Chapter 4

Ethan and I returned to the classroom.

Caden was tallying the number of people for the school outing, and everyone had already paid in the class group chat except us.

"The competition team won't be joining this outing. Everyone, have a good time, okay?"

Cheers immediately erupted.

"Go for it, everyone!"

"Caden, don't forget to treat us to a meal when you get into a top college!"

The chatter stopped the moment I stepped through the door. The same hostile looks returned. This time, they were followed by a confrontation.

"Did you bully Ms. Bennett?"

Ms. Bennett sat silently at the front of the room. She must have told them something.

Caden called our names. "Your presence here has seriously disrupted our study atmosphere. All the class leaders voted to put you two in charge of keeping our class' designated area clean."

Every class had an area they were responsible for keeping clean. Our class had been assigned to the gym—a huge space that took more than a dozen students to clean properly.

Ms. Bennett dabbed at the corner of her eye, clearly moved that her students were standing up for her. She didn't think she had done anything wrong.

Everyone waited to see if we would make a scene.

Ethan and I exchanged glances, and our eyes lit up. We were already ahead of what they were teaching in class, and every now and then, we'd even get called out.

The gym had a lounge area. It was quiet, well-ventilated, and practically untouched, so it was basically a perfect private study room handed to us on a silver platter.

I asked, "Just the two of us? The gym is quite big."

Caden's eyes held nothing but cold pity. "You did something wrong, so you need to reflect on it. You two always drag down our class average, so think of this as contributing to our class."

I lowered my head as my shoulders trembled.

Everyone mistook it for fury. In reality, I was biting my lip hard to suppress a laugh.

Ethan nodded nonchalantly. "Sure, we'll reflect on our actions."

In the gym, I went through the motions of sweeping the floor while my mind worked through chemistry competition problems. Chemistry was my strong suit, so even these competition-level problems were way easier than tackling the subjects I struggled with.

Ethan patted my shoulder.

I turned around.

He had run over, so his voice was breathless. "Ms. Bennett just talked to me. She said they were short one participant for biology and was willing to let me try it out."

I frowned and stayed silent.

The academic competition required teams of two. If he joined the official competition team, our partnership would fall apart.

"Are you planning to join her team?"

Ethan shook his head immediately, his voice firm. "Of course not. She's never treated us like her students, and I don't acknowledge her as my teacher either. Besides, I'm looking forward to the two of us taking first place fair and square and shutting her up."

I smiled, amusement flickering in my eyes. "They've spent half a year training for this competition. I wonder what her face will look like if we beat them just like that?"

Ethan smiled too. "No idea. But one thing's for sure. She can forget about getting that teaching award."

The competition was held on a weekend. Without school transportation or a coach to guide us, the two of us walked into the competition on our own.

We had three hours to finish.

Normally, teams were supposed to work together across all subjects, but we were both so specialized in different areas that there was barely any overlap between our strengths. So we split the sections and powered straight through.

When we left the exam hall, all the participants looked utterly defeated by the brutal questions.

Ethan spoke nonchalantly. "It wasn't even that hard."

I let out a yawn. "What a piece of cake."

People around us shot us angry glares.

We sheepishly rubbed our noses and stopped talking.

"Sam?"

I turned my head.

A group of familiar student leaders came into view, all wearing competition badges bearing our school's name, with Ms. Bennett at the front.

She frowned. "What are you two doing here?"