaned back into her seat, staring expressionlessly through the windshield.
Locke wanted to laugh, but he kept his face strictly serious. "In that case, may I formally invite you to accompany me?"
Gwen peeked at him, snatched up one ticket, and stuffed the other into her small backpack. She kept her eyes fixed forward. "I'll take the tickets. I'll go home and... consider it."
Locke: "..."
To be honest, Locke had assumed the word "tsundere" wouldn't apply to a scholar-goddess like Gwen. Clearly, academic prowess had nothing to do with being stubborn and cute at the same time.
...
The next morning, at exactly 8:00 AM, Locke arrived at the door of Gwen's apartment.
A few moments later, Helen came down, helping Gwen pull a suitcase. Locke stepped out, took the luggage from Helen, and stowed it in the trunk.
Helen watched him close the car door and smiled warmly. "Take good care of her, Locke."
Locke nodded earnestly. "I will, Mrs. Stacy."
Helen smiled, kissed Gwen on the cheek, and watched as Locke drove her daughter toward the airport.
"Where's your luggage?" Gwen asked.
"In the back."
Gwen turned her head to look at the small carry-on in the back seat and frowned. "We're going to be there for at least nine days, you know."
Locke nodded. "I rented a house. Three changes of clothes are enough for laundry rotations."
Gwen's eyes widened. "What?"
Rented a house?
"It's not far from the school," Locke explained. "I rented a car in advance too. I thought about buying one there, but looking at the local economy, it didn't seem like a great investment space."
Gwen's mouth hung open. She felt that ever since she met Locke, her understanding of the word "orphan" had undergone a severe paradigm shift. What kind of orphan lived like this? Forget the States—you could look at the whole world, and probably less than ten percent of orphans could be this "extravagant."
"By the way," Locke looked at her, "if you don't like staying in the dorms, you can stay at my place. The school-arranged housing is in the same neighborhood anyway."
The competition organizers had secured a typical American suburban home for the students, but Locke figured six people sharing one house would be too cramped. He'd simply picked another house nearby through a rental agent. The price wasn't particularly high in a place like this.
As for being "unsociable"? Locke had never cared about fitting in. He had always played by his own rules; it was only after coming to Midtown High that Gwen had occasionally pulled him into the group. Besides, Locke never believed in mistreating himself when it came to food or comfort.
If a guy with a cheat system, treating the world like a game, lived a miserable life, Locke figured it wasn't the game that was broken—it was the player's brain.
Gwen looked at him with a teasing smile. "I haven't even agreed to your Christmas invitation yet. Aren't you afraid this 'advance rehearsal' will blow up in your face?"
Locke shrugged. "It won't."
"Why?"
Locke looked at her, his gaze clear and steady. "Because we both have a clear and distinct plan for our futures, don't we?"
Gwen's smile grew brilliant. "Now I'm suddenly dying to know how many girls in Texas you've said that to."
Locke turned back to the road and laughed. "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. None. Not one."
"Real or fake? You're this handsome and no girls liked you?"
"Oh, they liked me."
"And?"
"I didn't pay them any mind. You're the only girl I've ever really 'minded'."
"..."
Locke glanced at Gwen. She had gone quiet and turned her head to look out the window at the passing scenery.
He was telling the truth. In the past, women were just distractions that slowed down his mission efficiency. But Gwen was different. Gwen was a scholar-goddess.
They say "Scholars have no love in their hearts, so they solve problems like gods." If a scholar smiles at the heavens, the heavens feed them. But a Goddess of Study like Gwen? Even if she doesn't move, the heavens will shove food into her mouth.
Ever since he started following Gwen's lead at school, Locke realized he didn't need to rack his brain over which exams to take or how to optimize his schedule. He just followed her. In the few months at Midtown, the Achievement Points and Potential Points he'd earned from academic tasks were more than he'd made in a whole year in Texas.
A woman who slows down your missions is a liability. But a woman who increases your mission frequency and efficiency?
Locke suddenly understood an old saying about marrying for virtue. Gwen was, without a doubt, virtuous in every sense that mattered to him. He was more than happy to see where this went.
As for Peter Parker? Let him go find another family to bring bad luck to.
Locke rubbed his chin. 'Actually... if Spidey and Kim ever hit it off, who would out-jinx whom?'
He shook his head and laughed to himself. He'd joked about packing Kim off to Paris, but she was a nice enough classmate. He couldn't actually dump a "jinx" like Peter on her.
...
They arrived at the airport. Locke placed his carry-on atop his suitcase and met up with Gwen, who was carrying a stylish handbag.
Soon, they met the rest of the group.
"Gwen!"
"Cindy!"
Locke glanced at the two pink suitcases next to Cindy and figured she'd brought an entire Sephora's worth of cosmetics. Thankfully, Gwen was a natural beauty—she looked stunning even without makeup.
'I really do have great taste,' Locke thought. A girlfriend this beautiful and smart was meant to be protected.
He thought back to the "sacrifice play" Peter Parker seemed to specialize in. Fight a monster, lose a loved one. Fight the Lizard, lose George. Fight the Green Goblin, lose Gwen.
Even after boarding the plane and taking his seat, Locke was still pondering that mystery. It was incomprehensible.
Next to him, Gwen pulled out a magazine. On the cover: Augusta Travel Guide.
Locke snapped back to reality. "We're going there for a competition, right?"
Gwen hummed. "The actual competition is only two days. We're going early to acclimate. We can spend the rest of the time looking around." She pointed at a page. "This pine park looks nice. And this wooden fort."
Locke nodded. He'd never been much of a tourist. No money in his past life, and now that he had it, he found sightseeing a bit underwhelming. Look at scenery? He'd rather stay home and watch a high-def movie. Listen to the birds? He'd rather listen to the sound of a high-caliber rifle at a range.
Their destination was Augusta, situated in Kennebec County, Maine. It was a typical federal town with a modest population—just over twenty thousand in the last census.
"Rolling hills. Glacial lakes." Gwen flipped through the pages. "You can't see stuff like this in New York."
Locke asked, "Did George never take you out on holidays?"
Gwen shook her head. "Dad loves his work at the precinct. And Little George was young back then, not to mention my other two brothers. We went to Hawaii once when Little George was very small; that was a nice experience."
Locke smiled at her expression. Not every family had the time or money to travel the world every holiday. That was for the movies. In reality, most people were like —no money when they have time, no time when they have money, and no energy once they have a family.
"Alright then," Locke said. "We can go take a look together."
Gwen beamed. "Deal!"
Maine sat at the northeastern tip of the country, bordered by New Hampshire to the southwest, Canada to the northwest and northeast, and the Atlantic to the south. The flight was quick. By the time they landed at Bangor International Airport, it didn't feel like much time had passed at all.
However, Bangor wasn't the end of the trip. Their base was Augusta. By the time they transferred and finally arrived in the town, it was late afternoon.
Fortunately, between the airplane food and the snacks the girls had inevitably packed, they weren't starving. Aside from the general fatigue of travel, they were settling in just fine.
***
Hey guys new week same goals
I'll post a bonus for every 100 power stones
***
Read 30 Chapters early on P-atreon.com/Redestro666