Chapter 309

Back in Class C, Charlotte peeled off her damp uniform jacket and stuffed it into her desk drawer without a second thought.
The sound made Andrew glance up. He caught sight of her in a plain white short- sleeved shirt, her pale arm resting on the desk, face tilted down, eyes looking distant and cool.
Thinking she was anxious about the exam, Andrew tried to be reassuring.
“Charlotte, your hand hasn’t healed yet. It’s fine if you skip the test this time. I asked around, and there’s a chance for a make-up.”
Charlotte shot him a look. “Who said I’m not taking it?” Her hand was hurt, not broken. She turned away, clearly done with the conversation.
Before long, it was time for the exam. Charlotte grabbed a pen, her expression unreadable, and headed for the exam room. Andrew, Parrish, and Shirley trailed after her.
As they walked down the hallway, other students automatically stepped aside. Their eyes flickered from Charlotte’s face to her right hand. The bandages were gone, but it was obvious her hand wasn’t fully recovered.
“I heard her hand’s injured. She can barely hold a pen. Why even bother with the exam?”
“Yeah,” another girl chimed in, “she got first place in physics last time. Her class was so proud.”
“But this is the national exam. There are so many people. I wonder if she’s any good at other subjects. What if she comes in dead last?”
“Her other subjects must be bad,” a girl said knowingly, arms crossed. “If she was good at everything, do you think Lamplighter College would’ve let her go?”
That actually sounded pretty reasonable.
“She already finished last at Vanguard High before. I’m just worried she’ll be last in the whole country this time.” Vanguard High students always ranked near the top. If Charlotte really finished last, the school would never hear the end of it.
Charlotte walked into the exam hall and found her seat. She pulled a pen from her pocket and sat down, silent, then pulled out her phone and scrolled.
Two minutes earlier, Anthony had messaged her: [Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.]
She let a tiny smile slip, then powered off her phone and set it on the proctor’s desk.
In the back corner, Olivia was pretending to study poetry. She watched Charlotte, lips curling into a sneer. If she were in Charlotte’s shoes, she would rather skip the test than risk embarrassing herself by coming in last.
A few minutes later, the proctor walked in with a stack of exams and started handing them out. When he got to Charlotte, he paused, looking worried. “Are you sure you can take the exam like this? Your hand doesn’t look healed.”
“Mhm.” Charlotte kept her response short. With everyone watching, she picked up her pen and slowly wrote her name at the top of the page.
Olivia watched her, her smile full of mockery. Even if Charlotte’s hand wasn’t hurt, did anyone really believe she could solve the problems? She was just putting on a show. Just like the others said, if she was really some kind of genius, that mediocre middle school wouldn’t have let her leave. It pointed to one thing: physics was the only subject Charlotte could handle. With that thought, Olivia felt a lot better and even started to feel confident. The national top three spots this time would surely go to her.
“Just do your best,” the proctor sighed as he handed over the paper.
After the third subject, news of Charlotte taking the exam with an injury had spread all over the school. Underclassmen were making bets about how shed rank. Most people thought she was just faking it and she’d probably end up at the bottom again.
Shirley pressed her lips together and leaned over to Charlotte, whispering, “It’s okay, Charlotte. If you weren’t hurt, you’d totally crush this.”
Charlotte just smiled a little and patted her on the shoulder. “What if I can crush it even with an injury?” She walked off toward the school gate, her steps a bit hurried.
“Crush it even with an injury?” Shirley blinked at Andrew, who was staring at a sports car parked nearby. She lowered her voice. “Why doesn’t Mr. Blair ever give you a ride when he picks up Charlotte?”
Andrew rolled his eyes. “Because Charlotte is obviously more important than me.”
“That’s so unfair!”
Andrew just grinned, looking a little too pleased. “Tonight, I’m not the one who’s in trouble. It’s Charlotte.”
“Huh?” Shirley was totally lost.
Andrew leaned in and whispered, “I
just told Anthony that Charlotte’s hand is fine for writing.” She could write but kept using her injury as exceto skip t
homewo
an Tonight. Anthony was definitely going to have words with her.