Chapter 404
Cindy started to feel something was off when Claire missed school one day. At first, she figured Claire just caught a cold or something. But when Claire didn’t show up the next day either, Cindy couldn’t sit still anymore.
Could Claire really be that sick? Missing a day of classes this close to exams was risky enough, but missing two felt almost reckless. How could Claire be this relaxed about it?
Trying to fish for information, Cindy brought it up casually in front of Rose and a few others. “I wonder how Claire’s doing. She hasn’t been around for two days. I thought about visiting her, but I’m worried she wouldn’t like that. She never did give me her room number, anyway p>
Rose hesitated, clearly biting her tongue, but another girl spoke up before anyone else could. “Cindy, you didn’t know? Claire’s gone to the tryouts for the international math competition p>
They thought Cindy already knew, which was why no one had mentioned Claire in front of her lately. Nobody expected her to be out of the loop.
Cindy’s jaw dropped. “What?” Her voice squeaked in disbelief. She felt completely blindsided.
This year, the competition took place at the end of April, dangerously close to their final exams. Seniors usually skipped it, since the risk was just too high. Still, if you won, you got a free ticket to the best universities, and that was enough to make anyone take a gamble.
For Claire, though, the school made the decision for her. The timing worked out differently this year, so she could squeeze in tryouts with minimal disruption. The teachers knew she was the school’s best shot, and Octavia also pushed her to compete, seeing it as a chance to shine.
The James family had always made sure Claire never missed a single competition, because every one of her awards was something her parents could brag about. At this point, going to these contests was second nature to her. With the new schedule, Claire had only been in class for a month before leaving for the final round of selections.
She’d already arrived in Cabinda the day before, catching up with friends she hadn’t seen in a while. Only twelve students made it to this stage, and from those, six would be chosen for the team, with the other six as alternates. The three days of tests were intense-everyone put everything on the line.
Claire was so focused, she didn’t have a single moment to think about Cindy or the rest of her family.
Meanwhile, Cindy went home that same day, crying her eyes out.
She usually tried to go home only once a week, wanting to prove she was just as independent as Claire. So when she showed up out of the blue, Octavia noticed right away that something was wrong.
When Cindy explained she was upset because of Claire’s competition, Octavia just sighed, completely at a loss for what to do.
“Cindy, maybe it’s time to accept
that Claire really is better than you at this,” Octavia said gently. “You can’t beat her when it comes to math competitions, unless you decide to repeat a year of school. Even then, you’d still be in your senior year, and honestly, neither I nor your teachers would want to see you spending that time and energy on a contest like this. The only way would be for you to go back and redo junior year p>
“Everyone’s different. It’s just that your strengths don’t line up with Claire’s in this area p>
Having her mom compare her to Claire not once, but twice, made Cindy cry even harder.
Why? What made Claire so special? Why was everyone-including teachers and classmates-always on her side. Maybe that was why she hadn’t heard anything about the tryouts. It had to be a conspiracy. The whole class must have agreed not to tell her, just to mess with her.
“Mom, do you like Claire more than me?” Cindy whispered, her eyes still wet with tears.
Octavia felt helpless. She took a
deep breath and tried to comforte her. “Of course not. Cindy, you’re the one love most. Thinking about you spending all those years living in the countryside breaks my heart p>