Chapter 1
School bully Derrick Howard made a bet with his buddy to win me over before getting accepted into
college.
His pursuit was straightforward and passionate, and I accepted it wholeheartedly.
Until he half–squatted in front of the desk, pitifully asking me, “Sylvia Charles, can you be my
girlfriend?”
I threw him a French–English dictionary and he smiled.
“Memorize it, and I will give you the answer.”
Everyone knew that he hated French.
Derrick gritted his teeth and spent six months memorizing the entire dictionary. He improved his
French score from 10 to 130 and asked me for the answers.
I opened the dictionary and found the word that means “abandon” and showed it to him.
Derrick was foolish.
“Sylvia, did I embarrass you?”
As the night fell and the evening self–study ended, Derrick lowered his head and squatted beside my desk, his tone filled with impatience.
Just now, he confessed his feelings to me.
And I threw him a French–English dictionary and told him-
“If I randomly pick a word from it, can you answer all its meanings? I will give you the answer.”
The contempt in his tone made me involuntarily recall the conversation he had with his childhood
friend that day.
“Just a Sylvia, trying to outsmart me? Wait and see, Marcus Becker, you’ll surrender.”
He didn’t know that day I was standing behind the wall, listening to the whole bet.
So, I was giving him a hard time.
It is said that Derrick was a staunch “patriot” and from a young age, he had a deep hatred for the
French.
The parents always wanted to arrange for him to go abroad, but he firmly refused due to language
issues.
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He once declared, “Being able to recognize all the French letters is already my utmost respect for
the French teacher.”
“Learn French, rather die!”
Everyone knew that French was his “weakness“.
Of course, as far as I am concerned, weaknesses are meant to be poked.
His childhood friend Marcus was invited to witness the scene, leaning against the windowsill and
whistling.
In the past, he was the top student in his grade.
“Derrick, you were so bad, how could you deserve her? Maybe you should just give up?”
Derrick hung his head in silence for a moment, then turned his head and glared at Marcus fiercely.
He stood up, took the French–English dictionary and weighed it for a few moments, trying hard to force a smile, gritting his teeth.
I said that as long as you want, I could do anything for you.
“You know, I was very serious about you.”
I raised my eyebrows slightly and glanced at him.
The gazes met, as if in a subtle confrontation.
This person, indeed, was not patient.
Derrick was a prominent figure at Westwood High School.
With a face that could make it big in the entertainment industry, their family background was astonishingly well–off.
With a demeanor full of charm, it attracted numerous men and women who were tired of the dullness of their daily lives.
The whole school was filled with his romantic atmosphere.
“Derrick was confessed to again today! It’s the tenth time! Breaking the record of being confessed to nine times in a month!”
“Oh my god, Derrick was amazing! There was a fight at Brighton High School, and he took on five people all by himself and defeated them all!”
Derrick’s grades were not bad, and he even had a talent for mathematics.
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In my first year of high school, he and I once represented the school together in the national math competition and won the first prize.
This was the only intersection between him and me.
Such people, even “French Perfect” has become a badge of honor, claiming, “Isn’t it a display of ability to successfully avoid all the correct answers to multiple–choice questions?”
Perhaps tired of being pursued and losing interest, he made a bet with his childhood friend and turned his attention to me, a casual acquaintance.
My name is Sylvia, and I was known as the study genius among everyone. Since I entered high school, I consistently held the top position at Westwood High School.
I was indifferent and aloof, devoid of human emotions, like an AI with absolute rationality.
In my dictionary, there was no word “mistake“.
So he wanted to challenge – to become my mistake.
The day Derrick picked up the French dictionary for love, the whole grade was stirred up.
Someone questioned, and rightly so, that Derrick had a famous childhood friend named Vivian Harris, who was the goddess of the humanities class.
A few days ago, Derrick was still making a big fuss about giving her flowers, which in the eyes of everyone was equivalent to declaring his sovereignty.
Harley Wood, who sat behind me, was being peculiar.
“They were a perfect match, but some people just saw Derrick as a temporary amusement and actually thought highly of themselves!”
She and Vivian were best friends, but ever since Derrick started playing the game, she held a grudge
against me.
Some people even placed bets on this matter.
“I bet fifty cents that he won’t last more than three days!”
“I bet a dollar that the dictionary will be buried tomorrow!”
I happened to pass by, and instantly everyone fell silent, pushing and shoving each other, with an embarrassed look on their faces.
I recognized that the leader was someone from the same class, and I stopped in my tracks, reaching
into my pocket.
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I took out a 100–dollar note and gently pressed it on top of a pile of coins.
“Ibet=”
The end of October sunshine filtered away the scorching heat, and I smiled slightly, with a calm
tone.
“I could cover the cost for all of you.”
Chapter 1
