Chapter 06
The bell signaling the end of class jolted me out of my reverie. I couldn’t believe 45 minutes had already flown by.
Usually each minute dragged on in agony for me. I’d be counting down the
seconds.
But today? It felt like I had barely blinked and the period was over. I wasn’t done learning yet!
I glanced down at my textbook, now crammed with notes scribbled all over.
It looked completely out of place next to my other pristine books.
A deep sense of fulfillment welled up inside me. I wished I could fill up every single
one of my textbooks like this.
Natalie and Jason brushed past me, but I paid them no mind, my thoughts already on tonight’s history homework.
That evening, for the first time ever, I dove straight into my assignments the
moment I got to my room.
My mom nearly had a heart attack. She wanted to say something but didn’t dare disturb me. I could hear her gleeful whispers outside my door.
“Honey, did you see? Emily is studying!”
Her voice brimmed with incredulous delight.
“Our baby girl is growing up, finally taking things seriously,” my dad said, sounding moved.
I couldn’t suppress the smile tugging at my
lips as I buried myself back in the
exercise book.
Before long, my history skills were improving by leaps and bounds.
Our history teacher was a bit of an old–school type, always stern–faced and serious–looking.
But he was generous with his praise for me.
Whenever I recited the material fluently, turned in quality homework, or paid attention in class, he would commend me.
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The more he complimented me, the harder I studied. I even found myself
memorizing history during other classes.
After getting home at night, I would skim through the history textbook we were learning from cover to cover.
Although I only studied for an hour, it was already a complete 180 compared to
before.
Soon, the first monthly exam of the new semester rolled around.
After receiving the history test, I scanned the questions with a good deal of
confidence.
Most of these were topics I had memorized in recent days.
The thing is, history isn’t all that difficult. You don’t need much foundational
knowledge.
As long as you have a decent memory, you can get by with rote memorization
alone.
My pen flew across the paper as I quickly finished off every question.
The other subjects weren’t nearly as easy though.
I had been so focused on history lately that I neglected my other classes, only half- listening to the lectures.
The questions looked slightly more familiar than before, but I still wasn’t sure of
the answers.
Left with no choice, I gritted my teeth and muddled through with a mix of educated guesses and blind stabs, at least managing to hand in a complete test. With the exams over, the anxiety started creeping in.
For the first time, I had made an earnest effort on the test.
How would I do? Would I improve or remain dead last?
Would the history teacher be disappointed in my results? Natalie and Jason were probably gearing up to mock me again….
All these thoughts swirled in my head, making it feel like it would burst. I couldn’t
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concentrate on anything, just waiting for my scores like a criminal awaiting
sentencing.
The monthly exam results came out soon enough.
I watched Natalie handing back the graded tests, taking a deep breath. When she got to me, Natalie glanced at my paper, her brows furrowing tightly. She stared at it for a good ten seconds or so, as if she couldn’t believe her eyes. After a moment, she swept past and tossed a test onto my desk.
For the first time in my life, I understood the meaning of nervousness. I picked up the paper with my eyes squeezed shut, not daring to look for the longest time. When I finally peeked, a huge red number jumped out at me.
History – 92.
I was absolutely stunned, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
If you’ve never been a terrible student, it’s hard to grasp this feeling. My scores had always been in the single digits. Even breaking 10 points took a stroke of luck.
And now I scored a 92?!
In the 90s?!
Was this really Emily Anderson’s grade?
I couldn’t help but grin as I flipped through the test paper over and over again. The few points I lost were on questions I had never seen before, after all, my foundation was too poor and I hadn’t finished learning the previous content. Just as I was overjoyed, the history teacher walked in.
The whole class instantly fell silent. He walked up to the podium, cleared his throat. lightly, and without any nonsense, directly took out the test papers.
“The questions this time were relatively difficult, but our classmates all did quite
well, which was unexpected to me.”
“This time…” He picked up a list and said, “There are three students who scored
above 90. Natalie Wilkinson 99, Jason Brooks 98.”
Then the history teacher smiled, “And Emily Anderson.” My heart instantly started pounding.
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“Emily Anderson has been studying very hard recently and is also very smart. She has made such great progress so quickly!”
“Emily Anderson got 92 points. Don’t be arrogant, keep working hard and aim for
100 next time!”
The whole class was in an uproar!
All the students looked over at me in amazement, whispering.
