Chapter 1 The rivaly
The ranking board went up every Friday.
And every Friday, I hated the same person.
I stared at the list taped to the classroom wall.
1. Her name.
2. Mine.
Again.
"You've got to be kidding me."
A laugh came from behind me.
"What's wrong? Can't handle second place?"
I turned around.
There she was.
The only person in school who could make getting the highest grade look annoying.
She leaned against the wall, holding her notebook against her chest, wearing that stupidly confident smile.
"Enjoy it while it lasts," I said.
"I always do."
I rolled my eyes and walked back toward my desk.
This was how it had been for almost two years.
Every test.
Every project.
Every academic competition.
If I got first, she'd get second.
If she got first, I'd get second.
Neither of us could stand losing to the other.
At least, that's what I told myself.
"Hey."
I looked up.
She was standing beside my desk.
"What?"
"You got question seven wrong."
I frowned.
"No, I didn't."
"You did."
She placed her notebook on my desk and pointed at my answer.
I looked at it.
Then at her.
Then back at the answer.
"...Oh."
She smiled.
"Thought so."
"Don't look so happy."
"I am happy."
"You're insufferable."
"And you're predictable."
She walked away before I could respond.
I watched her return to her seat.
Then I noticed someone else walking toward her.
A guy from the class next door.
He stopped beside her desk and said something that made her laugh.
I stared.
Why was she laughing that much?
I looked back at my notebook.
Then toward her again.
The guy was still there.
I frowned.
I don't know why it bothered me.
It just did.
Maybe I hated him because he was distracting my rival.
Yeah.
That had to be it.
It definitely wasn't jealousy.
At least, that's what I told myself.
---
The Monday rolled around.
I came to school a little later than usual.
A text appeared on my phone.
"Prick."
That's the name I saved her contact as.
"You coming to class today?"
I read her text while walking to class.
Another typing message appeared.
"Don't just read it, idiot. Are you coming or not?"
"Why? Do you miss me?"
I responded to her text.
I saw her standing in front of the class with her phone out.
"Who you texting?" I spoke beside her ear.
She jumped a little, startled by my sudden arrival.
"Idiot, don't scare me like that."
"Why are you asking me if I'm coming to class today?" I asked her.
"Mr. Kevin called both of us."
"Why?"
I stared at her eyes.
They were brown.
I never noticed that before.
"How should I know?" she said while looking up to meet my eyes.
"Okay, but can you not look up if you want to see me?"
"What do you mean?"
I bent my knees to make our heights the same.
"It means don't be so short," I said while staring at her eyes.
"IM NOT SHORT!" she said. "You're just a tall bitch."
"Really? How harsh."
I walked to my desk.
"I can't believe you said that to me."
"Shut up, idiot."
Then she grabbed my hand and led me outside the class.
"Hey, where are we going?"
"To meet Mr. Kevin. Do you seriously not hear a word I say?"
"No, I just tuned you out."
Then she stopped.
"Really?"
She looked at me with tears in her eyes.
"Wait, no, I didn't mean that."
I stepped closer.
"I'm not lying. Look at me."
"I'm sorry."
"Pftt."
She chuckled.
"I can't believe you fell for that."
"Okay, now I really hate you."
"Sorry."
She smiled, her eyes lighting up.
"Fine, but I'm mad at you."
She took my hand and walked again.
Wait.
Are we holding hands now?
I wanted to take my hand out of hers, but...
It felt nice.
"Hey," she said while looking at me.
"What?"
"What answer do you have on number 13?"
"B. What about you?" I said, looking at her.
"What? Number 13 is A."
Her face looked confused.
"No, idiot. It's clearly B."
We kept arguing until we came to the principal's office.
---
"Hey, you two. Come here."
The older gentleman said to us while signaling for us to sit in the seats in front of him.
I sat down first.
She sat beside me.
"So," Mr. Kevin said, looking at both of us. "You two are still competing for first place?"
She immediately looked at me.
"Obviously."
I scoffed.
"She's just lucky."
"Lucky?" she said. "You literally got second."
"By one point."
"Still second."
I rolled my eyes.
Mr. Kevin chuckled.
"That's actually why I called you both here."
He pulled out a piece of paper from his drawer.
"Our school is sending two students to the regional mathematics competition next month."
I looked at the paper.
"Okay."
"And I've decided that you two will represent us."
I blinked.
"Both of us?"
"Yes."
She looked at me.
I looked at her.
There was a short silence.
"Absolutely not."
We both said it at the same time.
Mr. Kevin sighed.
"I knew you'd say that."
"Sir, we're competitors," she argued. "How are we supposed to work together?"
"Exactly," I said. "She'll probably sabotage me."
She immediately turned toward me.
"You're the one who's going to sabotage me!"
"See?" Mr. Kevin said. "You already communicate perfectly."
We both stared at him.
He smiled.
"You two are the highest-scoring students in the grade. I don't care if you argue the entire time. I care about getting results."
I sighed.
She crossed her arms.
"Fine."
I looked at her.
"Fine."
Mr. Kevin handed us the competition schedule.
"Practice starts tomorrow after school."
I looked at the schedule.
Then at her.
"This is going to be a nightmare."
She smiled.
"For you, maybe."
---
When we walked back into class, everyone immediately looked at us.
Alex leaned over his desk.
