Cindy leaned into York's arms, her voice barely above a whisper. "I'm just scared my results are going to be so awful that people will say I'm not good enough for you."
York nudged her gently, a wry smile on his lips. "Where do you even get ideas like that?"
He spent time comforting her, soft words and warm reassurance, and it was only then that Cindy's gloom began to lift a little.
On the other hand, Claire was positively brimming with energy. After the celebrations, she went straight back to her apartment, unfazed by the stress that had wrung out everyone else.
The next morning, she was up at sunrise. She washed her hair, dried it, slipped into clean clothes, and headed out to school.
She looked casually put-together, almost effortlessly stylish-not at all like someone who had just slogged her way through the ordeal of exams.
With a purple backpack slung over one shoulder, she strolled leisurely to campus.
Outside the gates, banners were strung up everywhere, and there was even a life- sized cutout of Claire herself.
Silverpeak High had produced the top student in the city. Of course they were shouting it from the rooftops.
A board displaying exam results stood just by the entrance. Claire's name stood proudly at the very top, followed by several of her classmates.
“Claire!” Sophia arrived at nearly the same time. She bounded toward Claire and threw herself into her arms.
Claire pried Sophia's arms away. "Jeez, you're heavy!"
Sophia immediately wilted. "Oh, come on..."
She'd been indulging a little too much lately either sparring with her friends from
the dojo or spending her days eating and drinking with her grandparents.
She'd gained some weight, sure, but her arms had really bulked up from all the training.
She'd even sprouted abs.
Sophia caught Claire's hand and pressed it to her own stomach. "Go ahead, feel it. Well?"
Claire shook her head as she pulled her hand away. "Not bad, I suppose."
Honestly, this girl had zero sense of boundaries.
It was broad daylight, and here was Sophia making her touch her stomach for all the world to see. Anyone passing by might think the two of them were up to something scandalous.
"Come on, let's get to class." Sophia was beaming now.
She'd tanned noticeably over the past few days, working out in the sun.
Sophia dragged Claire along, and as they walked, more than a few people pointed and whispered about Claire.
Now that everyone knew she was the city's top student, the looks they gave her were full of admiration and a little envy.
People always admired strength.
Previously, when Claire had been kicked out of the James family and exposed as the fake heiress, lots of people had looked down on her.
But now, hardly anyone mentioned the whole swapped-at-birth scandal. Claire was just Claire. The James family was just the James family.
Everyone had seen her
achievements with their own eyes. Even without her old family, there was no question this girl's futur was bright.
A few underclassmen finally worked up the nerve to approach her. "Claire, do you mind if we take a picture with you?"
Claire blinked in surprise, seeing the younger students' cheeks blushing bright red. She smiled. "Of course."
One photo turned into another, and soon she was stuck there for a full twenty minutes before she could even make it to the classroom.
Darcey let out a visible sigh of relief when Claire finally appeared. "Claire, over here! The reporters are here for, your interview-I've been looking everywhere for you!"
Darcey beckoned her over urgently.
Claire handed Sophia her backpack to put at her desk, then followed the teacher to the front.
Cindy was seated near the front row. She hadn't even wanted to come in today— Lance had all but dragged her to school.
Knowing she'd spectacularly bombed the exams, Cindy was convinced everyone in class was secretly laughing at her.
She kept her head down, silent and
miserable, heavy tears splashing onto the desk, as if she were the viction of some unspeakable tragedy.
Sophia caught sight of her and muttered under her breath, "Drama queen."
It wasn't just Cindy who'd done badly-plenty of others had too. And there were other tears around the room.
But Cindy always managed to make her sorrow look like some overwrought tragedy, making it hard for Sophia not to roll her eyes.
Cindy clearly heard her comment yet didn't even bother to lift her head, much less argue.
Up at the front of the class, Claire's interview was already underway.
Same old routine—it was the same set of bland, predictable questions the reporters asked every year.