Trapped in a Room with the Top Student for Better Scores Chapter 07

Trapped in a Room with the Top Student for Better Scores Chapter 07

That weekend, after the exam results came out, the girl who sits next to me in class and I went to a study cafe down the street.

Cicadas buzzed in the trees outside the second-floor windows. The AC was cranked down to freezing.

I scrolled through the class group chat.

Nolan held on to first. I was still second, one point behind.

But he’d left an entire problem blank and turned his paper in early.

The group chat was buzzing. Everyone figured he’d tanked his score on purpose for Blair, so the

two of them could test into the AP track together next semester.

“Isn’t there only one spot?” someone asked.

“What if you don’t get first next time?”

He replied fast: “Is first place supposed to be hard?”

The chat exploded with people begging him to share whatever test-taking magic he had.

I put my phone down and got back to work.

I was in the middle of a problem when the chair next to me scraped back. Someone dropped into it,

propping his chin on his hand, watching me.

Nolan.

No hello. Just: “Who’s tutoring you? Did you come here with them?”

This used to be our spot. His older brother owned the place, so we always got a discount.

“Nobody,” I said.

Something about that answer bothered him. He reached over and flipped through my notebook.

His old handwriting was all over it. So were the little notes we used to scribble to each other in the

margins, all crossed out now.

He flipped a few more pages, bored.

“Trying this hard? You’re that desperate to follow me to the same colleges?”

“I’m doing this for myself,” I said.

He scoffed, clearly not buying it.

“Here’s the deal. Let Blair beat you next exam. Once she and I both make the AP track, I’ll tutor you

again.”

I grabbed a stack of test papers and threw them at him. He didn’t even try to dodge, and the edge of a packet clipped his cheek, leaving a faint red mark.

He smiled anyway, catching my wrist before I could pull back.

“And you say this isn’t about me.”

“Relax, I’m kidding. I’ll coach her right past you myself. It’s only a matter of time.”

I shoved him off. He didn’t seem to care.

He went back to flipping through my notes. The first half was dense with his handwriting, slightly

messy.

Then he hit the recent pages.

Someone had crossed out his solutions in red and rewritten them: cleaner, sharper, easier to

follow.

A boy’s handwriting. And I’d drawn a smiley face next to it.

Nolan stared at it for a long time. Then he tossed the notebook back on the desk.

“Who’s teaching you?”

His voice had dropped. I knew that tone: he was about to get angry.

Right then, footsteps came down the aisle.

I looked

The person walking in was tall and lean, in a black T-shirt, with a jawline sharp enough

to cut glass.

Declan spotted me immediately.

He also saw Nolan, leaning in close, his hand near mine, looking every bit like a boy trying to win a

girl back.

Gavin trailed behind him, groaning.

“Seriously, why is every place we go crawling with couples?”

The study cafe was nearly empty; most people had gone out for lunch.

The AC hummed in the silence.

Declan turned and walked out.

Nolan watched him go, then looked away.

He knew Declan.

Nolan had always been the center of everything, effortlessly—or at least that was what he liked people to think. Then he got to high school and met someone who didn’t have to try at all.

He couldn’t stand Declan. He never said it out loud, except to me.

Freshman year, I’d made the mistake of praising Declan once. Nolan didn’t speak to me for a month.

“If he’s so great, go chase him,” he’d said. “See if he even looks at you.”

He had Blair now. He probably didn’t care anymore.

Sure enough, Nolan shrugged it off, leaned against my desk, and kept pushing.

“Why won’t you tell me who’s helping you?”

He’d barely finished asking when Declan and the others walked back in.

They pulled out chairs and sat right behind me.

“Why here?” Gavin dropped his bag. “That whole side is empty.”

Declan sat with his back to me, earbuds in, his voice lazy. “It’s hot over there.”

A passing barista glanced at the thermostat, visibly confused. It was set to sixty degrees.

Nolan was still in my friend’s chair. He noticed the textbook with her name on the cover and figured

out who I’d come with.

His mood lifted instantly. He settled in like he planned to stay.

Behind me, Gavin reached into Declan’s pencil case to borrow a pen.

He pulled out the bear gel pen. The one with the tiny knitted hat.

“Oh my God.” Gavin’s face was priceless. “Declan, you’re seeing someone.”

Nolan’s head turned.

Declan glanced at the pen.

“No.”

“Then you’ve got a crush?”

“Found it,” Declan said. “I don’t even use it.”

“Uh-huh. You’re not denying the crush part.”

Gavin looked delighted, like he’d been waiting years for this. “With that face? Who is it?”

Declan ignored him and reached for the

pen.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Gavin held it back, pinching the little hat. “Since when are you this protective over a pen?”

Then Nolan stood up and snatched it out of Gavin’s hand.

Everyone turned to stare.

He recognized it.

Last winter break, I’d given him one just like it. He’d called it childish and wouldn’t take it.

I shrank into my seat.

This was bad.

I only had one move for making people feel appreciated, and I still had ten of these pens at home:

papa bears, mama bears, and an entire extended family of bears.

Nolan looked at Declan.

“Funny. Someone gave me one of these too. I didn’t want it.”

“I think I know whose this is. Want me to give it back?”

Silence behind me.

I could feel someone’s eyes on the back of my head.

I hunched lower over my papers.

A long pause. Then Declan spoke, his voice light.

“That so?”

Nolan was sure Declan would hand it over. “Didn’t you say you found it? You’re not going to return it?”

Declan just sat there. He didn’t move, didn’t shift, and somehow still made Nolan look smaller.

Backlit, his expression was perfectly unbothered.

“Yeah. And?”

The silence behind me deepened. Nobody had expected Declan to just refuse.

People were starting to trickle back from lunch. A few students from our school glanced over and

waved at Declan.

Nolan turned to me, pen in hand. “Avery, is this yours?”

I wanted to say yes.

But Declan’s words echoed: just classmates. I shook my head.

“No, it’s actually pretty common…” I caught Declan’s eyes and pivoted. “…not that common,

actually. But it’s not mine.”

Nolan looked at me, about to push further, when his phone buzzed. Blair.

He had to go.

He tossed the pen back to Declan without another word.

On his way out, he ruffled my hair before I could duck.

“Later, Avery.”

The lounge went quiet.

I glanced at Declan. His face gave away nothing.

If I explained myself tonight, maybe he wouldn’t be mad.

I was still working out my excuse when my friend bounced back with two iced lattes and shoved one in my hand.

She dropped her voice, but not nearly enough.

“I just ran into Nolan on the stairs.”

“You still like him that much? Avery, he’s trash. You need to move on.”‘

“There are other guys at the top of the class, you know. Like…”

Her eyes started scanning the room, and my stomach dropped.

But she didn’t go there.

“That guy from the cafeteria you swapped numbers with, the one who’s been texting you a lot, right? I heard he’s at the top of his AP Chem class.”

I bit into my drink’s straw.

“I don’t need to date someone in first place. I can get there myself.”

My friend sighed. “You’re still not over Nolan.”

Behind me, a chair scraped back.

“Leaving.”

“Already?” Gavin asked.

“Gotta buy something.”

His voice was perfectly even. He didn’t sound angry at all.

I let out a breath and went back to my problems.