Chapter Text
At the ripe age of 16, Eva Stratt had already planned her entire life out. Become student council president (check), collect more extracurriculars than any normal student (anyone but her) could even fathom, graduate high school as the class valedictorian (practically secured), go on to study history at an ivy league, work at the ESA or the UN—this she wasn't decided on yet, but she let it slide since she had more than a decade to make her choice—and focus on her work, on helping the world and humanity, for the rest of her life.
No time for distractions, like love or having a family. Her parents showed her how that could mess everything up.
Everything had been working out perfectly for Eva Stratt. How could it not? She was more hardworking than any of her peers, by far the most responsible student in her school, and naturally intelligent beyond her years—so much so that she was en route to becoming class valedictorian. She had all the money and resources she needed to succeed and live a fulfilling life, so why did she feel like she was still missing something?
Eva halted that train of thought—it was going somewhere disturbing, towards something she knew was harmful for her. She needed to get ready to go to school, to play the part of the perfect student. Focused, driven, ambitious, undistracted. Yes, it was just her and her goals in her life. There was no room for anything else, anything foolish.
She leapt out of her sheets, made her bed like a good daughter would, and stepped out of her room to go downstairs. She had the house all to herself, as she always did in the early mornings. Her parents had important jobs that required them out of the house early in the morning and even later into the night. She had gotten used to it, though. At the end of the day, they always went home, no matter how many hours, days, weeks, or months passed.
Her parents were incredibly dedicated to their jobs, which Eva admired. They were in charge of large agencies and committees after all. A multitude of projects essential to progress in various fields would fall apart if they weren't so committed.
Eva didn't bother to make breakfast since she only had 30 minutes before she had to leave for school, but she looked at the kitchen counter and saw the packed lunch her mom made for her. She guessed that her mother had extra time before she had to leave for work. Thanks, mom.
After grabbing her lunch and shoving it into her bag, Eva went back to her room and picked out an outfit. A black skirt that went down to her knees, a gray longsleeve, and a black scarf. It was the perfect fall weather out, so she didn't worry about feeling cold.
She took her shoes—black ballerina pumps her father bought from one of his business trips to france, as a 'sorry for not being home for a month' present—and put them on. The sound of her shoes hitting the ground as she took steps filled the eerie silence of her empty home. She didn't mind the silence anymore. She had grown quite fond of it, really. In the strange variability of her life, the silence surrounding her was the only constant.
The silence carried over to her car ride on the way to her school. Her parents had gotten her a driver, though she really would have been fine with taking the bus with the rest of her peers. Her driver was a man as stoic as her parents. As silent, too. He never spoke in the car. She wondered where they found him—probably one of the agencies they worked at or something. She dismissed the thought and pulled her book, animal farm, out and read a few pages before she quickly arrived at school.
Next to the school gates, a blue sign that said "Grover Cleveland Highschool" greeted her as she exited the car. She went through the gates, walked toward her locker, and took only the supplies she needed out of her black backpack. A notebook, her planner, and her pencil case. She then put her backpack inside of the locker, relieved to dispel the heavy weight off her back.
She noticed the lack of people inside the school. She was still quite early, she liked the serenity and quiet of a near-empty school. It made her feel at peace.
Eva climbed up the school stairs and made a beeline towards her classroom. Empty, as she expected. She walked towards her table next to the window, in the front row. She liked sitting in the front row, it helped her focus on discussions and made it so that she was visible to the teachers—she really enjoyed participating in class discussions.
Soon after she took her seat, her classmates started walking into the classroom one by one. Yao, a reserved and quiet boy much like herself was usually the second to arrive. He was smart and agreeable, a good student council vice-president, so Eva was quite fond of him even though they weren't exactly close friends.
The thought of student council reminded Eva to review her day. She opened her planner and looked at what she had for today: assignments, quizzes, and a student council meeting after school. To nobody's surprise, being student council president involved a lot of meetings. She loved leadership, though. Even though she may have not had many friends, she loved the people around her and wanted to express it in her own way: leadership.
