Trapped in a Room with the Top Student for Better Scores Chapter 06

Trapped in a Room with the Top Student for Better Scores Chapter 06

The second I materialized in the “Improve Your Grades or You Can’t Leave” room and saw Declan, my legs reacted before my brain could catch up.

I was halfway through turning around when it hit me-there was nowhere to go.

I turned back without a word.

Declan set two glasses of milk on the desk.

He looked at me like [Go ahead. Run. Why’d you stop?].

“Look, I get that we’re pretending not to know each other. But you don’t have to run from me like

that.”

His voice gave nothing away.

“You’re acting like we have something to hide.”

I sat down and held a book up between us, half-hidden behind it. “Isn’t that what you

asked quietly.

He didn’t answer.

wanted?” I

He dragged his chair around and sat directly across from me. The book couldn’t block him from this

angle.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Easier to check your work from here,” he said.

We got to work.

Declan was all business. He only talked about the problems. He didn’t look at me once.

If anything, the [We’re not close] energy radiating off him was stronger now than the first night.

The only problem was his legs. They were too long for the desk, and sitting directly across from each other, his knees kept bumping into mine.

“Sorry.”

He shifted away and finally looked at me.

I couldn’t take whatever this was-the silent standoff between two people who supposedly meant nothing to each other.

“Declan, we’re not just classmates.”

His pen stopped.

I smiled. “We’re friends.”

I rattled off the evidence: the notebook he’d built around my weak spots, the way he always

explained things so I could actually understand-not just so he could feel smart. He looked like the last person who’d have the patience for tutoring, but he never once talked down to me.

I probably went on way too long.

Then I dug through my bag and pulled out a gel pen-same bear topper as the one he kept grabbing, but this one had a tiny knitted hat on it.

“You keep stealing my pen every time. Figured you liked it.”

“I made the hat myself.”

He took it.

His fingers closed tightly around it.

He tilted his head, looked at me for a few quiet seconds, and then ducked his head and smiled.

“This bear with the hat…”

I waited for the compliment.

One eyebrow ticked up. “Looks even more like you.”

I couldn’t tell if that was supposed to be sweet or an insult.

“Give it back if you don’t want it.”

He held it up out of reach and leaned back.

“Did I say I didn’t want it? I said it was cute.”

I pulled my hand back and let it drop.

But did this mean we were okay?

Declan stood up and dragged his chair back to his side.

“You’re not checking my work anymore?”

“You know what you’re doing,” he said. “Plus, it’s cramped over there.”

He drew out the last word in that infuriating drawl.

“Also, I’m not your friend. We’re just classmates.”

I looked up and went still.

Not because of what he said.

Because his shirt collar hung loose, and he hadn’t noticed.

When he leaned forward to move the chair, the fabric slipped open, right in my line of sight.

I didn’t mean to look. But my eyes traced the path anyway, from the sharp line of his collarbone down to the hard planes of his chest.

One thought hit me.

Next week was another round of benchmark exams. I had to raise my grades.

But if the rewards kept escalating, how long could we keep pretending to be “just classmates”?

Next time, I’d tell the system to skip the reward and go straight to the punishment.

Worst case, I’d take his punishment and do his problem sets for him.

Then he wouldn’t be mad at me. Right?