Chapter 10 So You Like Me That Much

Naomi’s face dropped the moment she heard the news.

This was a city–level mathpetition. How was Eliza supposed to help her cheat?

If she embarrassed herself at that level, her days of being the teacher’s pet and vice ss rep would be over.

Eliza, unfazed, headed upstairs.

She wasn’t surprised at all that their mother had sided with Naomi–again.

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In fact, the teacher had already spoken to her that afternoon. The change in nomination was made with Eliza’s consent

But Naomi didn’t know that.

“Eliza! You have toe up with something! I can’t go to the mathpetition!”

bNaomi /brushed up to the attic.

Though she usually hated the cramped, stuffy space, she bent down and lowered herself just to plead with Eliza.

If people found out she’d cheated on past exams and then bombed the citypetition, her reputation as the perfect student would be destroyed.

“I can’t do anything.” Eliza sighed theatrically. “Mom already called the bschool/b.”

Naomi cursed under her breath. “bIt’s /ball Mom’s fault. She just had to stick her nose in. So annoying!”

Eliza looked at her, her heart sinking.

The kind of motherly blove /bbshe /bhad longed for all her life meant so little to Naomi.

“Eliza. you’ve got to help me. You bdon’t /bwant me to be humiliated in front of everyone, right?”

Naomi looked at her with wide, pleading eyes.

With thepetition only a month away and math being her worst subject, even passing was a stretch–let alone cing

“I want to help you, but..”

“But whatt”

“I’m transferring to another ss. I probably won’t be able to.”

“What? You’re transferring?”

Naomi froze.

Why would Eliza suddenly transferb? /b

Eliza shook her bhead/b. “The teacher said my scores were too low thest two timesb, /bso I’m being moved to ss bSix./b”

“ss Six? That’s the worst ss in the school. The homeroom teacher used to like you–why would they send you bthere/b?”

Naomi looked at her skeptically.

bss /bSix bwas /bfull of rich kids bwho /bdidn’t care about schoolzy btroublemakers /bwho lived off their families‘ money.

All the other sses looked bdown /bon them, especially those from ss One.

“The homeroom teacher said if I do well on the next monthly exam, Ill be transferred back. So don’t worry.”

“But… bhow /bare you going to help me cheat bduring /bthe next exam if we’re not in bthe /bsame broom/bb?/b”

Naomi began to panic.

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Chapter 10 So You Like Me That Much

If Eliza couldn’t help her with the monthly exams, and she had to face the citypetition too, she was finished,

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“Rx, Eliza said, patting her hand. “We’ll still bswap /bpapers. The teacher made me ss rep in ss Six. I’ll have chances to switch tests when the teachers aren’t looking.”

bNaomi /blet out a breath of relief. “bThat’s /bgood.. That’s good.”

“But.. the citypetition is ba /bdifferent story,” Eliza added, frowning on purpose. “It’s too formal. There’s no way to cheat”

Naomi bit her lip, then lit up with an idea. “Then how about this–on the day of thepetition, you can go in my ce. Just use my name.”

She looked at Eliza with a hopeful smile. b“/bYou’ve always wanted to enter the citypetition, and math is your strong suit. You can’t officiallypete, but if you go as me, everyone wins.”

Elizaughed inwardly

That was exactly how Naomi had manipted her in their past life.

bNaomi /bhad stolen all the credit, reaped all the glory, and used the win to get into her dream university abroad–under Eliza’s

name.

The memory still twisted like a knife in her chest.

But outwardly, she just smiled, squeezed bNaomi’s /bhand, and said, “That’s a great idea.”

The next morning-

Eliza arrived at school before sunrise.

The building was nearly empty. When she flipped on the lights to the ssroom, she found Zayden already there, standing by the bwindow /b

He leaned against it in his usualzy posture, school jacket draped loosely over his shoulders. His gazended on her with a look that said, I knew you’d show up this bearly/b.

But to Eliza, his act seemed childish.

So childish that she couldn’t help but reflect on just how blind she must’ve been in her past life–to fall so hard for s

like him.

She ignored his stare and walked to her desk to start packing up her bthings /b

bsomeone /b

She needed to get all her personal belongings together before early ss began–she’d be moving to ss Six today.

Zayden finally called her name.

She didn’t respond, only sped up her packing.

His brow bfurrowed/b. Then he stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.

The sudden movement caused her notebook to fall, and several photographs spilled out onto bthe /bfloor.

Zayden froze.

In every photo–whether it was from ba /bschool sports meet, award ceremony, or volunteer bevent/b–there bwas /bone thing inmon: him

All of them were pictures of him.

“That’s me…”

Eliza instinctively reached down to collect the pictures, but Zayden bbeat /bher to it.

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Chapter 10 So You Like Me That Much

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He picked them up slowly, his eyes glinting with amusement as he flipped through them. Then, raising a brow, he held them

out in front of her.

“So, you like me this much?”

Eliza’s face darkened.

That was the foolish me from my past life.

Now? Even just being looked at by Zayden made her sick.

“bHere/b” Zayden held out the photos.

Without a word, Eliza snatched them back–and tore them into shreds right in front of him.

“Thanks. Just garbage.”

She dumped the pieces into the ssroom trash can, without sparing him a nce.

Zayden’s smile vanished as he watched her coldly bgather /bup thest of her things and pull out a workbook.

He sneered. “Give it up. There’s no way you’ll ever beat Naomi.”

Eliza’s pen paused in her hand.

Zayden continued in an even voice, “Naomi scored 690 on thest monthly exam. Do you even know what that means? With a score like that, bshe /bcould get into the best school in Westbrook. And you? You were more than 120 points behind her”