Her train of thought was interrupted by the arrival of one such Olesya Ilyukhina. You could tell whenever she arrived because she lit up every room she walked into. Also because her energy and the sheer volume of her voice was enough to break a wine glass like those opera singers can (can they actually do that?), but still.
The brunette approached her, but Eva couldn't help but notice that Olesya didn't immediately sit down at her assigned seat as she typically does—Olesya once told her that the stairs pulled all the energy out of her, even though it was only one flight of stairs and she was always full of energy when she walked into the room.
"Goodmorning, Eva!" Olesya peered down at Eva's open planner. "Ey, it's too early in the morning to study. Chillax a bit, would you?" The brunette said, playfully slapping Eva on the shoulder. Olesya's use of the word chillax made Eva frown a little bit. She was never fond of new slang.
"Olesya, please call me Stratt." She reminded, her German accent slipping out. She had said this to the energetic girl repeatedly, but Olesya insisted on calling her by her first name. "And I am not studying, I am just looking over my schedule for today." She said matter-of-factly.
"Ah, same thing," It was decidedly not the same, but there was no use in correcting Olesya. "Anyway, I'm not sitting here anymore. Sorry Eva, I know you'll miss me." She said lightheartedly, but with a genuine frown on her face. It was not often that one got to see Olesya Ilyukhina frowning.
Eva's frown grew deeper. She may not show it, or ever tell the girl, but she had grown to enjoy Olesya's company. She didn't want to admit it, but Olesya had gotten quite close to becoming one of her only friends. Maybe it was a good thing, though, that they never actually became friends.
Wait, they never change seats. Why was the girl in front of her switching now?
"Why are you switching? Did Mr. Robert tell you anything?" She asked. Mr. Robert, their Mathematics teacher and homeroom adviser, was a kind teacher, but was also very strict on their seating arrangement.
"Yes, he emailed me this weekend. Told me we're getting a new classmate and he wanted to put him next to you." She responded, pointing at Eva. It was no surprise, really, but it still made Eva's frown grow even deeper. Her homeroom adviser usually put the energetic or rambunctious students—like Olesya—or the new students—such as this mystery classmate—next to her, the quiet, responsible, top student.
Eva constructed her idea of this mysterious classmate in her head. A boy, much to her dismay. He'd probably be like most of the boys who went to this school. Boring, arrogant, sporty. She was already dreading meeting this boy. She hoped he wouldn't make much of an effort to speak to her.
"Okay, thank you, Olesya. Where are you sitting now?"
"Over there at the back, right next to Yao." She replied, nodding to where Yao was sitting. Eva prayed a silent prayer for Yao. He was in Olesya's hands now. "I'm gonna go now. Ba-bye Eva!" She said cheerfully, smiling at Eva.
Eva responded to the brunette's smile with her own. "Bye, Olesya."
Soon after her conversation with the lively girl, the classroom became full with all of their classmates. The bell rang shortly after, and everyone quickly took their seat. Eva couldn't help but notice that the seat to her right was still empty. Maybe their teacher wanted to walk in with the new student?
As she was most of the time, she was right. Their math teacher walked in about a minute later, with a boy with messy blond hair and glasses following closely behind him.
"Goodmorning, class!" Mr. Robert said much too enthusiastically for a monday morning. He was one of those positive (deranged) people who believed that monday was the best day of the week.
Eva's gaze was focused on the teenage boy next to her teacher. His blue eyes were fixed on his fidgeting hands. He seemed nervous. Interesting.
Mr. Robert beamed in front of the class. You could tell he loved teaching—it made Eva respect him a whole lot more. "Hope you all had a wonderful weekend. You guys may have noticed that there's someone new next to me," He said, gesturing to the boy next to him.
