Chapter 8

Latham strode into the classroom, his arrival predating the bell’s chime by mere seconds.

He dropped a stack of thick papers onto the desk at the front, Daniel, would you mind handing these out?”

A hush fell over the room as Cordelia, seated at the back, watched necks crane and bodies lean forward in anticipation. As the papers made their rounds, a cacophony of sighs and gasps peppered the air from every

comer.

Daniel, a slim figure with glasses that seemed too heavy for his face, approached Juliana and handed her the

paper.

Curiosity bubbled up from the desks, “What do you get?”

Juliana glanced at her score with a mix of ease and pride in her voice. “A”

“And you nailed that with these brain–busters? Impressive!”

Juliana feigned modesty. ‘Oh, it’s nothing. I’m still trailing behind Hanley”

“No need to compare with that guy who is been raking in math awards since he was in diapers. But you know, you’re two peas in a pod, academically speaking.

Amidst the surrounding exclamations of admiration, Juliana inevitably drifted her gaze to the back row

With a hint of teasing, she said, “Daniel, would you be a dear and check my cousin’s grade?”

Fumbling through the papers, Daniel didn’t find Cordelia’s but instead pulled out Hanley’s and promptly handed it over…

Before the commotion could settle, Latham announced from the front, “This math test, there’s only one perfect score in the entire grade, and it’s from our class!”

“Wow!”

“Hanley’s got to be the man, right?”

As the class buzzed with astonishment, Hanley quietly exhaled in relief.

toss–up on a few questions, but it seemed they were all hits….

a genius,” came Juliana’s

his lips into a smile at

had arranged for him to marry Juliana, a

Not too shabby.

eyes as Daniel placed a paper on his desk.

glanced at the result. His smile

to Cordelia! Her grasp of mathematics is remarkable. Despite the difficulty

tableau, erupted into whispers and turned heads, all eyes on the girl in

back row.

see Cordelia slowly lift her head, her gaze sharpening on him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile, Cordelia whispered just loud enough for him to hear, “Not bad.”

if slapped

mind a loop of

“Class dismissed!”

review just in time for the

he gone than

“Screech!”

she leaned on Cordelia’s desk. “Hey, you’re Cordelia, right? I’m Merry,” she announced, her vibrant pink hair and

moment, replying simply,

phone and chirped, “The whole school is buzzing on the forum about whether Hanley can cling to his top spot. I gotta say I’ve had it up to here with Hanley and Juliana, prancing around like they own the place just because of

a noncommittal, “Oh.”

so they called off

Merry being that of an overfriendly

began, Juliana, playing her role as a volunteer, collected the papers. The

Merry’s comment. “Hanley is no one–trick pony,” Juliana interjected. “He excels in every subject.”

she did

Literature paper, “B+. Cordelia, with this result, do you think you can take the top spot?

and tilted her head at Juliana,” I’m not sure whether Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she’ll definitely better than you. What’s there for

no room for pride.” Merry chuckled, “Oh, I couldn’t be prouder to rank

stormed off, fuming.

of the school day, posted on the wall

were just a number to her. She grabbed her bag and was the

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