Ava got up and walked over to Matthew, handing him the snacks she had bought from the school store.
"I'll see you in the evening, then. Come pick me up," Ava said before leaning forward and planting a quick kiss on his cheek.
She straightened and walked away with her friends, leaving Matthew standing there with the snacks in his hand.
Felix rubbed his chin, watching her leave.
"Are you and Ava dating now?"
"Hella nah." Rick immediately shook his head. "My boy Matthew is playing the cold game. For a girl like Ava, you don't give in easily or you're going to get your heart broken."
He glanced toward Philip.
"We haven't even dealt with Philip, who hasn't even managed to talk to his crush. We don't need another heartbroken man."
Philip, who had been scrolling through his phone, slowly raised his middle finger without even looking up.
Rick ignored him and turned back to Matthew.
"Sigh… one week without seeing you. My heart hurts so much. I'm going to die."
Matthew raised an eyebrow.
"If Felix didn't add me to the dorm group where you are posting pic and video of how you spend your Unity Holiday with Jay, eating and having fun, you didn't exactly look like someone who missed me. Now I'm the one heartbroken."
"True," Kai said, shaking his head. "Rick is acting all clingy. He said the same thing to all of us the moment we entered the hall . But last week, he was having the time of his life. Being treated like a king by Jay and even told him not to share his location so we wouldn't disturb them."
He clicked his tongue.
"Fake friendship."
Kai immediately received a glare from philip.
"You're the one to talk, Kai," Philip said, finally looking up from his phone as he adjusted his glasses. "Didn't you travel out with Derek?"
Derek immediately laughed.
"No one told you to stay home sulking. Your crush has a new boyfriend."
Philip's expression stiffened.
"And now you're even wearing glasses because her boyfriend does?" Derek continued mercilessly. "Philip, you're a simp."
Philip slowly lowered his phone and stared at Derek.
The others burst into laughter.
Matthew let out a chuckle watching the drama.
Philip pushed his glasses higher up his nose.
"I hate all of you."
"That's what every simp says," Rick replied cheerfully.
"So, which group are you going to join?" Matthew asked, glancing between them.
Around them, the hall was already beginning to loosen up.
Some students had gathered into small circles, comparing their choices and arguing over which groups they thought were worth joining.
Others were already checking the club information on their phones, while a few were walking toward the student council members to ask questions.
Derek leaned back in his seat.
"Me and Kai are choosing the Elite Group."
Kai nodded beside him.
"We'll help V pick when he comes back next week. He's still enjoying his holiday with his girlfriend in another country."
He glanced at the others.
"He said he wants to join the Game Lovers Group. You know, the tenth group."
"Of course he does," Derek muttered.
Philip shrugged.
"I'm the leader of the Activity Group, so Group Eight it is."
Felix tilted his head, thinking for a moment before his expression brightened.
"I love gossip. I love attention. I love fame."
He pointed at himself proudly.
"So obviously, I'm choosing the Star Group."
"Star Group."
Rick, Kai, and Philip said at the same time.
They looked at one another.
Then all three laughed.
"Yeah, we know," Derek said dryly. "You've been repeating it over and over again." Felix pouted
Rick ignored him and leaned back comfortably.
"I still don't know what to choose. Rebel, maybe."
His eyes drifted toward the doors Aiden and his friends had disappeared through earlier.
"But I'm honestly getting tired of seeing Aiden."
He shuddered dramatically.
"Or maybe the Legion Group."
Then Rick's expression changed into a mischievous smile.
"Jay was also asked to join the Student Council."
He turned toward Jay with a grin that didn't reach his eyes."so is that what you are going to choose "
Jay, who had been sitting beside him while quietly watching the students around them begin to leave their seats, gave him a look.
Rick reached over and poked his cheek.
Jay immediately pinched Rick's cheek in retaliation.
"I already told you I'm not joining any group without you."
He released Rick's cheek and adjusted his sleeve.
"Stop being a drama king."
Rick rubbed his cheek, looking offended.
"And anyway, if you had actually read what I told you to read, you wouldn't be sitting around the fifteenth-to-twentieth position." Jay added
Rick's eyes narrowed.
"You just had to bring that up."
Jay smiled innocently.
"It's true."
Rick slapped Jay's hand away from his face.
"You keep rubbing your sixth position all over my face!"
Nearby, Felix snorted.
Derek covered his mouth to hide a laugh, while Kai shook his head.
Around them, several students were already beginning to leave the hall in groups. Some were discussing the Elite Group, while others were arguing about whether they had enough popularity to qualify for the Star Group.
A few students remained seated, waiting for their friends to finish talking before heading out.
Rick, however, remained focused entirely on Jay.
"You don't care about me anymore."
He folded his arms dramatically.
"You're rubbing your ranking in my face."
Jay stared at him for a moment before sighing.
"Here we go again."
