Madelyn picked up some paperwork from the office and then went to the special class. It felt more like a boot camp than a regular class. It was supposed to end at 9 pm, but it often went on until 10:30 pm. An elderly man, probably in his late sixties, taught the class. He always had reading glasses perched on his nose. Every single session ended with a test that lasted for an hour and a half, and no student could leave until they had finished. If anyone answered carelessly, they had to copy the questions a hundred times. Even after finishing, students had to stay seated for the entire test time before they could leave.Madelyn covered her mouth as she yawned, unaware of the people crowding outside the door."Madelyn sure works hard," Leyton said outside the window. "She's busy from 7 am to 10 pm every day. Even after getting home, she has to do homework until midnight."Ethan peered through the window, a gentle smile in his dark eyes. "She's just doing what people her age should be
"Why'd you come to the school?" Madelyn asked, catching her breath with her hand on her chest."George called me and told me you hadn't come home yet. I thought you might still be at school," Ethan said, giving a smile. "I was worried since it's late, so I came to check on you. I didn't expect the students here to be so enthusiastic."Madelyn and Ethan rode the elevator down to the first floor. Madelyn looked anxiously back at Leyton, still upstairs. "You're such a big shot, most people don't get to see you," she said. "You could've just given me a call.""I tried to call, but your phone was off," Ethan said."Oh!" Madelyn exclaimed, finally realizing. "I turned my phone off during the test. I'm sorry. You don't have to wait for me; you've got a lot of work to do.""How could I not worry when you're alone?" he asked.Madelyn's lips lifted into a smile. Nobody had ever been this kind to her."Leyton parked the car at the school entrance, so it's a bit of a walk," Ethan said. "Do
It had not killed her, but she had developed a high fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit. If the maid had not found her, Hayden might not even have called a doctor to look at her.After that, Madelyn had trouble breathing. She had to take a lot of yucky medicine every day. Too much medicine can be bad for you, especially if you are sick for a long time. So, Madelyn started to feel weaker and weaker.'Maybe I'm not alone after all. There really are people who care about me,' she thought.The next day, she slept in. 'If I keep missing morning classes, Ms. Hann will probably talk to me about it. I can't be late again tomorrow.'"Miss Jent, didn't Mr. Arnold come down with you?" a maid asked.Madelyn was taking some medicine sweetened with honey, so it was not too bitter. "Hasn't he gotten up yet?""No, I haven't seen him yet.""I'll go get him."Madelyn finished eating and headed upstairs. When she arrived at the room, she noticed the door was slightly open. She gave a gentle knock, an
Jadie pressed her lips together as she looked at the neatly bound notebook. She felt a mix of emotions that she could not quite describe. "Madelyn, I gave you those notes. Why did you give them to Forrest? Everyone at school is saying that I..."'Ah, so that's why!' Madelyn thought. She quickly replied, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have given your notes to Forrest. I thought he would just make a copy, not tear them out."Jadie sighed and said, "I didn't want to tell you this, Madelyn, but I'm worried. If Zach hears about this, he might get the wrong idea. You know how we just got together. I don't want anything like this to upset him.""I get it," Madelyn said reassuringly. "If my brother gets the wrong idea, I'll explain it to him."Jadie noticed the workbook on Madelyn's desk. She picked it up and checked it out. "Did you buy this workbook?""Mr. Newton gave it to me," Madelyn replied."Really? I think it's the latest one," Jadie said."Is it? I didn't know," Madelyn admitted. "But
Forrest had one arm wrapped around Kayla's waist and a pen in his other hand. He glanced at a sheet of paper with a question on it, looking bored. In a careless tone, he said, "Well, make her kneel down and clean it up then." The people around him watched with amusement and laughed. Kayla, her face twisted in a mocking smile, lifted her foot that had been stepped on. "What are you looking at?" she snapped. "Kneel down and clean it up. Don't you understand?""I... I understand," Mya responded hesitantly.Kayla was originally not from Ventropolis; she moved here from a small town. Her family had become wealthy by selling pork, and that was why they could afford to move to the big city. She had transferred to the new school in her junior year, hoping it would be a friendly place. Instead, her classmates pushed her aside just because her family sold pork. She tried telling them that her family sold other stuff, like organic produce and farm-fresh eggs, too, but nobody listened. They even
Madelyn could not understand why Forrest was acting so wild and crazy lately. He was always a nice guy, but now he always seemed mad. She felt bad because she could not help him as they were not close. She worried that he might get in trouble if he did not calm down. As the Math Olympiad got closer, that was all she could think about.After school, Madelyn went to the special math class. She learned that the test they took last night was to pick who could stay in the class. There were twenty students at first, but now only ten were left. Being the best in the class was really hard.The scores from last night's test were up on the blackboard. Just like everyone thought, Madelyn's score was the best."It's easy when you have connections," a student said, sounding grumpy. "She wasn't here for two weeks but still got the best score. Why are we even here? We took a long train ride for hours, and now we have to go back tomorrow.""Quit whining," another student chimed in. "If you had a s
"Too bad your boyfriend isn't the CEO of Arnold Corporation."As Jadie and her friend walked, they could hear the girls behind them chatting. 'So Madelyn stayed late last night because she was in the special class. Is she still coming back to the Math Olympiad class?'Madelyn was stapling some papers when she suddenly felt a sharp pain in her fingertip. She looked down and saw a drop of blood on her pale finger. At the same time, her eyelid twitched, and she had a bad feeling. Thankfully, the staple was not rusty, so she did not need a shot.Classes did not end until 9:30 p.m. Madelyn went to the restroom, and when she came out, she looked in the mirror at the spot behind her. All she saw was darkness. 'Am I too stressed from all the studying? I keep feeling like someone's watching me,' she thought. She shook the water off her hands and headed back to the classroom to grab her backpack.As she got near the elevator, a hand suddenly grabbed her from behind and pulled her into a stai
Madelyn had a hard time holding up Forrest as they left the school.The Arnold family's driver quickly drove up. Seeing Forrest in Madelyn's arms, he got out of the car right away and helped her get Forrest inside."Why are you with him, Ms. Jent?" the driver asked.Madelyn frowned. "It's a long story. Let's just go home.""I'm sorry, but Mrs. Arnold said that he can't come to the Arnold residence without permission."Madelyn remembered that rule and said, "Okay, let's go to my place then."She put Forrest in the back seat and buckled him up. Then she got in the front and told the driver where to go. They pulled up to a small alley where she used to live, a building without an elevator. Madelyn and the driver helped Forrest up the stairs. She found a key under the flowerpot, opened the door, and turned on the light. The house was surprisingly clean, and looked like someone had been staying there. There was even some half-eaten food on the table, covered with plastic wrap.'Could