Chapter 3

The car door opened, and a man in his 30s stepped out, wearing a flashy shirt and holding a selfie stick in his hand.

The moment he got out, he began yelling excitedly at the camera, winking and shouting, "Alright, guys, make sure you like and subscribe to my channel for more exciting first-hand news like this!

"Today, I, Tommy Wolfe, will be exposing what the top scorer of the country in this year's SATs actually looks like in their natural habitat!"

Anyone who saw him would immediately be able to tell that he was just another one of those shameless live-streaming influencers trying to ride the wave of trending topics online.

He was the kind who'd jump on any bandwagon and spout whatever nonsense as long as it brought him views.

Yet, Karen couldn't care less about it and immediately grabbed Marianne forward with her to greet the influencer.

"Welcome to Emerald Green! It is our pride and joy to house the nation's top scorer in our neighborhood!

"Now, if you'll look at the banner we've hung up, you can clearly see that we spent a lot of time designing it with gold lettering—"

Tommy ignored her. He then directed his phone camera straight at Mom as though he had sudden hawk eyes.

Mom was standing behind her burrito stall, her apron still covered in corn flour. She was startled by the sudden commotion.

"So, according to my super secret inside sources, this roadside burrito stall vendor here is the top scorer's mother!"

The smile on Karen's face froze instantly.

"Wait… You're mistaken, aren't you? A burrito stall owner like her, raising a national top scorer?" she spat.

Marianne laughed coldly next to her and added, "Don't be fooled. This woman is just putting on a pitiful show to grab attention because she knows that we're welcoming VIPs and reporters today!"

Tommy seemed even more interested in the gossip now. He began vehemently berating and criticizing Mom on camera.

"Wow, really? People these days will really do anything just to become famous! To think that they'd take advantage of the situation to try and ride on the coattails of the nation's top scorer!"

He spat as he spoke, aiming the camera directly at us.

Mom saw that he was directing the camera at me and threw her arms up to block me from the camera. She shouted, "Stop filming! Stop filming my daughter!

"My daughter is the nation's top scorer, and I won't let any of you spread rumors about her online! Now put your phone away!"

I pulled Mom, who was trembling angrily, behind me. Then, I pulled out my SAT score from my bag and showed it to the camera.

"Open your eyes wide and take a good look at this slip. It has the official education bureau stamp on it to prove that this is legit!"

I then glared at Tommy ferociously and said coldly, "What, you think you can look down on us just because we sell burritos for a living? Who gave you the right to start spreading gossip and rumors about us here?"

Yet, Tommy stubbornly refused to back off or admit his mistake. He insisted, "That proves nothing! You can just get a fake slip from anyone for ten bucks at the print shop! You've got the nerve to fake an official document, you little bitch!"

Marianne heard him and straightened up at once.

"Yeah! She can't even afford to go for extra tuition classes after school and spends her entire weekends working at the stall with her mother!

"And you think you can score full marks in the SATs with your kind of upbringing? In your damn dreams!"

The more she spoke, the more she convinced herself that she was right.

She cocked her chin up haughtily and continued, "My son, Mitchie Davidson, has been attending bilingual schools since he was little and has had one-on-one tutors for years!

"Yet, even with such a good upbringing, he still didn't manage to score full marks in the SATs. He scored 1200 instead. Who do you think you are to deserve full marks?"

I looked at her stubborn and contemptuous face and got so angry that I nearly laughed out loud.

"Wow, you're telling me that he didn't even manage to hit the 80th percentile with such good education opportunities?

"You should have just bought a couple more of my mom's burritos with the extra money you could have saved from his extra tuition. I bet it would have helped him with his brain development more."

Just as tension began to rise, the head security guard, Blake Lawson, hurried over to us.

"Everyone! The mayor's and Mr. Bloomberg's convoy is arriving at the entrance! Quick, you have to go over to welcome them now!"

The other homeowners who'd been busy laughing at us quickly rushed toward the entrance upon hearing that.

I watched their fawning backs and tugged on Mom's hand as she prepared to pack up the cart.

"Don't bother, Mom," I said. "Here comes the good part of the show."