Coolest Girl in Town

Samantha exclaimed earnestly, “You’re incredible, Elise! I can’t believe you actually obtained a perfect score on the test!” While she stood at one side, Riley was in awe as she quickly pointed out, “I ought to kneel before you, milady!”

Elise, however, kept a straight face as she took her seat. Mr. Bolton went on to announce, “While Miss Elise has gotten the perfect score, there are two other students who did well in the test as well Mr. Zachary, who scored 92 on the test; and Miss Amanda, who scored 90.” The grimace on Amanda’s face waned after she learned that she had received a 90 on the test. It wasn’t as impressive as Elise’s perfect score, but it was comforting for Amanda to know that she had done better than the rest of her peers. “The rest of you who have scored below 90 will need to put in the extra work over the coming weeks.” When class ended, a large group swarmed around Elise’s desk in fervor.

“So, you’re Elise. Our teacher has told us how brilliant you are. I mean, we know you won first place in the City Mathematics Olympiad, but we never imagined you to be this good!” Another student piped up cheerily, “You’re like my role model, Elise. You know, Zachary goes to Cloverfield High with us and he’s always been the one to be in first place in the City Mathematics Olympiad. You have no idea how completely satisfying it is to see you break his records!

I could never stand that high-and-mighty attitude of his anyway. It’s about time he gets dethroned!” However, he was oblivious to Zachary’s presence behind him when he said this. “Excuse me.” Zachary had spoken up so suddenly that everyone was stunned while they fell into silence before scurrying back to their seats. Elise looked up and met his gaze. He was the first to break the silence. “It’s been a while since I’ve had competition. Pleased to meet you.” “Thank you. You did pretty good too,” she replied steadily. Zachary had grown up with countless compliments that were thrown his way, but for some reason, Elise’s praise struck a chord in him; he could detect the sincere edge in her tone. “I’ll do my best to surpass you the next time,” he said, looking resolved. She nodded as she encouraged, “I look forward to it.”

After giving her a long look, Zachary turned to walk away. The boot camp participants kept a tight schedule where they had lessons from morning until night. As tiring as the day had been, the girls in Dorm 503 continued their studies for about an hour or so after classes ended.

With Elise leading them, even Samantha—who hardly paid any attention to academics—was inspired to do better. On the other hand, Amanda was competitive by nature. She had a solid foundation to begin with, but now that her roommates had their noses buried in math olympiad exercises, she didn’t want to be left behind. She might not be on good terms with them, but she was perfectly fine with studying on her own.

A week flew past in the blink of an eye, and before anyone knew it, the weekend had already arrived. In a demonstration of humanity, Mr. Bolton decided to give the students a half-day break. Alexander was waiting for Elise by the school entrance. She was heading out of school grounds with Samantha and Riley, and when she saw Alexander in the distance, she said, “Hey, I have to skedaddle now. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”

watched as Elise boarded his idling car. Riley couldn’t help but squeal, “Goodness, is that Elise’s boyfriend? He’s a work of art!” As she was unable to hide her admiration, Samantha agreed,

commentary, but Amanda overheard everything by chance. She glanced in the direction of the luxurious ride that was idling outside the school entrance and thought about Elise’s day-to-day wardrobe. There’s no way that girl comes from a well-off family, so why would she come and go in such a flashy car? She snorted coldly and snapped, “Please. It’s not as

with the likes of Elise.” “Watch your mouth, Amanda.” Riley bridled at this. “Elise is a friend of mine and no one gets to talk about

both of you need to get your eyes checked.” “I guess people like you will always try to put others down no matter what,” Samantha bit out. “There’s no point for me to waste time and energy

figures and shouted, “If you don’t believe me, then so be it! Just you wait. I’ll show everyone that Elise is nothing but a

Riley’s veins was quelled when she heard this. “You’re right. She really

that proves Elise is a sugar baby. To hell with her reputation as a top student; she’s nothing more than a floozy who lives off men’s money. She was determined to expose

phone, a wicked smirk began to play on the corner of her lips. … Elise thought that they could be heading home after she entered Alexander’s car, but she was surprised when

else would I bring you here at a time like this?” She blinked at him, and as if beating her to an answer, her stomach grumbled. She flushed and hurried to catch up with him. They staked out a table by the window and the waiter came by with the menu, which Alexander slid over to Elise as he said plainly, “Order

took the menu and flipped through it before she ordered a couple of signature dishes. “I’d like to have a mushroom ravioli, an ossobuco, the pan-seared sea bass, a Fiorentina steak