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.

night had been a toss–up on a few questions, but it seemed they were

You’re a genius,” came

a smile at her

his family had arranged for him to marry Juliana, a relief in itself. A guy like

Not too

his eyes as Daniel placed

at the result. His smile

Latham added, “Let’s extend our warmest congratulations to Cordelia! Her grasp of mathematics is remarkable. Despite the difficulty of this exam,

still as a tableau, erupted into whispers and turned heads, all eyes on the

back row.

him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile, Cordelia whispered just

rushed to Hanley’s cheeks as if slapped by an

Juliana was equally frozen, her mind a loop

“Class dismissed!”

just in time for the bell and left

had he gone than the room erupted

“Screech!”

Cordelia, right? I’m Merry,” she announced, her vibrant pink hair and dramatic makeup reminiscent of a cartoon character. She popped her bubblegumn

eyeballed her for a moment, replying

spot. I gotta say I’ve had it up to here with Hanley and Juliana, prancing around like they own the place just

a noncommittal,

Foster family thought your grades were embarrassing, so they called off

her first impression of Merry being that of an overfriendly blabbermouth.

began, Juliana, playing her role as a volunteer, collected the papers. The first thing was check Cordelia’s result. Upon seeing

in hand, just in time to catch Merry’s comment. “Hanley is no one–trick pony,” Juliana interjected.

she did

paper, “B+. Cordelia, with this result, do you think you

whether Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she’ll

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

stormed off, fuming.

the end of the school

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

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