"Um, hello everyone," The boy said, smiling, though Eva could tell he was still a little bit nervous. She supposed it was reasonable. New school, new environment, new class, who wouldn't be scared? "My name's Ryland Grace. You can just call me Ryland or Grace, I don't really mind," He said, shrugging. "I just moved here from California. I'm happy to meet everyone." He added.
"Okay, Ryland. Thanks for introducing yourself." Mr. Robert said, turning to the class. "Why don't we give our new classmate here a round of applause?"
The room erupted into claps and cheers for Ryland. Eva clapped quite softly, not wanting to add onto the deafening sound of her classroom. She noticed that the back, in particular, was the loudest segment of their classroom. She turned her head in curiosity, and to nobody's surprise, Olesya was the source of all of the noisy energy in the back of the room.
"Ryland, go ahead and take a seat here, right next to Eva." Their teacher said, gesturing to the seat next to her. Ryland's eyes followed the direction of Mr. Robert's arm and landed on Eva. For some unexplainable reason, his gaze made Eva feel uneasy. Even when she avoided eye contact, he could still feel his eyes on her, analyzing her or something. She shifted in her seat and straightened her posture—she hadn't realized that she'd been slouching all this time. Finally, the boy hesitantly took his seat next to her.
With that, their teacher started their discussion on parabolas. Eva took a pen out of her pencil case and started writing down everything Mr. Robert was writing on their whiteboard. Math was one of her weak spots, so she had to be extra focused in math class. It was just her, the equations, and the teacher. She was was solving for the vertex of a parabola when she felt a tap on her shoulder.
She turned and looked at the boy next to her. What was his name again? Ah, right, Ryland. Why did that name feel familiar? She could've sworn she'd heard it somewhere before.
"Hey, knock knock." He said.
"Yes?" She responded. She knew what 'knock knock' jokes were, but she didn't have the time nor the energy to participate in a joke.
"You're supposed to say "who's there?"" Ryland said matter-of-factly.
Eva frowned. "I'm not good at jokes."
"Why not?" He asked, and didn't get an answer. "Did you know that making jokes is a sign of intelligence?"
"You made that up." Eva was starting to get exasperated. She was busy and she didn't need anyone to bother her in the middle of class. In a way, though, she was impressed by his boldness. Most people respected (feared) her too much to annoy her like that.
"Maybe I did. It's probably true, though." He said, shrugging. Eva could see the correlation, but she wasn't going to give him that. "Anyway, your name is Eva, right?"
Her frown deepened. "Yes, didn't you hear Mr. Robert earlier?" She snapped. She just wanted to focus on doing the practice problems Mr. Robert wrote on the board. "Call me Stratt, please." She added. She didn't like anyone, save for a few exceptions, calling her Eva. It felt too personal.
"Why Stratt? Why not Eva?" He asked, curiosity gleaming in his eyes. Why did he even care?
"I just prefer to be addressed by my last name. Is there anything wrong with that?"
"I guess not, not necessarily. But in that case, call me Grace." He replied, a smug smile appearing on his face.
She really didn't want to respond, but she couldn't help but ask, "I thought you didn't mind being called either Ryland or Grace?"
"Well yeah, but if you're making me call you by your last name, then you have to call me by my last name too."
"Okay." She said flatly.
Stratt signed in relief as Grace stopped talking for a minute, presumably thinking of something else to say. He did not stop talking, did he? Even Olesya didn't bother her while class was ongoing.
"Your last name's Stratt. So are you like, German-"
"Grace, I'm trying really hard to listen to the lesson. You might not want or need to listen, but I do. I suggest you do the same." She snapped, turning her head to the whiteboard.
Grace muttered under his breath—he was probably cussing her out or something. Eva didn't care. She was thankful that she finally got him to stop trying to talk to her, since she was finally able to focus on the parabolas on the board. It was really quite impressive how perfectly Mr. Robert could draw a parabola.
Math class soon came to an end, and Eva was satisfied with her understanding of the topic. She was glad that she was able to grasp the lesson even while she was being pestered by her annoying seatmate.
