Chapter~2

FRIEDA: 

And that was what fueled my drive to crush him. 

Crush him so hard that he would never be able to rise from the dust. 

"The mock results are out!!" Someone yelled, making me snap out of my thoughts. 

"Aren't you going to check?" Chloe nudged me. I shook my head. I already knew the outcome of it. Going there would only give access to my classmates to humiliate me. 

"What about you?" I asked in return. 

"I'm good," She shrugged casually. 

Although Chloe was my best friend, sometimes, I envied her. She was beautiful and her parents were rich. She could go to any college that she wanted without needing to have 'perfect' grades. She just needed to be above average and she was good to go. I wished I had that kind of life. I wouldn't need to be dragging a scholarship with Eli freaking Rayes. 

"Do you think he'll talk to me if I approach him?" Chloe asked. 

I knew she was talking about Eli. I had a personal grudge against him and whatever I replied to her with would only be from a place of hatred. Besides, I had no interest in ruining another person's love life because of our personal vendetta. 

"Beats me." I brought out my book since it was almost time for classes to start. I was going through a few revisions from my study guide when the students who had run out earlier started coming back in. 

"I can't believe Eli is in top place and he only started this session a few weeks ago."

"He landed the position of vice captain just three weeks after joining the hockey team. It's only a matter of time before he overthrows Zayn, just as he overthrew Frieda."

"Rich, competitive, and brilliant. My type of guy." 

I wished I could blur out their voices in my head. I didn't want to hear anything that concerned Eli. I wished he could disappear from my life for good. 

"I swear, if I hear one more thing about him, I'll puke," I mumbled, closing my study guide. Luckily, nobody confronted me about my second-place position. But that didn't mean it would happen again. We still had another mock exam before the scholarship exams. I'll make sure to surpass him by then. 

Our home room teacher walked into the class, holding a small box in his hand. After we greeted him, he placed the box on a stool, his eyes glistening with excitement. 

Mr. Rhodes stood tall, towering over us like the Statue of Liberty. His hazel eyes, shielded by thick glasses, scanned the room. 

"This box here," He pointed. "would determine how the end of your high school year would look. There are eighteen numbers in it, all in twos. So, if you pick the same number as another person, they become your seatmate and study partner until the end of high school." 

A groan erupted from the back. 

Wait, was that even legal? How can a piece of paper hold so much power? Why couldn't we chose my ourselves? 

"I thought of letting you choose by yourselves," He stated, as though he had read my mind. "But that would be unfair because some people would be left out. And mind you, you would be making weekly reports on your study together, so there is no backing out, unless you want your grades to drop." 

Grumbles erupted from each sides of the class again. Of course, not everyone liked the idea of studying weekly. Only when it was time for tests and exams. But for someone like me, I had no objection. I studied every day alone and always held myself accountable. This was a piece of cake.

The only problem was, who was I going to be paired with? God, let it be Chloe. I pretty much don't talk to anyone aside from her. Not because of pride. Everyone just avoided me for some reason best known to them. 

Everyone felt reluctant to pick a number. 

"What if I'm seatmates with Eli?" One of the girls thought out loud and went forward to pick a paper. That simple thought made all the girls rush down to the box. After they got theirs, they waited for the guys to pick. I wasn't even interested in what was going on. I just wanted the day to be over, so I could rest. 

"You both have to pick a paper." Mr. Rhodes spoke, looking between me and whoever had not picked. 

I looked around the class. Everyone had a piece of paper in their hand, except for Eli and me. There was no way I could ditch this, was there? 

I gave up the thought of fighting the idea and just picked a paper. Eli got up from his seat too and picked the last paper. We shared a glance before I broke the contact and walked back to my seat. 

"Now, open them," He directed us. "And if I call out your number, raise your hands." 

I reluctantly opened mine, only to see the number eighteen. 

"God, please, let it be someone who doesn't care about things like this." I prayed in my heart. 

He called out the first number and the two people with them raised their hands. I almost laughed at the look of disappointment on the girl's face when she found out she hadn't been paired with Eli. 

It went on just like that. Disappointment after disappointment. 

I clicked my tongue, shaking my head. These girls will never learn. 

"Frieda, what if I'm paired with Eli? This is the thirteenth number and he hasn't found his pair yet." I could sense the feeling of hope in her voice. 

I had never seen Chloe show as much interest in anyone as Eli. Since when did the obsession to get close to him start? Didn't she know that we were not on good terms? Or did she really just like him that much? 

"As long as it's not me, we're good." I shrugged. When the fifteenth number was called, Chloe raised her hand in anticipation. I could see the sparkles in her eyes as she was waiting for Eli to raise his too. I was partially happy for her though. At least, she would get closer to him like she wanted. But when someone else raised his hand, her smile turned into something I had never seen before. 

I expected her to be much happier. This was the captain of the hockey team, Zayn. She should be overwhelmed with joy, right? What does she even see in Eli? 

"There's our match. Chloe and Zayn." 

Some were happy with the matches while some were visibly angry. Chloe was smiling with her seat partner, to my surprise, and they were discussing well. I never expected that outcome, given how dissatisfied she looked a few seconds ago.  

I stood at the back of the class, waiting for whoever I would be paired with. 

Sixteen...

Seventeen... 

I wasn't even paying attention to the people who were left. I was lost in my own thoughts, thinking of the hours I was going to pull in studying for the next mock. I needed to make an impression. 

"Eighteen..." 

Oh, that's me. And... 

I turned to look at who my study partner would be. 

And he was looking right back at me with those cold, emotionless eyes. 

"Him?!"