I Was Sick Of Second Place So I Took Everything Chapter 05

I Was Sick Of Second Place So I Took Everything Chapter 05

Silas’s tutoring was nothing like the private tutors I’d worked with before. And he was honest about it.

“Building a solid foundation is important, but if that’s all you focus on, it won’t get you anywhere.”

“The problem types I’m giving you? You might not see a single one in all of senior year. The point is to

stretch your thinking.”

He didn’t just tutor my STEM subjects.

I studied in the second-floor living room at the Sheffield House, using Silas’s desk that had been moved out

from his study.

During the day, his parents were at work, so it was usually just the two of us at home, along with the

housekeeper who came by to cook.

Every so often, Silas would lean over and ask, his voice dripping with temptation, “Estelle, want some junk

food?”

I had a strong suspicion that a good portion of the tutoring fees my mom paid him ended up in both our

stomachs.

When I worked on problems, he lounged behind me, scrolling on his phone.

Once I finished, I would turn around to get him to check my work.

One time, I turned around to find him passed out on the couch.

I crouched beside him and saw, up close, his flawless skin, sharp nose, and thick lashes.

Jealousy? Oh, that came as easy as breathing.

After waiting ten minutes with no sign of him waking up, I reached out and poked his arm.

Silas stirred and blinked sleepily at me crouching beside him.

It took him a few seconds to process. “You done?”

He sat up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. I was up gaming until four a.m. Little tired.”

Then he walked over to the desk, picked up my scratch paper, and sized it up in one glance. Call it right or

wrong, just like that.

I stared at him.

He stayed up until four playing games, and still got up the next morning to tutor me?

Where did he get that kind of energy? I was so jealous.

That was how I spent my entire summer learning under Silas.

The thought of getting first place drove me to the point of forgetting to eat and sleep.

I worked through past exam papers from previous years. If it wasn’t an essay question, I squeezed every last point out of it.

Before I knew it, school started again.

My school started a little earlier than his. Before I went back, he handed me another study plan.

“Your teachers have to think about the whole class. This plan? It’s tailored for you.”

“And these-I picked these workbooks out for you at the bookstore.”

“Any questions, just message me.”

I had to hand it to him-Silas was a dedicated tutor.

He charged by the hour, but he often went overtime and never asked my mom for extra pay.

Senior year didn’t reshuffle classes, so I was surrounded by familiar faces. But the atmosphere in the

classroom was noticeably more tense.

Every teacher just kept dishing out the same motivational stuff.

They’d say things lik

“It’s not over till it’s over! Anyone can still come from behind and surprise us all.”

I’d heard lines like that more times than I could count.

Then came the first monthly exam of senior year.

For every subject, I was dialed in. After finishing, I went back and checked my answers-carefully.

Hiring Silas had definitely been worth it. I could feel my thinking becoming clearer when solving problems.

The day the rankings were posted, I suppressed the anxiety bubbling inside me and casually walked past the

board.

My gaze drifted slowly to the first name.

Estelle Harper. First place. My first number one in all of high school.

The corners of my lips lifted slightly as I moved my gaze to the second name. It wasn’t Caleb,

I scanned all the way down to tenth. Still nothing.

Something was off.