I saw a complex look in Jason Brooks‘ eyes, while Natalie Wilkinson’s face turned
ashen.
In an instant, the corners of my mouth stretched into a grin beyond my control. It’s hard to describe that kind of joy, a sense of achievement. The value of my life
seemed to be sublimated at this moment!
In a flash, I went from being a loser that everyone in the class looked down on to becoming a top student!
Although it was only in this one subject, at least it showed that my efforts had paid.
off!
No wonder everyone wants to study hard. It turns out that doing well in school gives you such a feeling! Pride, complacency, and satisfaction all mixed together, enough to make one feel on top of the world!
I forgot how I got through that class. When the class was over, a few girls gathered around Natalie Wilkinson and started talking.
Generally speaking, top students have a natural authority, always with a few
followers around them.
They seemed to deliberately want to annoy me, raising the volume of their voices. “Some people are not only bad at studying but also not clever. They can’t even cheat properly. Over 90? Who would believe that?”
“Exactly, what’s the point, just deceiving yourself.”
“Natalie Wilkinson, you’re still the best, getting 99 again. You’re awesome! How do
you study?”
Natalie Wilkinson’s expression became more pleasant as she smiled and said:
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“Only 99, I shouldn’t have lost that one point due to carelessness, you all know me, I never study at home.”
“Other people’s business has nothing to do with us. Little tricks may work for a
while but not forever. I actually find it quite pitiful, a failure in both relationships
and academics, hehe.”
She pursed her lips in a smile as the people around her joined in the mockery.
I clenched the test paper in my hand, feeling the good mood from earlier completely evaporate!
A surge of anger rushed to my heart. I felt the fuse in my brain snap with a “bang“. I abruptly stood up and strode over to Natalie Wilkinson.
My expression must have looked terrible. Natalie Wilkinson was startled by me,
then frowned and said:
“Emily Anderson, what are you doing? Are you going to hit someone?”
“You delinquents aren’t good at studying but sure are good at causing trouble.” Suppressing the anger in my heart, I said:
“Natalie Wilkinson, what did you just say? Have the guts to say it again!”
“Good words aren’t repeated!” She looked at me with disdain.
“Whoever has a guilty conscience takes it personally. Emily Anderson, sometimes I
really do pity you. Trying to attract attention is the only unsavory method you can think of, right?”
Her words felt like a steel blade stabbing into my heart. I was so furious I couldn’t see straight. Just as I was about to speak, my shoulder was suddenly shoved hard. I lost my balance and bumped into the corner of the desk behind me, sending a sharp pain through my waist.
Looking up, it was Jason Brooks..
He had his arm around Natalie Wilkinson, looking at me with disapproval all over
his face.
“Emily Anderson, what are you trying to do? Natalie Wilkinson isn’t the same kind of person as you. Don’t bring your delinquent ways here!”
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I was about to go mad with anger and shouted: “She slandered me for cheating, didn’t you hear?!”
Jason Brooks‘ expression was a bit complex.
“Emily Anderson, little tricks are useless. Everyone knows what’s going on.” “I advise you to keep your feet on the ground and stop being so clever.” In that instant, a raging fire almost burned me up entirely.
My mind went blank. I wanted nothing more than to take a knife and kill the disgusting couple in front of me.
Just because they’re good at studying they think they’re so great? They can look down on others and smear people?!
Those words came out of my mouth before I could react.
“What are you so proud of?!”
“This final exam, I will definitely surpass you!”
The whole class was silent for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Especially the few people around Natalie Wilkinson were practically rolling on the floor laughing.
“Emily Anderson, can’t you be a bit more realistic when you brag? Natalie Wilkinson is the top student in the grade. You’re going to surpass her?!”
“Talk is cheap! Dreaming, hahaha!”
Even Natalie Wilkinson was amused.
“Alright, Emily Anderson. If you can surpass me, I’ll do whatever you say.”
“If you can’t, then shout three times at the school gate: I, Emily Anderson, ami nothing but crap! Do you dare?!”
Her eyes full of confidence and disdain provoked me into a hot–headed fury.
“Fine! If I surpass you, you kneel and apologize to me at the school gate, admitting
you’re not as good as me!”
“Whatever you want!”
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She side–eyed me. “Bringing humiliation upon yourself, simply ridiculous!”
I mocked: “No need for you to act all high and mighty here. Just don’t regret it
later!”
With that, I grabbed my bag and walked out of the classroom.
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