Chapter 325

“If Charlotte really can’t keep up, maybe Olivia could help her out,” Ashley
suggested, her tone just a little too sweet. “Now that Olivia’s got her university plans set, she could spare some time to tutor Charlotte.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Eleanor replied, her face cool and unreadable. She stacked her papers neatly and was about to check in on Charlotte when the grade coordinator burst into the room, waving a sheet of paper and looking like he’d just won the lottery.
“Perfect, everyone’s here,” he said, grinning. “I can tell by your faces you already know the top scorer in the country is from our school.”
Ashley perked up and pulled Olivia a little closer, all smiles. “We heard! Is it true the exam graders are coming this afternoon?”
“It’s true,” the coordinator said, still beaming. “Vanguard High really outdid itself this year. Lots of students scored over six hundred, and three broke the seven hundred mark.”
Three? Ashley’s smile faltered. She shot Olivia a look. Other than Olivia and Shirley, who else could it be?
Olivia stared back, her heart skipping a beat. She was sure she’d checked everyone’s scores in the honors class. Only she and Shirley from Class C had scored over seven hundred. Who was the third? Her fingers tensed, her nerves prickling.
No way… Could it be? Impossible. The test was brutal this year. If Charlotte was capable of scoring over seven hundred, her old school would have fought to keep her. Olivia must have missed someone. There was just no way it could be Charlotte.
“Who’s the third student, besides Olivia and Shirley?” Ashley asked, sounding so sure of herself. “With Olivia’s score, she must have ranked number one in the country. She can get into any program she wants.”
The coordinator hesitated, glancing down at the sheet. “Olivia got a 714. That’s an incredible score and ranks her very high nationwide.”
“I knew she’d make us proud!” Ashley said, squeezing Olivia’s hand.
“But,” the coordinator said, the mood shifting, “Olivia isn’t the top scorer this time.”
Ashley and Olivia froze, their smiles vanishing. They just stared at him, hot quite believing what they d heard. “What do you mean.net>
If it wasn’t Olivia, then who? Who else at Vanguard High could pull that off?
Olivia felt the color drain from her face. She stood rooted to the spot, her mind blank.
“Take a look,” the coordinator said, handing out copies of the ranking sheet.
Every teacher flipped to the first line at the same time, then all eyes turned to Eleanor.
“Eleanor, is this right? Charlotte got the highest score in the country?” one teacher asked, almost in disbelief.
Eleanor herself was stunned, her
mouth opening but no words
coming out. Charlotte only lost thirty points in Literature every other… subject was a perfect score.
“How could it be Charlotte?” Ashley whispered, staring at Olivia, whose face looked as shocked as she felt Ashley’s own cheeks flushed, then turned pale. Wasn’t Charlotte supposed to have hurt her hand?
Everyone said she hadn’t even
finished her essay. How did she pull
this off?

All that bragging from before just made the embarrassment sting that much more
now.