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.

was time for the

books, ready for his tutoring session. Juliana stood up as well, heading to her physics. competition prep class in room 302, right

their direction. She couldn’t resist asking. “What

paused, seemingly conflicted, “That’s true…

Η

hesitated on whether to acknowledge her, Cordelia walked past

tracks,

classroom to find only a handful of

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

nodded and got to work.

a not–too–distant seat, unable to keep

handed to Cordelia was standard competition level, Hanley, a seasoned math competitor, had gotten them

one, causing a twinge of concern

test on the spot, announcing

A sense of

all, excelling in regular math didn’t guarantee success in competitions, which were

it was just an off day for him at the last test. He was sure to reclaim the top spot

other hand, Cordelia stared at her test, marked with three red wrong signs and asked, puzzled, “How could they be wrong?”

the others, “You got the answers right, but in a formal competition, everyone will

shook her

college subject.

replied,

math competition tests logical reasoning, which means you need to

your

beyond the syllabus, not using the designated knowledge

filled with

some notes for

it’s good we caught this early. There’s

“If you have any questions, you can

murmured, “Oh.” She glanced at

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

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