All Chapters of The Neighborhood That Kicked Out the Valedictorian: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

Mom stood before the mirror in her faded floral shirt, beaming from ear to ear."What do you think, Cathy? Do you think this suits me? The reporters are coming tomorrow. I don't want to look drab, or I'll end up embarrassing you."I leaned against the doorframe and grinned as I gave her two thumbs-up."You look gorgeous, Mom. You look good in anything."Suddenly, we received a call from Karen Myers, the vice president of the neighborhood HOA. She didn't even bother concealing the disgust and disdain in her voice."There's going to be a huge celebration tomorrow here in Emerald Green. The mayor of the city and the chairman of Bloomberg Finance are coming to visit us and congratulate the top scorer!"But you're only a tenant and not a homeowner, so don't you dare show up tomorrow in that ragged apron of yours at the roadside in your run-down stall."Mom gripped her phone tightly and pleaded in a soft voice, "But Ms. Myers, I've already received a few pre-orders from the students n

Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning and opened the window, quickly realizing that the neighborhood was even more lively than during Christmastime.A huge welcome banner had been hung up at the main entrance, saying, "Our heartiest congratulations to the top SATs scorer in the country! Welcome to Emerald Green, Mayor Brian Winters and Board of Directors from Bloomberg Finance!"Karen strutted about in her high heels, shouting through a megaphone, "Move the red carpet farther to the left! Make sure it shows off the grandeur of our high-class community!"The welcome band needs to rehearse again! Make sure you don't make a single mistake when the mayor and the chairman arrive later!"One of the homeowners, Marianne Barnett, looked like an extravagant peacock today, dressed to the heavens in a tight-fitting cocktail dress and her hair styled back in perfect locks."I heard that the chairman of Bloomberg Finance is personally coming today! And he might invest more in our area if he's in a good m

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 banne

Chapter 4

The faint honking of the car convoy at the entrance could be heard. Karen couldn't be bothered about her image anymore and rushed up to us in her high heels."Don't tell me you're still going to leave this junk of a cart at the roadside like this! You're trying to get me fired, aren't you?"Mom stood in front of the cart and pleaded, "Ms. Myers, please, we're only taking up a small corner of the road. We promise we're not blocking anyone or causing any trouble—"Karen completely lost her temper and turned to Randall next to her, roaring, "What are you still standing there like an idiot for? Throw her cart out of the way! Don't let any of the VIPs see any of this junk!"When Randall saw that the mayor and his convoy were about to arrive, he didn't hold back anymore and went up to the cart to push it out of the way."You can't blame us for any of this, Mrs. Marshall. Now get out of the way!""Get your hands off my cart!" Mom yelled, rushing up to stop the cart from being topple

Chapter 5

The neighborhood entrance that was still abuzz with noise and activity earlier fell completely silent at Mr. Bloomberg's question.Marianne thought that perhaps he didn't hear her properly because of her accent, so she stepped forward boldly and repeated herself a little louder."Don't worry, Mr. Bloomberg. I've already told the guards to throw Tanya's cart away. It's in the trash pile now. I promise that it won't—""The audacity!"Mr. Bloomberg struck his sandalwood cane heavily on the ground, and Marianne suddenly trembled all over in fear. She quickly threw Karen a pleading look for help, and Karen shakily went up to Mr. Bloomberg, stammering as she tried to come up with an excuse."We… We only did it for the sake of maintaining our neighborhood reputation… We only wanted to leave a good impression on you and the mayor…"Mr. Bloomberg immediately turned around and pointed at the banner above them."You don't know the name of the nation's top scorer, do you?" he asked, looking

