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

kudos! You’re a genius,” came Juliana’s

a smile at

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

Not too

a blur before his eyes as Daniel placed a paper

subconsciously glanced at the result. His smile froze, ‘A? Was

Her grasp of mathematics is remarkable. Despite the difficulty of this exam, her result

into whispers and turned heads, all eyes on the

back row.

widened his eyes in disbelief, turning to see Cordelia slowly lift her head, her gaze sharpening on him. Then, with a slow and knowing smile, Cordelia whispered just loud enough for

rushed to Hanley’s cheeks as if slapped by an invisible hand.

frozen, her mind a loop of

“Class dismissed!”

up the review just in time for the bell and

sooner had he gone than the

“Screech!”

“Hey, you’re Cordelia, right? I’m Merry,” she announced, her vibrant pink hair and dramatic makeup reminiscent

a moment, replying simply, “Nice to meet you.”

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

with a

didn’t falter her chatter, “I heard the Foster family thought your grades were embarrassing, so they called off the engagement?

stayed silent, her first impression of Merry being that of an overfriendly blabbermouth.

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

just in time to catch Merry’s comment. “Hanley is

she did

result, do you think you can take the top spot? Dream on.”

I’m not sure whether Cordelia beats Hanley or not, but she’ll definitely better than

suppose you have no room for pride.” Merry chuckled, “Oh, I couldn’t be prouder to rank the last in

off,

of the school day,

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

The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Comments ()

0/255