Dr. Li, their Biology professor, entered the classroom soon after Mr. Robert left. Eva noticed him holding a stack of papers as he entered and couldn't help but wonder why he didn't put them into a bag or briefcase of some sort.
"Goodmorning, class." He greeted unemotionally. Dr. Li was a very straightforward, no-nonsense man. He didn't believe in dilly-dallying. For that, Eva was quite fond of him. "Hello to our new student. I hope you enjoy it here." He said, nodding to the boy next to Eva.
"I will not be teaching today, as I have a sore throat and it hurts to speak," The professor said. Eva could see the smiles creeping up on her classmates' faces, happy to avoid a long Biology lecture. "However, I prepared some worksheets." He said, turning her classmates' smiles into frowns.
"You're supposed to research the answers to the questions on the worksheet. But worry not, this will be by pair." He continued. Eva began to turn her head to look at Olesya; they usually paired up whenever their teachers gave out assignments by pair. Despite her chaotic energy, she was quite a competent and intelligent partner.
"But, but! Listen to the but! I've already chosen your pairmates." Eva frowned. She didn't like being grouped randomly. She admitted, she liked being in control, but she didn't exactly enjoy doing all of the work when giving group assignments. "Come and get a worksheet when I call your pair. Only one worksheet per pair."
"Dubois & Shapiro, Yao & Ilyukhina, Komorov & Jacobs.."
Eva looked out the window to her left. The wind was flowing through the trees so beautifully, it caused the red-orange autumn leaves to fall to the ground in a manner so perfect you'd think they were in a movie.
She hadn't noticed she'd been zoning out, so she was startled by the mention of her own last name, "Lastly, Stratt & Grace." Dr. Li announced.
Eva scowled at the boy next to her. She was about to command Grace to get a worksheet, when she heard a Russian accent exclaim, "Top student & the new student, eh. Very original sir, I like it!" Olesya gave the professor a thumbs up and a large smile. Olesya often randomly shouted comments like that, no matter how many teachers told her off.
Dr. Li left the class alone for the remainder of the period to work on the worksheets by themselves. Grace took a worksheet from the teacher's table, which was directly in front of them, and placed it on his desk.
"Top student, huh?" He teased.
Eva raised an eyebrow at him. "Yes, is it surprising?" she asked.
"No, not at all." He smiled at her, a smug smile. Was he capable of smiling not so smugly? "It's perfectly on brand, actually. Why else would you have been so focused on parabolas?"
"What if I was actually failing math and needed to focus in order to pass? Would you have been so adamant on distracting me then?" She asked quizzically.
"It was obvious you weren't, and I wasn't distracting you."
"Yes, you were." She said flatly. "Anyway, would you want to work on this during our free period, at the library? It's right after lunch." She said begrudgingly, shifting the conversation. Talking with this boy was irritating her. She couldn't believe that she had to deal with him even more later that day.
"Sure. You'll have to show me where it is, though. I don't exactly know where everything is." He remarked with a small smile. He absolutely knew that he was aggravating her. The thought only irritated her even more.
"Fine. I'll just find you later." She conceded. She had no choice but to help him out. Why did the new students always have to be thrown at the top students?
Their other classes seemed to fly by. In history, her favorite subject by far, they discussed the middle ages—specifically, the black death. She found herself engrossed in the discussion, interested in how one pandemic could wipe out half of the population of an entire continent.
She couldn't help but notice her seatmate not paying any attention. How could he not listen to history? Didn't he know how significant it was? If a pandemic or whatever event that could wipe out a large percentage of the world's population were to happen, they'd have to look at historical events to know how to handle the human effects. Was he ignorant?
After history, they had chemistry class, where they discussed electrochemistry. Eva was able to get a good grasp on the lesson, but she wasn't confident yet. She'd have to study the lecture more after school—which meant after her student council meeting, after she finished the two projects she still had to work on, and after she worked on some assignments. She prayed that she'd still be able to sleep, even if just for a tiny bit of time, after she finished all of her requirements.