"You keep rubbing your sixth position all over my face!" Rick complained, covering his face as tears gathered in his eyes. "You and Kai are always dragging between fifth and sixth, and now you're rubbing it in my face. You don't care about me anymore."
Jay's expression immediately softened.
"Okay, okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, alright? Forgive me."
He reached over and gently coaxed the drama king.
"You know I have a big mouth. You can be in charge from now on."
Rick's hands slowly lowered.
The tears that had gathered in his eyes disappeared almost instantly.
"Really?"
Jay nodded.
"Really."
Rick immediately looked satisfied.
Matthew, Felix, Kai, Derek, and Philip all stared at the pair.
Matthew's lips twitched.
Felix looked away with a grimace.
Kai shook his head.
Derek rubbed his forehead, while Philip adjusted his glasses as though desperately trying to pretend he wasn't witnessing any of this.
The mixture of disgust and embarrassment on all five faces was almost identical.
"One week apart and you two have become this dramatic," Matthew muttered.
Rick immediately turned toward him.
"Don't judge our love."
Matthew ignored him.
Felix, however, had already moved on to a more important matter.
He looked at Matthew with bright, calculating eyes.
"Ignore them Matthew I see you don't have any group"
Matthew slowly turned toward him.
Felix pointed at himself.
"Why don't you just join the same group as me?"
His eyes practically sparkled.
"With your face, I can ride on your popularity."
Matthew stared at him.
"No."
He stood up.
He had already opened the snack Ava had given him—a soft bread dessert with a sweet filling—and took a sip from the strawberry drink.
Felix's eyes widened.
"Matthew!"
Matthew didn't stop.
Felix immediately jumped up and followed him, grabbing onto his arm.
"Wait! Think about it!"
Matthew continued walking.
"No."
"You're not even considering it!"
"No."
"At least let me explain the benefits!"
Matthew took another sip of his strawberry drink as he coutinued to walk away
Felix jumped into his back.
Matthew submitted his choice of group, picking the Legion Group, before heading to the library with the other ten Grade 12 members of the Brainaic Club.
The teachers had prepared a special drill for them.
It was designed to test two things: how quickly they could solve difficult questions and how accurately they could answer under pressure for the international wit competition on Friday.
They would have less than thirty minutes to work through five subjects filled with national-level questions. Some of the questions were complicated enough to challenge even experienced academics.
The ten students took their seats.
A huge amount of space separated each student from the next, making it impossible to peek at another person's work.
The teachers stood around the room, watching them closely.
A digital timer appeared on the large screen at the front.
30:00.
"Begin."
The timer started counting down.
Immediately, the room filled with the sounds of pens scratching against paper.
Everyone began solving.
Sophia sat near the front, her eyes moving rapidly between her question sheet and the calculations she was making.
The questions were difficult.
Not impossible for her, but definitely challenging.
Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed Matthew.
He was solving.
And he hadn't stopped once.
His pen moved continuously across the paper.
No pause.
No calculator.
No visible hesitation.
Sophia's eyes lingered on him for a moment.
How is he doing that? She thought the question were filled with twists and required careful thinking.
Some were the kind of questions that could make even top academic professors stop and think for a while.
Sophia knew that if she managed to finish everything correctly, she could probably score an A or perhaps even a B.
But she couldn't simply rush through them.
Every now and then, she had to pause and use her calculator.
Sometimes she would stop completely, reread a question, then work through the problem again from another angle.
She quickly returned her attention to her own paper.
The timer continued counting down.
25 minutes.
23 minutes.
20 minutes.
15 minutes.
Then—
"Gasp!"
One of the students suddenly stared toward Matthew.
Several heads lifted.
A few teachers immediately looked in the same direction.
Matthew had his head rested against his folded arm while his pen lay motionless beside his hand.
For a few seconds, nobody said anything.
Even the teachers exchanged glances.
One of them frowned.
Another checked the timer before looking back at Matthew.
It had only been a month since Matthew arrived at the school.
Yet during his first month, he had already joined the Brainaic Club and shocked everyone by scoring a perfect 1,000 on one of their highest-level examinations.
Those questions hadn't been created by ordinary teachers.
They had been prepared by professors and top researchers from different parts of the world and were used to test students from several elite schools.
Matthew had gotten everything correct.
He had also participated in the friendly academic competition between their school and the number-one elite school.
Still, some people had quietly dismissed his previous results as luck.
That was precisely why this particular drill had been arranged.
The teachers wanted to see whether Matthew could repeat that performance under pressure.
Now he was sleeping.
One teacher folded his arms.
Did he give up?
Another teacher's expression hardened.
The Brainaic Club could tolerate mistakes.
It could tolerate slow answers.
But giving up because the questions were difficult was different.
They didn't accept that attitude.
Sophia noticed the teachers' reactions and glanced toward Matthew again.
It was good that he knew his limit She also thought Matthew relied on luck.
Whatever Matthew was doing, she had her own questions to finish.
