Chapter 27.2

“If you still don’t get it, then let me know. I should have the notes I took last year in my room.”

I looked down at my notebook as if I couldn’t believe my eyes. The theory, which I’d been having such a hard time with, was now perfectly organized.

“No, I’ve understood completely. I think I can solve the problems now, too.”

Noah, I think it would be good if you seriously considered a career in education. If he used his face, he’d be able to collect a lot of students, to boot.

“I think I can do really well on the exam.”

Waving away my frivolous imagination, I admired the neater-than-ever handwriting in my notebook.

“It’s not bad studying together like this,” murmured Noah in a small voice as he fiddled with the tip of his pen.

“Oh… right. Since it’s also time for exams.”

Feeling a bit strange, I nodded.

Did he want to keep studying like this in the future, by any chance?

“If it’s all right with you, want to continue studying together?”

So he must like hanging out with me.

“If Gloria comes with us…”

“Yeah, I want to join in, too.”

When I cautiously added the condition, Gloria nodded violently in response, even though she’d been doing something else completely with her opened book.

“Would Flora refuse since she’s got her boyfriend?”

Contrary to Gloria’s expectations, however, Flora also said yes as if it was a given also.

“No? I want to join too. Who said you guys can leave out your president like that?”

And just like that, a study group was formed.

With the exam period in mind, we finished club activities earlier than usual, then stayed in the club room to study.

I was a little confused as to how things had become like this, but things turned out well in the end.

The rest of the club members were upperclassmen who’d already gone through what I was studying now, and if anything, they would have done better than me rather than worse.

At times, when I came across something I didn’t know and asked, Noah explained it to me carefully.

I felt very bad for enjoying all these perks without offering anything of mine, but Noah said it was fine with a nonchalant expression, saying that he had time to spare.

And as sitting among my three upperclassmen made me tense, I was also able to concentrate very well as a result.

The scope of the exams this time was particularly wide, so the classroom felt quieter.

I slept less at night to immerse myself in my studies and in my room, I was muttering formulas under my breath. Dora was afraid of me because of that, saying I looked like I was demon-possessed or something.

I had so many all-nighters that my nose bled a couple of times, too. Thanks to my nose bleeding when I had momentarily dozed off, Dora who happened to wake up at dawn freaked out when she saw the blood and tripped over her own feet.

“Aaack!”

Thanks to that, I also woke up. I calmly shoved a piece of cloth up my nose and grabbed my pen again while Dora put her hand to her heart and moaned, “The way you’re just sitting there and bleeding is super scary, okay? Please go to sleep now.”

“You sleep first.”

At the sound of Dora’s crying, I wiped the area around my nose and then gently pressed down on my nostrils. It needed to stop bleeding soon so that I could solve the next problem.

Though I did fall asleep not far after that day, perhaps because I’d studied harder than I ever had before, come exam day I was able to write down my answers without a single hesitation.

Don’t tell me — aren’t I going to get a perfect score?

Grinning thoughtlessly on the inside, I continued scribbling.

My premonitions for the exams this time around felt real good.

***

“We’re done!!”

Dora gathered supplementary worksheets she’d taken notes on and tore them, then threw them into the air. She’d been doing that for a couple of days now.

They said they’d posted the grades in the hallway, so we were about to go see them together, but it seemed that the fact that the exams were over was more important to her than what her actual grades were.

“Don’t they only post up the top ten? I won’t be on there anyways.”

I see.

Unlike Dora, I secretly had high expectations, so when no one was looking, I snuck out to the halls.

As expected, students were gathered around one part of the hallways.

Tip-toeing, I looked up past the crowd of students.

Straining my neck, I began scouring through the huge piece of paper, when I stopped and my jaw dropped open.

Next to the number four, so very clearly, was my name.

“… Fourth place?” I murmured the word, faintly, then I grabbed whoever was next to me to shout it again.

“I’m in fourth place!”

“Oooh? Congrats.”

The girl I was holding on to was someone I’d never seen in my life, but she congratulated me so readily despite her confusion. Thank you for that.

Among all those higher-ranking aristocrats who’d learned all kinds of things from the very best tutors from the day they could walk, I wasn’t aiming for valedictorian.

Getting fourth place wasn’t a small task. The highest rank I’d gotten was sixth place when I was in first grade, and now I’d risen two places.

On my way back to my dorm room, I did a silly little dance while grinning from ear to ear. I felt like I could laugh off just about anything right then.

“You’re back! So, was your name there?”

“Hehe.”

“What place?”

“Hehe.”

“Speak properly.”

Dora gave me an exasperated look from where she was reading on her bed.

I shyly held up four fingers.

“Fourth place? For real?!”

Wide-eyed, Dora put her book down and covered her mouth. “It seems your bloodshed was worth it!”

“That’s right.”

Rubbing my nose for no reason, I nodded.

“Then did you get number 11, right? The professor went completely all-out on that one.”

Nodding again, I giggled bashfully.

“That’s great. This weekend, let’s go downtown to celebrate with Echo and Mallory.”

“Sure, and I’ll treat you guys to a meal since I feel so happy.”

Rolling around on my bed, I gave her a thumbs up.