She didn't mind, though. The peace of sleep didn't even begin to compare to the rush and ego boost Eva got from perfect grades.
They had physics afterward. Their lecture was on electromagnetism, which Eva was able to understand well enough. Thank goodness, she wouldn't have to study that when she got home.
Grace seemed to actually pay attention to chemistry and physics. He was even participating in the discussions and answering the teachers' questions. That was interesting, she thought he just didn't care about school at all. So, why did he only pay attention to the sciences? Did he just not care about the humanities?
She knew she was jumping to conclusions, but come on, all the signs were pointing to the boy beside her being ignorant. Her hypothesis made sense, and she was often right, so why would she be wrong about him?
Eva's stomach had began to rumble. Maybe she should've made breakfast that morning. Well, thankfully, the bell rang and lunchtime finally came. Her classmates immediately started rushing out of the door while their physics teacher was still giving final reminders. Eva followed her classmates—she already knew whatever their physics teacher was saying anyway. Homework in canvas, quiz next week, yada yada yada.
She immediately opened the packed lunch her mom made her the second she sat down at her usual table. The table was empty, except for her. Many people had asked to sit and eat lunch with her before, Olesya the most notable of those who asked. She was awfully insistent, but eventually backed down once Eva made it clear that she would not be letting Olesya sit with her anytime soon.
She devoured her meal — chicken with some rice — quickly, sighing in relief at the satisfaction of a full, or atleast half-full, stomach. She felt like she was about to pass out earlier. Maybe she should develop better habits.
She took to extra free time to read more of her book. She looked up from her book after reading a few pages, spotting the same blond head of hair that was sitting next to her earlier at a table not far from hers. He was laughing with Olesya and her whole group. It seemed like they had adopted him. Good for him. Having good friends and camaraderie was good for most people.
Not so much her, though. She had no time nor space in her life for that.
Eva looked at her watch — 5 minutes before study period. She had to go to the library with Grace and do some Biology worksheet. Would he even contribute to anything? She'd determined that he's ignorant, but she still didn't know what kind of partner he was.
She looked up at his table. He and his newfound friends were still there, but it seemed like their conversation was packing up. She took that as her cue to approach Grace.
Every step she took towards him illicited some sort of pain reaction in her. Gosh, screw Dr. Li. And Grace. Screw them both. Especially Grace, though. Why did he have to be such a pain?
She nudged his shoulder from behind him. He jumped.
It was a small jump, really, anyone else wouldn't have noticed it.
Anyone but her.
She examined him, letting her eyes analyze him up and down. He looked squeamish for a split second, such a short second, then put his normal, smug face back on. She couldn't help the tiny furrow of her brow and the upturn of her lips that emerged. He was really an intriguing person. An annoying one, but intriguing.
"Biology worksheet, remember?" She began, looking at him expectantly. "Let's go." She called, already walking away, not waiting for him to stand up.
The sound of him rushing to leave the table to follow her put a small smile on her face, which she immediately schooled as he ran to walk alongside her.
"So…" He started, awkwardly. "You're student council president?"
"Yes," she clicked her tongue, curious. "How did you find out?"
"I just know. I know everything." He jokes. Well, it's either that or he's an arrogant dimwit, on top of being annoying.
She tilted her head to look at him, unimpressed. He really did not tell good jokes. So much for it being a sign of intelligence.
"Okay, Ilyukhina told me." He conceded, succumbing to her piercing gaze.
No surprise there. Nobody but Olesya would be so eager to talk to new students about her.
"Okay." She nodded at him. "We're here." She said, gesturing to the pair of wooden doors in front of them.
The two walked in and were met with aisles lined with bookshelves. Unlike many school libraries, Grover Cleveland had quite the large selection. The library was the perfect place for students to study, read, or just rest after hours of being at school.
