Chapter 112 Gotta Admit It
In the lab, Betty hollered at Hector, "Hey, Hector, you're a whiz with numbers. Can you crunch these for me real quick? I need 'em ASAP!"
Hector, buried in his own work, shot back, "Use the computer, Betty. I'm swamped."
"Come on, man! This is urgent. It'll only take a few minutes!"
Hector nodded towards Camilla at the other bench. "Ask her. She's got this."
Everyone knew Camilla was a pro, except Doris, who still thought Camilla just got lucky.
"Need a hand, Betty?" Camilla chimed in.
Betty jumped on it, "Yes, please! Can you check this out?"
Two minutes later, Camilla said, "Done. Sent it to you on the intranet."
Betty's jaw dropped. "That fast?!"
Hector paused, reached for the data, and said, "Let me see."
Betty rolled her eyes. "Seriously? I asked you first, and you blew me off. Now you wanna double-check? Waste of time!"
Hector ignored her and dove into the numbers.
Darren, watching, checked the clock.
Hector said, "Done. How long?"
Darren replied, "Two minutes and five seconds."
Camilla had taken just over two minutes too.
Hector's eyes lit up, looking at Camilla like she was gold. "You study mental math?"
Camilla shrugged, "A bit."
"When did you start?"
"Five? Six? Can't remember, it's been ages." Camilla scratched her head, a bit shy.
Hector gulped. "That's it?"
"What else?" Camilla asked, confused.
Darren, itching for a challenge, said, "I'm learning mental math from Hector too. Camilla, wanna have a showdown?"
All eyes turned to Darren.
Hector nodded eagerly. "Great idea. Darren's been at it for six months. A contest would be perfect to see his progress. I'll make the questions. Simple rules: whoever gets the most right in ten minutes wins. Deal?"
Betty jumped in, "If we're doing this, let's make it interesting. Loser buys dinner for everyone!"
Darren rolled up his sleeves. "Bring it on! If someone's buying, I'm eating good tonight."
Camilla, loving the energy, smiled. "Sure, loser treats. But Darren, get ready to spend some cash."
Camilla, usually chill, rarely got this competitive, which hyped everyone up.
Doris, though, sneered, "Who does she think she is, acting all smart?"
Doris's mutter was only heard by Darren, who was closest.
Betty rubbed her hands together. "Hector, hurry up with the questions. I'm pumped!"
Hector scribbled down five questions in under thirty seconds. "Ready? Timer starts now!"
Camilla glanced at the questions, knowing they were straightforward calculations, no fancy formulas needed. It was all about speed and accuracy.
By the third minute, Camilla had knocked out two questions.
Darren was quicker, already on his third.
Betty and Hector exchanged a look.
Betty asked, "Who do you think's gonna take it?"
Hector replied, "At this pace, Darren's got the edge."
Betty nodded, clearly on the same page.
By the fifth minute, Camilla had knocked out four questions and was on the fifth.
Darren hit a snag on the fourth question, slowing down a bit.
Camilla pulled ahead, but it was a tight race.
By the sixth minute, both were stuck on the last question.
At six minutes and fifty seconds, Camilla scribbled her answer and finished.
Darren, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, said, "Done!" But he was ten seconds behind Camilla.
Darren took a deep breath, wiped his sweat, and grinned. "No biggie. It's not just about speed; accuracy counts too. I'm feeling good."
But when the results came out, Camilla nailed every question, while Darren had one mistake.
Darren had to admit, "Camilla, your mental math is insane. Did you really just learn it as a kid?"
Hector, watching, couldn't help but nod in approval.
Besides her mad skills, Camilla's best trait was her cool head under pressure. Just for that, Darren was bound to lose.
Betty teased, "Darren, convinced now?"
Darren replied quickly, "Totally. She's the real deal; I gotta give it to her."
Hector was the lab's senior and a mental math guru, but losing to Camilla, an undergrad? Darren never saw that coming.
Betty patted his shoulder. "There's always next time, but you can't skip out on dinner."
That was the main point.
Darren said, "I keep my promises. Dinner's on me tonight! But Camilla, how'd you solve that last question so fast?"
He thought his method was quick, but Camilla's was even quicker!
Camilla didn't hold back and shared her method openly.
Darren realized. "You can do it that way?"
"Why not? As long as it works."
"Learned something new."
Hector asked again, "You really haven't studied mental math formally?"
Camilla met his curious gaze and shook her head. "Nope."
As a kid, she realized her mental math was better than others. What took her classmates five minutes, she could do instantly.
Hector said, "I've got a set of mental math notes I've put together. Interested?"
Betty asked, "Hector, aren't those notes your prized possession? You never share them. Why now?"
Hector waved it off. "Good stuff should go to those who deserve it, right?"
Camilla was flattered. "Is that okay?"
Hector said, "Just say if you want them or not!"
Camilla replied, "Yes!"
Hesitating even a second would be disrespectful to knowledge.
Darren, who had never heard of these notes, thought to himself, 'Am I not worthy?'
Betty smiled. "So, what are we eating tonight?"
"Are we eating out?" Betty's words were cut off by another voice from the entrance.
Everyone turned around.
Sebastian, dressed in a shirt and trousers, was putting on a white lab coat as he walked in, asking, "So, have you decided where to eat?"
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