Chapter 2

At noon, I didn't wait for Nicholas.

Previously, every time the bell rang, I would immediately look toward him. Once he got to his feet and headed for the door, I would eagerly follow him. If he was still busy with homework, I would wait for him in the corridor.

But I did none of that today.

I did as Shane instructed and had my lunch before taking a short 15-minute nap at my desk.

When I woke, I had a new message from Shane.

"How are you feeling?"

I answered, "I had a nap."

His response was quick to come. "Very good."

An inexplicable wave of relief swept through me as I stared at the two words.

The first class after lunch break was Physics.

As the teacher moved on to the final challenge problem, Nicholas was asked to head up to the board and solve the question.

A few murmurs broke out among our classmate.

"Nicholas is as amazing as ever."

"Only he would be able to solve that question that quickly."

I looked down at my scratch paper. Shane had walked me through a similar question model just last night.

After class was over, Nicholas came over to me and swept his gaze over the scratch paper on my desk.

"Do you really know how to solve this problem already?"

I slipped my pencil case back into my bag. "Yeah, I do."

He let out a scoff. "Marissa, don't think that you're so smart just because you happened to get one question correct. Those university students working part-time as online tutors would, at most, teach you formulaic solutions to those questions.

"The moment an extra condition is added to the question, you'll be unable to answer it just the same. In the end, you'll still come to me with anything you don't understand, isn't it?"

Hailey popped her head out from behind him. "Marissa, Nicholas is just worried about you. What if that tutor teaches you the wrong things? You'll be the one who'll end up paying the price."

She was holding Nicholas' water bottle as she spoke.

I simply glanced at her before turning away. "Then you two don't need to worry about me."

Hailey's eyes instantly reddened. "That's not what I meant."

Nicholas quickly assured her gently, "No one's blaming you."

When he turned back to me, his tone was frigid again. "Marissa Zinch, since when did you become so unreasonable?"

I suddenly found it all so laughable.

In the past, when I kept quiet, he would complain that I was boring. When I asked him questions, he would complain that I was annoying.

Now that I had stopped bothering him with questions, he was saying that I was being unreasonable.

As it turned out, anything I did was wrong as long as I wasn't going along with his wishes.

During the self-revision class, our homeroom teacher had everyone write down their target score for the final mock exam.

More than a few classmates said Nicholas was likely going to rank first in the entire school again.

Hailey leaned against Nicholas' desk, saying with a smile, "Nicholas, you'll definitely be able to rank first!"

However, Nicholas looked toward me instead. "Marissa, what did you write?"

Previously, I would push my paper over to him and ask him to help evaluate me, the action having become subconscious over the years.

Yet, today, I finished writing my score and directly handed it to the class leader without showing it to Nicholas.

Nicholas' expression darkened before he let out a cold laugh. His eyes were filled with disdain as he crossed his arms and said, "Hah! Well, without me to tell you what to prioritize, I'd like to see whether that cheap tutor of yours will be able to ensure you get your normal score !"

That night, I relayed Nicholas' words to Shane.

There was no response from Shane for several seconds. Then, he asked, "Are you upset?"

I thought it over. "Not as upset as I used to be."

That was the truth.

In the past, even one harsh word out of Nicholas' lips would have me tossing and turning the entire night. Now, however, there was only a dull ache in my chest.

Shane sent a set of test questions over. "Don't bother with other people. Just focus on doing your best."

"And if I mess up at the exams?"

"Then we'll review what went wrong and learn from your mistakes."

I tightened my grip on my pencil, a laugh bursting from my lips.

…

The next day, I arrived at the exam venue, only to see Nicholas standing at the end of the corridor. Hailey was next to him, head bowed as she helped him ready his exam admission ticket and stationery.

Upon spotting me, Nicholas suddenly said, "Marissa, even if you're throwing a temper tantrum, you should know your limits. It's still not too late to swallow your pride now. Once the exams are over, I'll spare some time out of my weekends to help you catch up on where you've fallen behind.

"Don't bother trying to threaten me by using the college entrance exam. You'll gain nothing out of it except destroying your own future. It certainly won't affect me."

I was silent for two seconds before I asked him, "Nicholas, even now, you still think that I can't do well without you, huh?

He didn't answer, though his silence spoke volumes.

Spinning on my heel, I entered the classroom.

My phone vibrated in my pocket as Shane sent me a message.

"Don't be scared. You're taking your future into your own hands."

I sat down in my designated seat, and for the first time ever, I didn't look back at Nicholas.