Eva in particular spent a lot in the library. Its peacefulness destressed her, which is why it was ironic that she was walking in with a boy who had done nothing but stress her out in the miniscule amount of time they had spent together.
She led Grace into an empty study room and grabbed her laptop from her bag before sitting down in front of the boy.
"Do you go here a lot? Like, to the library?" He asked.
"Yes, I do." She answered. He was very curious, wasn't he? He didn't seem to be able to stop asking questions.
Grace analyzed her, "You're very direct, huh?" He started. "Why do you go here a lot?"
"Why would I say more than what is being asked? It seems like a waste of time and energy." She commented. "I go here because it's very quiet. And it's peaceful. It's perfect for doing work."
Grace tilted his head at her, looking at her very intently. "You're very mysterious."
He assessed her reaction, which was a blank, dissatisfied face. "You know, it would do you some good to engage in some friendly conversation sometime."
She ignored the latter part of his statement. What right did he have to tell her what was good for her? "I'm not mysterious." She objected. She needed to steer their conversation to what they were actually there for, Biology. "Anyway, we have to research the basis of life. Are you familiar with the topic?"
He nodded, smiling. "Very familiar."
"Good. So obviously theres Carbon, then there are other elements and molecules that life needs, like—"
"Nitrogen, Phosphorus, Sulfur, Hydrogen, Oxygen," He started.
Eva was pleasantly surprised. Maybe she wouldn't need to do all the work after all.
"And then there are the essential molecules, like carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids."
Eva nodded. "Good," He seemed to be satisfied at her approval. "You forgot water though."
His brows furrowed. "Life doesn't require water." He argued.
Her expression mimicked his. Yes, it did? There's no way life didn't require water.
"I'm sorry, what?" She huffed, narrowing her eyes. "It's the common consensus among biologists. You are quite literally disagreeing with the experts."
"It doesn't!" He retorted. He ran his fingers through his hair stiffly. "Those experts aren't thinking about the different conditions organisms could have evolved through out there!"
He was actually firm on this. He seemed smart enough, but why was he so insistent on this doomed argument of his?
"All cellular processes require water," She wanted so badly to be mature— to be the bigger guy here. She just couldn't help but provoke him. She was curious to see how far he'll go to defend his claim, which was clearly wrong. "Don't let your ego make you look incompetent, Grace. You know you're wrong. You should learn when to back down."
"My— my ego?!" He scoffed. Eva raised her eyebrows and pointed her chin. She could tell he was starting to lose his temper — or had he lost it even before she called him egotistical and incompetent? "First of all, this has nothing to do with my ego, and I am not incompetent!"
"Of course, because you're acting very competent and level-headed right now." She interrupted.
"Second of all, you have no idea what the conditions on an entirely different planet are. You don't know how different they can be from us. What we know about life is from Earth and Earth only." He shot.
"And you know what? If you can't understand that, then you're just a staggering waste of carbon." Grace insulted.
She scoffed. His audacity appalled her.
Eva hoped he could feel the vexation and exasparation radiating from her body. Her? A waste of carbon?
Very mature of him.
"Excuse me?" She warned. "Did you just call me a waste of carbon?"
He raised an eyebrow. "No, I called you a staggering waste of carbon. There's a difference."
She laughed. An exasperated laugh, really. The nerve to double down!
"You think you're so smart, don't you?" She shot, crossing her arms and leaning back into her chair.
"Maybe I do, what's wrong with that?" He said, mimicking her posture. It was like he was trying to get her to hate him even more. "And you know what? That's really ironic of you to say. You think you're better than everyone just because you have the best grades." He shot.
"So what? It's true. I'm smarter than everyone in our class, including you." She said coldly. There was no doubt about it. If you were to ask literally anyone in their class, they'd said she was the smartest.
"Really? You're sure of that?" He responded, laughing sardonically. What, did he not believe her?
