“Scarlett, I’m just trying to give you a reality
check. Someone like that would never be into
you. Why would he? He’s just messing with you,
that’s all.”
“Guys like him have girls throwing themselves
at him. He’s gonna pick someone hot and from
a good family.”
“You need to apologize to Chase, like,
yesterday. Or he’s gonna hate your guts
forever.”
I was so close to slapping Lacey’s teeth down.
her throat.
Just then, the class president ran in, practically
glowing with excitement.
“Scarlett, congrats! Samson’s leading the team.
for the National Math Competition, and he
asked the head of the department to bring your
along!”
“Ugh, that’s amazing! Winning gold in this
competition adds at least twenty points to your
college entrance exam. With him, it’s a lock!”
The whole class exploded.
Everyone was buzzing about Samson and me.
Some thought I must have saved his life or
something.
But they forgot that I used to be a math whiz
myself. The gossip had just overshadowed that.
Lacey froze, her nails digging into her palms.
6:00
“…Twenty points?”
She forced a twisted, jealous smile. “Scarlett, congrats. Twenty points on your college entrance exam.”
I smiled back. “Do rich girls like you even need
to take the college entrance exam? Can’t you just buy your way into college?”
But I knew the truth: the thirty million she’d
gotten through the system was practically gone, blown by her parents.
She knew it too. That’s why she was so
desperate to trigger me, to get more money
from the system.
Lacey finally cracked, making up some excuse
to go back to her class.
I heard she went back to class and broke down
in tears.
6:00
195
That the world was so unfair, she can’t take it
anymore and drop out of school.
Finally, after the last class, a group of guys
from Chase’s class cornered me in the hallway.
Chase, looking like he couldn’t give a damn,
spun a basketball.
He slammed the ball at my feet.
“Drop out of the competition and give your spot to Lacey.”
- 7.
It was the height of the after–school rush.
Everyone was used to my drama with Chase
and Lacey.
No one offered to help; they just watched with
a smirk.
<
“Scarlett’s so pathetic. She’s gonna get her ass
kicked again. I remember she was the one
whose uniform got burned a while back.”
“Who cares? Who is she to harass Chase with
that face, Lacey already told us what’s going on between her and Chase.”
“Let’s see how she gets beaten today. She asks
for it.”
I didn’t understand why everyone thought I was in the wrong, even though I was the one getting
bullied.
