Chapter 9

Cassie sat at her seat in the advanced math classroom, staring at the screen of her laptop. The faint hum of typing keys filled the room, accompanied by the quiet clicking of keys as students worked through the quiz on derivatives.

After tucking a lock of hair behind ears, Cassie took a quick look at the time. Ten minutes are remaining. She had just completed the last question, an especially difficult one requiring implicit differentiation and the chain rule. She checked her work one last time to make sure there were no mistakes.

The other students were just as engrossed in their quizzes around her. Peter, seated a few seats away from her, was typing vigorously while wearing an angry mask on his face. The class math whiz Daniel appeared composed and cool across the room, his fingers punching the keyboard quickly yet carefully.

Her screen timer clicked zero, and the quiz was submitted automatically. There was a collective breath of relief, as students began to shift around in their chairs and stretch. Professor Anderson got up and moved to the front of the class.

"All right, students," Professor Anderson said, breaking through the post-quiz silence. "Well done on completing the year's first quiz. I'd like to share the top scorers with you now that the results are in."

Cassie's heart began to pound a little. Though she had put a lot of effort into her preparation and felt secure, a tiny uncertainty persisted. She did not want to drop behind snooty Peter in her score. His challenge kept her up all night because Cassie refused to give up the lead in his presence. Also, she had to prove herself worthy of scholarship.

Professor Anderson's lips curled into a smile, "In the first place, with the highest score, we have Daniel Brown," but there was dead stillness because nobody knew who the hell Daniel Brown was. The only one to clap for him was Cassie, and Daniel got up to acknowledge his scores while adjusting his glasses. He realized Cassie was the only one happy for him and before her no one ever appreciated his score and he never had to courage to get up and accept his top scorer's applause.

"And we have two students who are tied for second place," Professor Anderson said, "Peter and Cassie. Outstanding effort, you two."

With a sigh of relief, Cassie tightened her fist and muttered, "Yes," under her breath before making a little, victorious punch to the air. She grinned, but the smile was brief. She turned to see Peter staring at her with a fiercely competitive glare and flared nostrils. The class cheered for them, but the applause seemed far away as their rivalry grew stronger with that one glance.

After the class, Cassie went to talk to Daniel. “How long you are planning to ignore me?”

Daniel was taken aback when Cassie approached him. “What…. What do you mean?”

Cassie adjusted her backpack. “Listen whatever happened I am not the sole responsible for it. We were both involved in that kiss so why should I suffer alone?”

Daniel adjusted his glasses. “I don’t understand.” He was refraining from telling her how majestic he felt about that kiss because he didn’t want to be hurt by listening to that it was a mistake or it wouldn’t happen again sorta things. So this was the reason he skipped going to meet her yesterday at the game and not talking to her in the morning when their eyes met.

Cassie pointed at him. “Listen you are my only friend here in Elite and I don’t want to lose you just because of one single kiss, by the way, that was my first kiss and the way you ghosted me was enough to down my morale for future kisses.”

Cassie also gave up on the thought of telling him how much she loved their kiss and that she didn't want to end it since she was feeling so good. She reasoned that Daniel wouldn't approve of the notion that the two of them would engage in a romantic relationship.

Daniel asked. “So you want to continue our friendship and forget about the kiss?”

Cassie shook her head. "We are pinning this kiss for the time being, and we'll talk about it when we feel the right time has come."

Daniel ducked his head. “Fine by me.”

Cassie held out her hand. “So friends again?”

Daniel shook hands, smiling. For the sake of friendship, they both choose to suppress their love for one another. Cassie came close and whispered. “Can I ask you something?”

Daniel nodded. “But why do I feel like you are not going to ask something simple?”

Cassie remains close. “Why do you wear an empty frame on your face when your eyesight is perfect?”

Daniel adjusted his frame. “I wear them because I feel like a secure wall between me and the rest of the world.”

Cassie facepalmed. “Weirdo, I gotta go for my next class.”

Daniel asked. “Are we going to meet in the cafe after classes?”

Cassie nodded and waved goodbye for the time being, not realizing that she had entirely forgotten to tell Daniel about her meeting with Steven after classes. She ran to the football practice court after the last class, where Steven was playing hard with a team without even checking to see if Cassie had arrived at their scheduled time. Cassie looked at her phone to see whether Steven had texted her regarding his extended practice, but he hadn't. After spending around 10 minutes there, Cassie felt unneeded, so she left and hurried to the café, muttering thankfulness that she hadn't told Daniel about her rendezvous with Steven.

Daniel asked. “What makes you ten minutes late?”

Cassie tossed her bag with a mix of expression anger and sadness. “It's nothing.”

Daniel responded. “Do I need to remind you we are friends?”

Cassie sighed and looked at him. “It's all because of you.”

Daniel was taken aback. “What did I do?”

Cassie told him her thing with Steven to which Daniel felt a little heartbreak when he heard of their kiss but he remained composed. Daniel asked. “So where is the problem?”

Cassie covered her face. “Today he asked me to come after my classes and I sat in a court for whole ten minutes but he was so engulfed in his practice he didn’t bother to check the time.”

Daniel kept his hand and pulled down her hands. “I forgot to mention but Steven doesn’t date.”

Cassie narrowed her eyes and looked at him. “Do you know any concept of empathy?”

Daniel opened his mouth but didn’t say anything, Cassie sensed that and she turned to see why Daniel stopped talking and Rita entered the cafe.