Chapter 12

Everyone simultaneously looked at Juliana and Hanley

Feeling the collective gaze, Juliana straightened up and flashed a smile at Hanley, asking, “What if Cordelial starts hounding you?”

Hanley lifted his chin with an air of finality. “Our engagement is set. It’s not changing for anyone.”

With that, Juliana relaxed,

She and Hanley had grown up together, their relationship always teetering on the edge of something more. Now, with their engagement on the horizon, she trusted that Hanley harbored no feelings for Cordelia.

Their conversation was neither hushed nor loud, but just enough for the onlookers to overhear.

A few snide voices began to mock Cordelia, “Being the top of the class doesn’t mean you can win Hanley’s heart, huh?”

“If I were her, I’d stay well away. How shameless can you get, always hovering around Hanley…”

Cordelia cooled her gaze but before she could speak up, Merry interjected, “Some folks really have nothing better to do than to poke their noses into others‘ business!”

Merry had a sing–song quality, even when she was hurling insults.

The teasers promptly shut their mouths.

Merry then glanced at Juliana and Hanley with a snort, “And some people really have the gall!”

The classroom fell silent. When it came to quick wit, no one could outdo Merry.

Seeing that Merry had defused the situation, Cordelia nodded to show her thanks and made her way to her seat, but Merry turned and headed for the door.

The class president called out, “Merry, class is about to start, where are you off to?”

Merry looked back, blowing a bubble with her gum, “Arcade.”

Cordelia blinked in surprise.

Merry didn’t return for the rest of the day.

time for the afternoon study

for his tutoring session. Juliana stood up as well, heading to her physics. competition prep class

their direction. She couldn’t resist asking. “What if she talks to you? It would be

conflicted, “That’s

Η

time Cordelia caught up, they were at the stairwell. As they hesitated on whether to acknowledge her, Cordelia walked past them without a glance, not even sparing them a

Juliana stopped in their tracks, enveloped in

find only a handful

set the class to work on them before approaching Cordelia with a test in hand, “Try

I

got to work.

not–too–distant seat, unable to keep from monitoring

standard competition level, Hanley,

finishing the two–hour test in one,

the spot, announcing the

breathed a sigh of relief. A sense of superiority bloomed

success in competitions, which were more complex and demanded higher

off day for him at the last test.

other hand, Cordelia stared at her test, marked with three red wrong

voice to not disturb the others, “You got the answers right, but in a formal competition, everyone will mark these as incorrect.

her

subject. Where did you

replied,

he explained, “The high school math competition tests logical reasoning, which means you need to solve these problems with high school knowledge. Your answers are

your

syllabus, not using the

up, her misty eyes filled

some notes for

we caught this early. There’s still time.

have any questions, you can also

glanced at

problems were new to her. Without college knowledge like calculus, they indeed seemed challenging, but she found them

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