She nodded, "Yes, I am. This conversation has done nothing but prove that."
"It's done the opposite, really. I can prove you wrong." He smiled his smug smile once again. Gosh, that smile was really riling her up.
"About the water?" She questioned, squinting.
"No, about you being smarter." He paused. "I'll prove you wrong about the water one day, though."
She laughed. A large, shameless laugh. Right in his face. She could see his face flush in embarrassment. That was a sight she'd like to see over and over again.
Gosh, the idea of him being smarter than her was.. laughable, to say the least.
She composed herself and looked him dead in the eye. It wasn't often that she lost her composure or was so okay with being so rude to someone but.. something about Grace urged her to provoke him. To see what he's about.
"Your ego is almost as large as your head. I'll see you later, Ryland." She snarked, walking out of the study room.
She smiled at the scoff he let out at her calling him by the wrong name.
Unfortunately, she still had to deal with him during English class. Fortunately (for her, atleast), English was decidedly not Grace's strong suit.
"Let's ask our new student here a question," Mr. Douglas said, startling Grace. "What does the green light in The Great Gatsby represent?"
His face scrunched in confusion, eyes darting around the room as if the answer was written on the walls.
"Um, life?" He guessed.
Eva had to turn her head to the window to avoid laughing at her seatmate. So much for him being smarter.
"Close, but not quite." Their teacher said softly. "Eva, I'm sure you know the answer. Help our new friend out."
She gave her teacher a polite smile and answered, "The green light symbolizes his hope and love for Daisy, and the unobtainable American dream."
"Precisely! Thank you, Eva. Always on point." Mr. Douglas praised. Eva had always loved garnering praise from her teachers, especially from her favorites. Mr. Douglas was always so kind and believed in her so much. She didn't know how she could possibly not be fond of him.
She turned to Grace and gave him a smug smile, which he responded with an eyeroll. Somehow, the feeling of satisfaction from besting him was even better than the praise from her favorite teacher. Hm.
"My answer was close enough." He said in a hushed whisper, leaning closer to Eva so that she could hear clearly.
It was not, in fact, close. At all.
She laughed subtly. "No. Your answer was very vague. Mine was precise." She whispered in response.
"Mine was straightforward." He retorted. Mr. Douglas had started discussing Daisy Buchanan and why she had to marry Tom Buchanan despite being in love with Jay Gatsby.
"Straightforward and wrong." She sassed, turning her attention back to their teacher.
After a long and enlightening discussion on The Great Gatsby, the bell finally rang for the last time that day.
She sat down in the car and exhaled deeply. It had been a very long day. Shehad to deal with so many discussions on so many different, complicated topics — and it didn't help that her seatmate was so intent on distracting her every class. Maybe that's how he intended to prove that he was smarter than her. It didn't seem to be working out. He'd need to find a better plan.
Grace. The name felt so familiar to her. But why?
She opened her phone and searched the name up. Ryland Grace. She didn't even know why she searched him up; if he were a normal person, nothing would show up.
But she had a feeling he wasn't exactly normal.
The screen loaded and revealed various articles, all praising Grace for his intelligence and achievements and success in different academic competitions.
Grace getting a gold medal in a Physics competition. And a Chemistry competition. And another Physics competition.
Not to mention all of his accomplishments in Biology. He somehow got a silver medal in the USA Biology Olympiad National Finals as a sophomore. Gosh, if you had told her yesterday that this boy believed that life didn't require water, she would've laughed in your face.
She put her phone down and closed her eyes. She didn't need to see any more of Grace's accomplishments. Didn't need to feel worried about him being better than her.
It all made sense. Him telling her he'd prove that he was smarter. She hated to admit it, but he did appear to be quite intelligent. He might actually turn out to be a problem for her.
No, he was nothing to worry about. He was no match for her, no matter how many competitions he may have won or how many accomplishments he may have achieved. And she was determined to prove it to him until he admitted it.