"Where'd you two go?"
"Principal's office," I answered.
"What did you do?"
"Nothing."
She walked past me and sat down.
Mr. Kevin entered the classroom a few seconds later.
"Alright, everyone. Before we continue, I have an announcement."
The class quieted down.
"Our school is participating in the regional mathematics competition next month."
A few students started whispering.
"And representing our class..."
Mr. Kevin looked directly at us.
"...will be Elliot and Clara."
The entire class erupted.
"What?!"
"No way!"
"The two rivals?"
Alex immediately turned around and looked at me with the biggest grin I've ever seen.
"Oh, this is going to be fun."
I ignored him.
Then someone from the other side of the classroom walked toward her.
It was the guy from earlier.
He leaned against her desk.
"Hey, congratulations."
She smiled.
"Thanks."
"You better win."
"I'll try."
He grinned.
"I'll be there to watch."
Something inside me immediately tightened.
I looked down at my notebook.
Why did that bother me?
Again.
Why did everything about this guy bother me?
I glanced at him.
He wasn't even doing anything wrong.
He was just talking to her.
Still...
I didn't like it.
Not one bit.
---
The weeks leading up to the competition were exhausting.
Every afternoon, we stayed after school to practice.
At first, we argued about everything.
She wanted to solve the problems one way.
I wanted to solve them another.
"You skipped a step."
"I didn't need it."
"Someone reading your answer wouldn't understand it."
"They don't need to understand it. They need to know it's correct."
She sighed.
"You're impossible."
"And you're annoying."
Eventually, though, we started understanding each other.
I knew when she was stuck.
She knew when I was about to make a mistake.
Sometimes we didn't even need to speak.
One look was enough.
And somehow...
We became a pretty good team.
Maybe too good.
---
Competition day arrived.
The auditorium was packed with students from different schools.
I sat beside her, looking over the questions.
She seemed nervous.
"You okay?"
She nodded.
"Yeah."
"You don't look okay."
"I'm fine."
Before I could say anything else, someone called her name.
We both looked behind us.
The same guy from school.
He was standing near the entrance.
He waved at her.
She smiled and waved back.
"I told you I'd come."
She laughed.
"Thanks."
I stared at him.
He came all the way here?
Just to watch her?
I looked away.
For some reason, I suddenly wanted to win more than ever.
Not for the school.
Not for the competition.
I didn't even know what I was trying to prove.
I just knew I didn't want to lose.
Especially not in front of him.
---
We didn't win first place.
We came second.
Of course.
She looked at the results and sighed.
"Second."
I laughed.
"Looks like we're both cursed."
She smiled.
"Maybe next time."
Next time.
I didn't know how important those words would become.
---
The second competition was supposed to be two weeks later.
But on the morning of the competition, she didn't show up.
I noticed her empty seat immediately.
"Where is she?"
Alex shrugged.
"She's sick, apparently."
I looked at the clock.
The competition started in two hours.
I pulled out my phone.
I opened her contact.
Prick.
I stared at the name for a moment before texting her.
"Are you coming?"
No response.
A few minutes later:
"Probably not."
I frowned.
"How sick are you?"
A few seconds passed.
"Bad enough that I don't think I can go."
I looked at the competition schedule.
Then at her empty seat.
I already knew what I was going to do.
I stood up.
"Where are you going?" Alex asked.
"Home."
"You've got the competition."
"I know."
"Then why are you leaving?"
I grabbed my bag.
"Because my partner isn't there."
---
I found her sitting alone in the school nurse's room.
She looked terrible.
Her face was pale, and she was lying down with a blanket over her.
When she saw me, her eyes widened.
"What are you doing here?"
I put my bag down.
"Visiting my partner."
"You have a competition."
"Yeah."
"You should go."
"I know."
She stared at me.
"Then why are you here?"
I pulled a chair beside her bed.
"Because you're sick."
She was quiet.
"You don't have to stay."
"I know."
"Then why?"
I looked at her.
For once, I didn't have a sarcastic answer.
"I don't know."
She smiled faintly.
"Idiot."
"Yeah."
She closed her eyes.
After a few seconds, she whispered,
"Thanks."
I leaned back in the chair.
"Don't mention it."
And for the first time, I realized something.
I didn't care about the competition anymore.
I cared about her.
That realization scared me more than losing ever had.
I didn't know when it happened.
Somewhere between the arguments, the competitions, and the afternoons we spent solving problems together...
Clara stopped feeling like my rival.
She became my routine.
Every morning, she'd drop her bag beside my desk.
Every test, she'd ask how many questions I'd finished.
Every Friday, we'd stand in front of the ranking board and pretend we weren't checking each other's names.
And somehow, I started looking forward to it.
Even when she beat me.
Especially when she beat me.
---
A few weeks after the second competition, we were walking home together.
"You know," Clara said, "you're not as annoying as I thought."
"That's the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"Don't get used to it."
I laughed.
She smiled.
Then she suddenly stopped walking.
"What?"
She pointed at a small bookstore across the street.
"I've been wanting to go there."
"You want to go now?"
"Yeah."
"We have homework."
"You have homework."
"You're impossible."
"And yet you're coming."
I sighed.
"Fine."
She smiled and grabbed my sleeve.
"Come on."
I followed her.
I didn't tell her that I would've followed her anywhere.