She lowered her head and continued solving.
The timer eventually reached zero.
"Time."
The students immediately stopped writing.
The teachers walked around the room, collecting every answer sheet.
Nobody was allowed to leave.
The teachers returned to the front with the papers and began marking them in front of the students.
One teacher called out the scores as another recorded them.
"First student: fifty."
The first girl exhaled quietly.
"Second student: fifty."
The second girl nodded.
"Third student: fifty."
A boy leaned back with a tired sigh.
"Fourth student: fifty-five."
The the third girl smiled faintly.
"Fifth student: sixty."
A boy rubbed the back of his neck.
"Sixth student: sixty-five."
Another boy student quietly adjusted his glasses.
"Seventh student: seventy."
A girl released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"Very good."
The teacher moved to the next paper.
"Eighth student..."
He looked down.
"Forty-nine."
The the 8 student also the 4th boy grimaced.
A few students exchanged glances.
The teacher reached for the next two papers.
Then stopped.
He looked at the names written at the top.
"Sophia..."
The room became slightly quieter..
The teacher looked toward her paper.
Then toward Matthew.
"...and Matthew."
For the first time since the marking began, several students leaned forward with genuine interest.
The girls glanced toward Sophia with varying expressions, though envy was difficult to hide.
Even before her score was announced, most of them already knew she would outperform them.
Sophia had always been near the top.
Meanwhile, several of the boys watched Matthew from the corner of their eyes, waiting for his score.
They didn't particularly like him.
Maybe some of them were jealous of his appearance. Maybe they simply disliked how much attention he received.
Ever since Matthew arrived, girls had found excuses to pass by his classroom just to catch a glimpse of him. Some had even broken up with their boyfriends after becoming interested in him.
And then there were the constant jokes about pairing Matthew with Sophia—the school's beauty.
For some of the boys, that was just another reason to dislike him.
They believed Matthew's achievements were nothing more than luck.
So they were waiting for the perfect opportunity to mock him.
Some were even hoping his score would be low enough for the teachers to remove him from the Brainaic Club.
The teacher marking Sophia's paper suddenly smiled.
"Keep up the good work, Sophia."
He held up the paper.
"You got eighty-five."
A small wave of surprise passed through the room.
"This particular set of questions was prepared by the Education Committee themselves," one of the teachers explained. "The highest score anyone has managed to achieve on this set is ninety, and that record has remained unchanged for months."
The students immediately applauded.
Sophia gave a modest smile and lowered her gaze her head held high a graceful smile in her face could not hide the pride.
Then the teacher placed her paper aside.
Matthew, whom everyone had assumed was asleep, had already sat upright.
He tapped his index finger lightly against the table.
His expression remained completely calm.
The 3rd boy near the back smirked.
"Since Sophia already got the highest score, we already know who carries first place."
He glanced toward Matthew.
"Looks like someone's luck finally ran out."
"Of course Sophia always carries first," the 4th boy added the one that carried 48
9."That's just how the ranking works."
A few people nodded.
The teacher immediately frowned.
"Shut up with that mentality."
The boy's smile disappeared.
"Is that why your score is so low? Did you forget that the goal of this club is to make every individual stronger?"
He pointed toward the students' papers.
"Instead of trying to improve yourself, you're bragging about someone else's success. What an idiotic mentality."
The boy lowered his head.
Another student muttered under her breath.
"Acting like a fanboy."
She glanced toward Matthew's paper.
"With a brain like that, this is probably the best he can do anyway."
The girl who had scored seventy glanced toward Sophia.
"Sophia got eighty-five. The highest is ninety."
She shrugged.
"Who knows? Maybe he'll rank higher."
She immediately fell silent when Sophia's two friends the first girl that got 50 and the third file that got 55 turned their heads toward her.
The girl pretended not to notice.
Her eyes remained fixed on Matthew's paper as the teacher began marking it.
She had never liked Sophia.
Everyone was always praising Sophia.
Sophia was beautiful.
Sophia was intelligent.
Sophia was talented.
Sophia was always at the top.
And even when someone else performed well, somehow the conversation always returned to Sophia.
She wanted, just once, for people to look at someone else.
She wanted Sophia to feel what it was like to have the attention taken away.
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she watched the teacher's pen move across Matthew's answer sheet.
Then the teacher suddenly stopped.
His expression changed.
He leaned closer to the paper.
"..."
He checked one answer again.
Then another.
He looked toward the teacher beside him.
"Come here."
The other teacher walked over.
"What is it?"
The first teacher didn't answer.
He simply pointed at the paper.
The second teacher bent down to look.
His expression slowly changed.
Another teacher noticed them and approached.
Then another.
Within seconds, several teachers had gathered around Matthew's answer sheet.
The students began exchanging confused looks.
( Sorry for not updating yesterday so this is yesterday update I will send today updates after so expect two chapters today love you guys)