Trapped in a Room with the Top Student for Better Scores Chapter 10

Trapped in a Room with the Top Student for Better Scores Chapter 10

“Next semester is senior year, and you’re still stuck with me.”

Our first-period teacher was wrapping up the end-of-year announcements while everyone groaned about summer break being criminally short.

The period ended, and I got called to the office.

My teacher piled on the praise, then passed me off to the AP coordinator.

A semester ago, I wouldn’t have dared imagine this.

“Your improvement this semester is unreal, especially in math. Are you seeing a tutor?”

“Which one? We need to recommend them.”

The teachers laughed. I wished they hadn’t brought it up.

The second they did, he filled my head again.

Get out of my head. Get out of my head.

I chanted it in my head like a mantra.

It was actually working. He was fading.

Then a voice came from right beside me, low and unhurried.

It was over.

So much for the mantra.

Declan reached past me to hand a folder to the coordinator.

The coordinator asked about his plans for next semester,

He named an out-of-state university.

They chatted briefly, and he turned to leave. A few AP guys who’d been hovering jumped in with

jokes.

The coordinator tried to introduce me. “Hey, this is the new student joining the AP track next

semester. Her name is…”

“We know her! We know, we know.”

“How do you know her?”

They didn’t answer. They just grinned at me like idiots.

“Hi, Avery! Hey, Avery!”

The coordinator looked completely lost.

Declan shoved them out the door and left.

The coordinator had me fill out some course registration paperwork and walked me through what

the AP classes were covering.

We talked for almost an hour.

When I finally walked out, I made it two steps toward the stairs and stopped.

Declan was leaning against the stairwell railing.

The summer breeze pressed his T-shirt against his shoulders, and he looked like he’d been there a while-half asleep, unhurried, like always.

I had no idea who he was waiting for.

Students passed on the stairs around him. He looked up and saw me.

He pushed off the railing and started walking over.

My heart kicked.

Before my brain caught up, my body turned and I was already walking away.

Last time I ran, I had a reason.

This time, I didn’t know what I was running from.

The classroom was nearly empty when I got back. One girl was still packing up.

The last papers had been handed back, and summer break officially started after early dismissal.

A cluster of backpacks sat near Nolan’s desk. He must have hit the courts.

The girl glanced at me, then walked over, hesitating.

“Avery.” We didn’t usually talk.

“What’s up?”

“Can I take pictures of your math notes?” She was blushing. “My scores used to be about the same as yours, and I think your notes would really help. I want to try to bring my scores up, too.”

I dug out a stack of notebooks and walked her through every study trick that had worked for me. We swapped numbers.

The bell rang. She headed home.

I was packing up my things for the summer.

Ding.

My hands went still. The system. I hadn’t heard it in weeks.

[Congratulations on raising your scores. Reward unlocked!]

[Find the place you most want to touch on your study partner. Hold for five minutes!]

[Time remaining: fifteen minutes.]

[Location restricted to: the classroom.]

I dropped into my chair and buried my face in my arms.

My heart was hammering so hard I couldn’t even get my phone out to text Declan.

Calm down. Calm down.

Why was I the only one losing my mind over this?

After a long time, I lifted my head.

Declan was sitting in the chair next to mine. I had no idea when he’d gotten there.

He was watching me, completely at ease.

Just like every night in the room.

The midsummer heat pressed against the windows. The classroom was empty, desks pushed close

together.

The curtains were half drawn, and we sat in the back corner, out of the light.

“Your turn this time,” I said. “It can’t always be my turn.”

He didn’t even consider it. “You do it.”

“Again? You’re cheating.”

“Yeah. I’m cheating.”

“You said you wouldn’t catch feelings. You said a hand was enough to finish the task.

He leaned back. In the shadow, his eyes were dark and unreadable.

“Avery.”

His voice was almost too quiet to hear.

“I know where it is. That’s why I can’t.”

My heart clenched.

“So,” he said, “let me cheat. Just this once.”

The system chimed.

[Time remaining: five minutes.]

[Please note: this is the final reward. Failure to complete it will trigger the ultimate punishment.]

I reached out and touched his hand.

His fingers curled, twitching once before going completely still under mine.

The system didn’t respond.

His brow lifted. “Try harder.”

I’d forgotten how to breathe, but I had to keep going.

My brain was all static.

He watched me flounder, and something teasing flickered behind his eyes.

Fine. If he was going to look at me like that, I’d just go for it.

Hair. Eyes. The bridge of his nose.

When my fingers grazed the edge of his mouth, the smile disappeared.

Declan looked away. His lashes dipped, and he waited.

The system chimed: [Time remaining: one minute.]

Wrong.

All of it, wrong.

I pulled my hand back. I was done trying.

“Let’s just skip it,” I said. “We’ll take the punishment.”

“No.”

“It’s just problem sets. I’ll do yours for you.”

“No.”

“Why? I said I’d do them.”

He looked at me, his voice deceptively casual.

“Why can’t you finish the reward?”

A dozen seconds left. Footsteps drifted past outside the classroom.

My pulse was hammering, but I kept my voice down.

“I can’t finish it. There isn’t anywhere on you I want to touch.”

Three seconds.

No way out. Problem sets it was.

I turned to leave. I didn’t want to be in this corner one more second, where anyone could walk in.

He caught my wrist. One small pull, and my palm was flat against his chest, warm skin shifting

under the thin fabric of his shirt.

[You found it!]

[Hold for five minutes to complete the final reward!]

He let go. My hand jerked back by reflex.

He’d known the whole time.

He’d known before I did.

My ears burned.

I was mortified, and angry, and I made myself look him dead in the eye.

He was laughing at me.

Insufferable.

And with that exact face, that arrogant, impossible face, he asked, “You really don’t want to?”

“I don’t.”

My voice was steady. I was about to say I’d take the punishment, that problem sets didn’t scare me

anymore-

He dropped his forehead against my shoulder. His warmth, his scent, all of him, pressed close and

undeniable.

But his voice was quiet. Almost careful.

“I want to. Is that okay?”

Five minutes later.

Ding.

[Congratulations. All rewards completed!]

[Amazing! Cue confetti!]

The classroom door banged open. A backpack hit the floor.

I looked up. My friend stood there, a sports drink dangling from her mouth, face frozen in a look that said she’d only gone to the vending machines for five minutes and came back to find her best friend had gone rogue.

And behind her, tall enough to see everything over her head: Nolan.