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.

for

heading to her physics. competition prep class in room 302, right next to

a beat slower and heading in their direction. She couldn’t resist asking. “What if she talks to you? It would be rude to ignore her, right?”

seemingly conflicted,

Η

stairwell. As they hesitated on whether to acknowledge her, Cordelia walked past them without a glance, not even

and Juliana stopped in their tracks, enveloped

find only a handful of students had shown up

in. He discussed a few competition problems and set the class to work on them before approaching Cordelia with a test in hand, “Try this out, I want to

I

got to work.

not–too–distant seat, unable to

was standard competition level, Hanley,

two–hour test in one, causing a

on the spot, announcing the

of relief. A sense of

math didn’t guarantee success in competitions, which were more complex and demanded higher logical reasoning.

him at the last test. He was sure to

at her test, marked with three red wrong signs and asked, puzzled, “How could

spoke in a low voice to not disturb the others, “You got the answers right, but

her

subject. Where did

replied, “Self–study.”

silently impressed, then he explained, “The high school math competition tests logical reasoning, which means you need to solve these problems with high

your

the syllabus, not using

filled with confusion.

some notes for

“Don’t worry, it’s good we caught this early. There’s still time. I’ll compile so you

“If you have any questions, you can

at the test

college knowledge like calculus, they indeed seemed challenging, but she found them

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