Chapter 1
I stole Rebecca Carter’s spot as top of the class, and the next day, her childhood sweetheart confessed to me.
With that dangerously gorgeous face, Gabriel Reynolds asked, “Wanna come into my world and be a failing student with me?”
Of course, I did.
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I said yes instantly and kissed those lips I’d been eyeing for so long.
Later, my grades slowly slipped to dead last, but I had explored and owned Gabriel inside and out.
On the day our SAT ended, Gabriel kissed me for the first time and asked me to go to a vocational college with him.
I knew then–that had always been his endgame.
But this time, I just shook the Harvard acceptance letter in my hand.
“This past year was a lot of fun,” I said.
“But my future’s too important. I won’t be joining you.”
The day I overheard Gabriel talking to Rebecca, I had just finished estimating my exam score.
A total score of 1536.
The exact score of last year’s provincial top scorer.
I had just let out a breath of relief when I heard Rebecca’s familiar voice through the door.
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“Gabriel, don’t forget that you still haven’t won our bet.
“You’ll only win if you get Evelyn Mitchell to go to vocational college with you.”
Gabriel clearly didn’t take her seriously.
“Can’t you see her scores now? Four hundred–something. What good university could she even get into?”
Rebecca pushed back, “But she had such a solid foundation. What if—”
“Even if she pulled off a miracle, where she ends up going is still up to me, isn’t it?”
The others standing around, quiet until then, suddenly burst into laughter.
Those same people who’d always called me “sis–in–law” so sweetly were now mocking me with the nastiest words. “With how hard Evelyn’s been simping for Gabriel, forget college–she’d be over the moon just to dig through trash with him!”
“Seriously! Everyone at our school knows she dropped from first to last just to be with Gabriel! She’s such a hardcore love–addled mess. What wouldn’t she do?”
Another round of knowing laughter followed.
I heard every word loud and clear, but I honestly didn’t care much.
For someone like Gabriel–someone that beautiful–was it really such a big deal to act a little dumb and tank a few tests just to keep him happy?
Besides, behind the scenes, Gabriel had been physically paying me back quite nicely.
Just thinking about how different he was in bed–how that usual cool,
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Chapter 1
cocky attitude of his melted into something so much more tempting, the damp eyes, the flushed lips…
I was starting to get a little distracted when someone else’s joke pulled me back.
He winked at Rebecca.
“Rebecca, if Evelyn ever finds out all of this was your revenge plan, she’ll probably hate you for life.”
Rebecca rolled her eyes at him in disgust.
“Idiot. Isn’t it obvious? Why even ask?”
But this time, they were wrong.
I didn’t hate Rebecca at all. In fact, I was grateful to her.
After all, for someone like me–with a face so plain it wouldn’t leave a dent even if you shoved it into dough–getting a shot at someone as stunning as Gabriel? That was a gift Rebecca herself had handed to me.
Ever since I was a kid, I knew all my skill points had been dumped into academics.
Other people had to memorize a text for hours, but I could recite it backward after one read.
I picked up concepts in seconds. Solved hard problems like they were nothing.
But I also knew that in a town as small and average as ours, standing out too much was never a good thing.
So even though I had to stay at the top of the class every year to keep my scholarship, I always made sure my score was less than five points higher
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than Rebecca’s.
Only once did I break that rule.
It was the day before a monthly exam, and I saw Gabriel and Rebecca kissing outside the testing hall.
He was beautiful. She was delicate and sweet. The two of them looked like they stepped out of a fairytale, and I was jealous. So jealous it burned.
During the math test, I couldn’t help but answer an extra–long problem.
Then in reading, I answered all the questions out of pure spite.
That month, I scored 35 points higher than Rebecca.
I regretted my lack of self–control for days.
Until the third day, when Gabriel showed up in front of me.
He was wearing a bright yellow No. 23 jersey, jogging over with that ridiculously pretty face full of concern
“Sorry, mate. My ball slipped and hit you.
“Are you okay? Want me to take you to the nurse’s office?”
I could tell with my eyes closed that there was no way that the basketball hit me by accident.
Just like I knew, without a shred of doubt, that Gabriel approaching me
wasn’t random either. It had to be because of Rebecca.
Maybe he was getting revenge for her. Maybe it was some kind of bet between them.
But honestly, it didn’t matter what the reason was.
Because that was my only chance to get close to Gabriel.
That’s right.
I wanted him.
From the very first moment I saw him.