Chapter 6

Blake led us to Karen, who had just been throwing her weight around just 15 minutes ago and telling the guards to throw our cart to the garbage dump. Now, she was trembling on the ground, unable to say a word.Even Tommy, who'd been live-streaming the entire incident, thought of giving everyone the slip, but Mr. Bloomberg's bodyguard stopped him at once.Mr. Bloomberg turned around and addressed him, "What were you telling your audience earlier? Something about the daughter of the burrito stall lady faking her results just to ride on the topic of the nation's top scorer?"Tommy's selfie stick trembled along with his hand."A-About that, Mr. Bloomberg… I-I was just… I was just saying that for comedic effect… You know, like… Just for the fun of it…"He swept his gaze toward the comments section and saw the viewers commenting nonstop."Apologize to the burrito lady at once!""The nation's top scorer just got kicked out of her own neighborhood by the HOAs! I've taken screenshots o

Chapter 7

I tied on Mom's faded apron and smiled in response."Alright, Mr. Bloomberg. Just wait there for a bit, okay? I promise I'll feed you well!"Everyone laughed, easing the tense atmosphere from earlier.A young mother was standing not too far away, whom I recognized to be our neighbor from a street further down, Alice Parks. She held her son in her arms as she stepped forward and asked, "Mrs. Marshall, can I still place my order?"Mom was just about to reply when I beat her to it and said, "Sure! That'll be ten dollars each!"Mom was shocked. She hurriedly tugged at my sleeve and whispered, "Cathy! We've always been selling them for five dollars each…"I grinned at Alice and said, "Well, the nation's top scorer personally made this for you. I think it's quite a reasonable price, isn't it? You can even brag about it to others later."Alice chuckled in amusement as she dug into her pocket for her purse. "Then, I'll take two, please, with extra hot sauce and sour cream on the side.

Chapter 8

The atmosphere inside the Emerald Green neighborhood was more tense than it was outside the gates.Two of the homeowners bumped into each other, and one of them whispered, "Say, I heard that Karen was arrested.""Yeah, she was. I don't think she's getting out anytime soon."Meanwhile, Karen was busy calling the actual HOA president, Charlie Dunkin, begging him for help."Charlie! You have to get me out of here! I was only doing this for the sake of the neighborhood image when you're not around…"However, Charlie just said, "You're fired. Don't ever call this number again."…I sank onto the couch around 3:00 pm that day. My phone had been ringing incessantly all day."Hello, is this Ms. Catrina Marshall? I'm calling from the admissions office of Starvard University. Is it okay if we had a chat with you?""Hello, I'm calling from Dale University's admissions office…"I replied, "I'm sorry, but I haven't made up my mind where I'd like to go at the moment. Please give me some ti

Chapter 9

By afternoon, Charlie finally showed up and personally came to our door. He arrived with the newly appointed HOA president and vice president, and they sat down in a row on our living room couch.Charlie was acting so subservient that it looked more like he was trying to impress us than have a discussion with us about things moving forward."First of all, Mrs. Marshall, I would like to extend our sincerest apologies to you on behalf of the HOA. For your information, Karen has been fired, and all of the security guards involved in the matter have also been fired."The HOA is willing to cover all medical expenses and also provide additional compensation for emotional distress."When Mom heard the astronomical figure, she glanced at me instinctively with bewilderment in her eyes.I shook my head and replied calmly, "I would rather donate all of your compensation to a charity helping impoverished children in mountainous areas instead. But I have three more things to add."Charlie nod

Chapter 10

Mom and I were both stunned when we heard what Austin said.Her hand froze midair."This… This won't do. I don't know what to do in Dalesville… I'll only be a burden to her…"Austin was unperturbed and pulled out a lease agreement from the brown envelope, sliding it toward Mom.It was for a storefront facing the street with over 300 square feet of space, including a fully functioning kitchen. The location of the store was also on a very busy and popular street. It was an excellent location.Mom jumped to her feet, waving her hands repeatedly in the air. "No, we can't take this! Mr. Bloomberg has already helped us far too much…"I can't let him rent a shop on my behalf either! I won't ever be able to pay it back to him even if I worked for the rest of my life!"Before she could finish, Austin's phone rang, and he handed it over to Mom with a big smile on his face."Mrs. Marshall, Mr. Bloomberg already knew that you would try to turn him down. Here, you can speak to him directly.

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