Chapter Five

Ria gritted her teeth as she stood before the scoreboard. She wanted to tear all her hair out, she wanted to grip the scoreboard hard, yank it off the wall and crack it into half over her knee before throwing it towards the ground to rain hard kicks on it. She hated this! She hated every single word on the scoreboard! She closed her eyes tightly and willed for everything to be just a dream but when she opened her eyes again, there it was!

Lawson's name in the top spot!

She let out a loud groan of annoyance and walked away from the scoreboard, students gossiping after her. She slammed the door to her classroom open, and stepped in. Looking over at her seat, she saw the most annoying human being ever in the seat next to hers. She settled into her seat, her glaring eyes on him.

"I see you topped the school again," Ria said to him.

"Of course I did," Lawson said and Ria wanted to punch him.

"Why did you transfer here?" she groaned. "There are tons of great schools in Stalton."

"I already told you why I transferred here, didn't I?" Lawson said. "You know why."

"Yes," she said. "You told me you transferred to my school for me. What did you mean by that? I don't know who you are."

"Think about something you've lost recently," he replied.

"I don't lose my belongings easily," she said. "I'm a very careful person."

"Yet you did lose something."

"What did I lose? How would you know?"

"Hobonichi is such an awesome brand, isn't it?"

The memory popped up in her mind. She remembered it now! She recently lost a Hobonichi journal covered in a purple leather cover. She adored it to bits and it cost her a fortune. When she lost it, her heart broke but she soon forgot about it after she replaced it with a Weeks.

"You found my Hobonichi?" Ria exclaimed.

He reached into his bag and removed it for her. She ran her fingers over the cover on cover, her eyes almost brimming with tears. She missed her journal so much!

"You should really not journal right before your bus stop," Lawson told her.

"Thank you, Lawson. I thought I'd never get this back."

"Well, as we were saying," Lawson told her. "I found your Hobonichi after I boarded the bus. You had already alighted and the bus was already on its way so I couldn't return it to you. I flipped through your journal and was pleasantly surprised when I found various images, Fibonacci patterns and other interesting equations. For the first time in my life, someone other than me looked at the world the same way I did. I looked at the back of your journal and then discovered where to find you. So now I find myself here."

"Oh," Ria said, cheeks flushed. "I've always loved Math. It speaks to me like nothing else can."

"I know how you feel, exactly," he said. "But I regret transferring to this school for you."

Her heart sank. "I-I'm sorry then," she said. "I didn't mean to be a disappointment."

"Disappointment?" Lawson said as he chuckled. "No, Ria, you're not. You're never a disappointment."

"Then why do you regret coming here?"

"I regret because I have no idea what I'll do next," he said to her. "Because now that I know you for real, I'm even more enthralled."

❃❃❃

"Dunk! Dunk! Dunk!" the students around her repeated like broken clockwork as Ria gulped. Declan was right before her, a cup of iced tea in his hands. Her arms were strongly held back by his friends and fellow bullies, and she tried to wrestle against them, to break free, but their hold on her was unrelenting.

The crowd that had formed around her was egging Declan on and an evil smile on his face spread. Everyone hated Declan because he gave them hell, but whenever he bullied someone, every student showed their undying support because come on, they'd let anyone other than themselves be the object of his bullying. Declan ruled the entire cohort with fear and she knew that she was definitely going to have that ice down her shirt.

"Declan! Stop it!" Ria yelled. "Don't do it!"

He shook the cup of iced tea in his hand and the ice cubes clinked against each other. Usually, she would find such a sound entirely relaxing, but not this time. It sounded dreadful. He took another step towards her, the cold drink still in his hands.

"The weather has been so hot lately, hasn't it, Ria?" Declan asked her and the boys holding her up snickered.

"Declan, please!"

He took another step towards her again. "I always see you drinking this," he said. "You love it so much, I bet you've considering bathing in it before."

"Let me go!" Ria struggled against the hands on her.

He stepped forward again. "Are you ready?"

"Dunk! Dunk! Dunk!" the entire school shouted.

"No! Please!" Ria yelled.

Declan raised his hand with the cup up in the air, over her head. Then, as quickly as a flash of lightning, his hand retracted and he held the cup over his head. Tipping it over, the iced tea sloshed down the top of his head, dripping over his hair, down his neck and across his chest to the ground.

❃❃❃

Ria sat in her chair, frozen, world slowing down around her. It was the final year, and the final exams were already over. Lawson stepped up the small stairs onto the stage, and he walked towards the Dean, hands outstretched for his trophy.

First in school overall, for every subject.

She watched as he smiled brightly for the camera. She broke out into a smile, proud at what she was seeing. Over time, she had grown fond of him, because he understood what she felt. They looked at the spokes of bicycles differently, or how petals grew on a flower and she realised that time with him made her feel not as alone as she used to feel.

As the cameras flashed, everyone clapped for him but Ria was certain she clapped the loudest. She cheered aloud for him, fists punching the air. He nodded his head at her with a warm smile and she waited for her name to be called for second place.

"Ria!" the emcee announced.

She climbed the stairs to Lawson and that was when a teacher nudged her aside to chat with her. As they talked, her eyes widened and every word the teacher said sank in.

The teacher went for the microphone the emcee was holding. "I'm sorry, there has been a mistake!" she said into the mic. "We miscalculated the grades. Lawson is not the valedictorian."

The school hall grew silent amid soft murmurings and oh-s or ah-s.

"Congratulations, Ria!" the teacher announced. "Our valedictorian!"

Ria smiled as she strolled towards Lawson, whose jaw had fallen low. With a small smile, she wrapped her hands around the trophy in his hand and took it from him before retreating down the other side of the stage as he stared after her in horror.