Chapter 13

After that day, Cassius returned to normal and so did our relationship. Almost. 

Though he still didn't like me - I could tell - he at least didn't always ignore my existence. The day after I made him the soup, we passed each other in the hallway and he muttered a quiet 'thank you' and walked off before I had the chance to reply. If we ever saw each other, he would nod at me but otherwise keep silent. He acknowledged that I was there and the hatred in his eyes had lessened considerably. 

However, that was only when there was no one else around. 

In front of his brother, he acted as he did before and pretended I was invisible. Don't get me wrong though, I wasn't angry about it. It was expected since his brother, Marcus, would surely disapprove. Out of the two, Marcus seemed to despise me more so there was no way he would be happy that Cassius's attitude towards me had changed - even if the change was so small. 

As for what Mr Haynes would think, I couldn't be sure. Most probably, he would have the same view as Marcus and discourage even the slightest change in Cassius's attitude towards me. But since he was overseas at the moment, there wasn't any reason to worry. Besides, like Marcus, I highly doubt Cassius would say anything to his father. 

Regardless, I was relieved that nothing else out of the ordinary happened after that day. I don't think my restless heart would be able to handle any more stress from sudden personality shifts. It was scary because I didn't know what to expect. 

It was honestly a relief to be able to go back to school on Monday. 

I might be one of the few teenagers that would ever say that. 

As promised by our homeroom teacher last week, the results for the mid-semester tests were published on the bulletin board near the office. When I arrived at school, there was already a small crowd of students cramming together in front of the board, searching for their names. Some of them, the ones at the back, had to tiptoe to get a glimpse of the board before pushing their way to the front. 

I walked closer to the crowd of students and contemplated how I was going to manuveur my way through. I wasn't short but I wasn't exactly tall either so I would still need to get closer to be able to see my result. 

However, what I hadn't expected was for my presence to cause some of the students to stop and stare. 

As I neared the board and came to a halt at the back of the group, several of the students saw and they gaped at me in disbelief. A couple of them tapped their friends' shoulders and pointed at me whispering words I couldn't hear. 

More and more attention was placed on me and I couldn't help but feel afraid. My back was slowly gathering cold sweat as I became the center of attention. 

'Shit. Why is everyone staring at me? What happened? Were my results that bad?'

Swallowing nervously, I glanced up at the board and searched for my name starting at the bottom. 

My gaze began to rise and it went up and up and up, and finally, it landed on the very top. 

Name  | Rank | Total Marks

Lynette Parker| 001  | 497/500

'...What?'

I...placed first?

My mouth dropped open in shock and my eyes widened. It made sense why everyone was staring at me and gawking. Not only did I come first, I almost scored a full mark! This was unbelievable! 

I mean, I knew I wouldn't fail or anything because I studied my ass off but I honestly didn't expect to get such a high mark. The tests were anything but easy and I was pretty sure I had gotten a lot of questions wrong but...

That didn't seem to be the case. 

"Holy shit. Someone actually scored higher than Reese!"

I turned around and saw Don Velmont gawking at the bulletin board. Next to him, Gilbert Young was staring in surprise. Both boys focused their gazes on me and I stepped back nervously at their curious expressions. 

Suddenly, Don was in front of my face with a wide grin. 

"Well new girl, it turns out you were a hidden master!"

I'm a what now?

"Have you been reading those web novels again?" asked Gilbert exasperatedly. "You really need to stop copying the way they talk in those novels."

Don rolled his eyes and said, "Oh shut up. I'm being serious here. She's really like those hidden martial arts masters! So secretive, fools everyone into thinking they're weak, and then suddenly...BAM! She gets the highest mark in the grade and completely surpasses the class average."

What the heck is this guy talking about?

"So what's your secret?" Don squints his eyes at me, rubbing his chin as if he had a beard. "How did you do it? Did you cheat?"

"I didn't cheat," I replied with a small frown. "And I'm pretty sure it's impossible to cheat here."

"Where there's a will, there's a way," my classmate countered sagely. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Gilbert shake his head with a snort, "No no. She's right. It's impossible to cheat here at Stonewall. There are cameras literally everywhere except inside the washrooms. The teachers here watch you like a hawk and the answer sheets are kept under strict lock and key in a single database that needs special authorisation to access. There is absolutely no way she could have cheated unless she's secretly a genius spymaster."

Don turned to me and opened his mouth to ask, "Are you-"

"I'm not," I stated cutting him off. 

The boy sighed, "A shame. Would've been cool to have gone to school with a spymaster."

...Seriously. What is wrong with this guy?

In the background, Gilbert just rolled his eyes. Clearly, he was used to his friend's strange antics.

——————[oo]——————

Word of my achievement quickly spread to the rest of the students in my year. 

In the hallway, I received various stares and interested gazes from my peers who were curious to see what the girl with the highest mark looked like. 

While getting an impressive grade was good, I didn't want the spotlight it came with. I had no idea things would turn out this way it almost made me wish I got something lower and a little more...average. 

Not all of the gazes were friendly though. As expected, there were some who didn't approve of my position thinking it was fake. There were some glares mixed in with the stares but thankfully, there weren't many. And those that did glare at me did nothing other than that. I'm not sure if they would do something to me but I hoped nothing would happen. 

I did my best to ignore them and pretend I didn't notice. If I glared back, they would definitely retaliate with something worse and I couldn't afford that. 

Staying quiet was the best option. 

After the last period before lunch, I was informed by my Mathematics teacher that my homeroom teacher wished to see me. 

He didn't state what for other than Mrs. Douglas wished to talk to me. I guessed that it might have something to do with my mark. 

When the lunch bell rang, I gathered my things and quickly made my way over to the staff room where I knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before someone from inside said, "Come in."

I opened the door and as soon as I stepped inside, Mrs. Douglas who was seated at her cubicle, motioned for me to come over. I complied and quickly found myself standing in front of her as she looked at my results with a grin. 

"Miss Parker, I must say I'm impressed. It's been a while since a student was able to score as well as you have in these tests. You've certainly set a new record for Stonewall."

I nervously chuckled, "T-Thank you."

"I'm not lying. You are an exceptional student. I've heard from your other teachers and all of them have similar things to say," she looked me in the eye, "You are the only one who gives them full attention during their lessons, the only one who takes proper notes, and the only one who turns in the homework on time. Now I know teachers aren't supposed to have favorites but you are most definitely ours."

I don't think you're supposed to tell me that ma'am. 

"And that is why, I have a proposition for you."

And there it is. The real reason I was called here. I couldn't help but gulp anxiously. 

Mrs Douglas then solemnly said, "I would like you to tutor someone in exchange for extra credits and a recommendation letter."

_____

A/N: I'm honestly surprised if you made it this far. I'm well-aware of how cringe this novel is so congrats on reading this far. I update faster on Wattpad if you're actually interested but I doubt you are. I can honestly say that while this is the generic 2015 Wattpad novel plot, I'm proud of it...sort of...

Okay, not really but it's all I got.