Samantha exclaimed earnestly, “You’re incredible, Elise! I can’t believe you actually obtained a perfect score on the test!” While she stood at one side, Riley was in awe as she quickly pointed out, “I ought to kneel before you, milady!”
Elise, however, kept a straight face as she took her seat. Mr. Bolton went on to announce, “While Miss Elise has gotten the perfect score, there are two other students who did well in the test as well—Mr. Zachary, who scored 92 on the test; and Miss Amanda, who scored 90.” The grimace on Amanda’s face waned after she learned that she had received a 90 on the test.
It wasn’t as impressive as Elise’s perfect score, but it was comforting for Amanda to know that she had done better than the rest of her peers. “The rest of you who have scored below 90 will need to put in the extra work over the coming weeks.” When class ended, a large group swarmed around Elise’s desk in fervor.
“So, you’re Elise. Our teacher has told us how brilliant you are. I mean, we know you won first place in the City Mathematics Olympiad, but we never imagined you to be this good!” Another student piped up cheerily, “You’re like my role model, Elise. You know, Zachary goes to Cloverfield High with us and he’s always been the one to be in first place in the City Mathematics Olympiad. You have no idea how completely satisfying it is to see you break his records!
I could never stand that high-and-mighty attitude of his anyway. It’s about time he gets dethroned!” However, he was oblivious to Zachary’s presence behind him when he said this. “Excuse me.” Zachary had spoken up so suddenly that everyone was stunned while they fell into silence before scurrying back to their seats.
Elise looked up and met his gaze. He was the first to break the silence. “It’s been a while since I’ve had competition. Pleased to meet you.” “Thank you. You did pretty good too,” she replied steadily. Zachary had grown up with countless compliments that were thrown his way, but for some reason, Elise’s praise struck a chord in him; he could detect the sincere edge in her tone. “I’ll do my best to surpass you the next time,” he said, looking resolved. She nodded as she encouraged, “I look forward to it.”
After giving her a long look, Zachary turned to walk away. The boot camp participants kept a tight schedule where they had lessons from morning until night. As tiring as the day had been, the girls in Dorm 503 continued their studies for about an hour or so after classes ended.
With Elise leading them, even Samantha—who hardly paid any attention to academics—was inspired to do better. On the other hand, Amanda was competitive by nature. She had a solid foundation to begin with, but now that her roommates had their noses buried in math olympiad exercises, she didn’t want to be left behind. She might not be on good terms with them, but she was perfectly fine with studying on her own.
A week flew past in the blink of an eye, and before anyone knew it, the weekend had already arrived. In a demonstration of humanity, Mr. Bolton decided to give the students a half-day break. Alexander was waiting for Elise by the school entrance. She was heading out of school grounds with Samantha and Riley, and when she saw Alexander in the distance, she said, “Hey, I have to skedaddle now. I’ll see you both tomorrow.”
Samantha waved her goodbye and watched as Elise boarded his idling car. Riley couldn’t help but squeal, “Goodness, is that Elise’s boyfriend? He’s a work of art!” As she was unable to hide her admiration, Samantha agreed, “I envy her. How can a girl be so lucky as to excel in school and have a hot boyfriend?”
They were only making casual commentary, but Amanda overheard everything by chance. She glanced in the direction of the luxurious ride that was idling outside the school entrance and thought about Elise’s day-to-day wardrobe. There’s no way that girl comes from a well-off family, so why would she come and go in such a flashy car? She snorted coldly and snapped, “Please. It’s not as if he’s her boyfriend for sure.
She’s probably a sugar baby or something, though it does make me wonder if all the rich men have had a change of taste recently. I mean, surely one has to be blind to want to hang out with the likes of Elise.” “Watch your mouth, Amanda.” Riley bridled at this. “Elise is a friend of mine and no one gets to talk about her like that.” Amanda was entirely unfazed as she retorted, “I can talk about her anyway I like.
Does Elise look like she’s an heiress to you? I think both of you need to get your eyes checked.” “I guess people like you will always try to put others down no matter what,” Samantha bit out. “There’s no point for me to waste time and energy on you.” “That’s right. You should really see a therapist, Amanda. All that bitter resentment can’t be good for you.” After having spat those words, Riley looped her arm through Samantha’s limb and they walked away, leaving Amanda fuming where she stood.
Amanda glowered at their retreating figures and shouted, “If you don’t believe me, then so be it! Just you wait. I’ll show everyone that Elise is nothing but a lowlife sugar baby!” “You—” Riley was about to turn around and knock some sense into the wretched girl when Samantha stopped her.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Samantha advised. “You can’t fight crazy, so let’s just ignore her.” The anger that thrummed in Riley’s veins was quelled when she heard this. “You’re right. She really is crazy!” With that, they walked away and once again left Amanda glowering behind them.
She scoffed contemptuously and thought, I have to collect evidence that proves Elise is a sugar baby. To hell with her reputation as a top student; she’s nothing more than a floozy who lives off men’s money. She was determined to expose Elise’s true colors to everyone and at this thought, she took out her phone and made a call. “Find me a paparazzi who has excellent photography skills. Whatever the cost may be, I’ll pay him accordingly.”
As soon as she hung up the phone, a wicked smirk began to play on the corner of her lips. … Elise thought that they could be heading home after she entered Alexander’s car, but she was surprised when he brought her to a fancy Italian restaurant instead. “Why did you bring me here, Alexander?”
He turned to give her a withering look. “Why else would I bring you here at a time like this?” She blinked at him, and as if beating her to an answer, her stomach grumbled. She flushed and hurried to catch up with him. They staked out a table by the window and the waiter came by with the menu, which Alexander slid over to Elise as he said plainly, “Order whatever you want.”
“Okay,” she replied. She took the menu and flipped through it before she ordered a couple of signature dishes. “I’d like to have a mushroom ravioli, an ossobuco, the pan-seared sea bass, a Fiorentina steak and a classic Margherita pizza.”
She did not hold back with her order. The waiter then left and returned with all both Alexander and Elise’s orders, and within minutes, the table was close to overflowing with food. As she was starving, she wasted no time in picking up her utensils to dig in. “The Fiorentina steak is amazing! Here, you have to try some.”
As she said this, she sliced a piece of the steak and placed it on his plate. He frowned slightly and gave the meat a cursory glance. Surprisingly, despite his mildly obsessive-compulsive tendencies, he wasn’t too offended by Elise’s gesture and he speared the meat with his fork and popped it into his mouth.
“Not bad.” Alexander thought two words were more than enough to form a true compliment, but Elise had an indulgent smile on her face as she protested, “Not bad? It’s scrumptious! I can’t remember the last time I had a steak as tender as this. Whatever they serve in the school cafeteria is only good for sustenance, though the flavor is lacking.” While saying this, she grabbed another slice of pizza and took a bite.
“If I could have pizza everyday, then life would be a cabaret.” Amusement glittered in his eyes when he heard this, but he quickly suppressed it as he offered, “I guess I could drop by your school with a pizza or two whenever I’m free—if you want me to, that is.”
She gaped; she was starry-eyed as she exclaimed, “Really? In that case, you should definitely get more than two pizzas. I have two girlfriends to feed.” He hummed nonchalantly.
“That’s no problem at all.” It was with a beam when she answered, “Thank you.” Elise appeared to be in a good mood today and her appetite was astonishing as well. She practically bulldozed her way through the meal while Alexander sat across from her, seemingly pleased to watch her eat.
It was a complete mystery as to how a face as plain and ordinary as hers could attract him. I must be bewitched, he thought ruefully.
