Chapter 58: We all are

"Hey, did you hear?"

"Hear, what?"

The female student quickly whispered to her friend, and the latter drew her head back with a gaping mouth.

"No way."

"Yes way."

"Oh, my god!"

The girls quickly engaged in gossip regarding the bet that had happened during the morning. These girls were simply one of the many who were talking about it. From one mouth to another, the bet quickly spread until every single student heard about it.

Some teachers got wind of the talks that were happening within the campus because everyone was just talking about it. However, they decided not to interfere, thinking this was a good way for their students to motivate themselves.

Challenging the ranks of the star section was a friendly competitive academic game that was good for the students and the school.

This would motivate more students to try to reach the unreachable, while those who were already in the star section wouldn’t be complacent. It made the students study more. Hence, the reason the school produced countless relevant individuals in society.

Inside the school, there was a private greenhouse where only the star section students could step in to relax or get away from the noises within the building.

One student stood behind the intricate chair and bent over, whispering to another teenage boy’s ear.

"A bet?" Max, the current 5th holder of the star section, smirked in amusement. "You’re saying that kid from the Miller is challenging the tenth place?"

The boy laughed so hard his stomach hurt. The very few students (three in total excluding the boy) having tea with him simply cast him an indifferent look.

"I see, I see. Get out now." Max waved dismissively, facing the ones seated with excitement. "Guess what I heard?"

"You already blurted it out loud," Kiara, a young lady who currently holds the 7th place in the star section, lifted her teacup to her lips. "Someone’s challenging Finn."

"The kid from the Miller Family, huh?" the other teenage boy tipped his glasses up. "I heard he cinched first last semester."

Kiara let out a chuckle, but didn’t say anything.

"Ah... I want to tell Finn about it." Max tilted his body sideways. "Why did he miss school today? That jerk."

"Some relative in France died, so their entire family had to attend the service," said the other boy. "He’ll be back. No rush. You guys can have a good laugh later."

"I want to laugh more now!" Max grumbled, his body almost shaking with excitement. "Watching little flies like them try to step in here is fun to watch. Ah! I hope it’s exam day now! Finally, some fun after so long!"

Max slowly melted on the couch as his energy continued to slip away from him the longer he had to contain the news to himself. These guys with him weren’t fun and their reaction was too dull for his taste. He wanted to laugh and gossip!

"Ah, Kiara, are we switching ranks this coming semester?" the boy with glasses cast the elegant-looking young lady a look.

Kiara didn’t answer immediately as she placed down her teacup. "No. I don’t want to sit next to Ray."

The current top three of the star section sighed. "I don’t want to be beside him either." He only agreed to Kiara’s proposal because he had a crush on her. But being third had its cons, especially since the first row in their classroom brought a different kind of pressure than the rest of the class.

"Don’t be sad, Max," the other young lady who completed the group looked at Max helplessly. Unlike Kiara, she had short, curly hair with a pink clip on the side. "We can talk about it if you want."

Max glanced up at the girl and then looked away. "Never mind," he continued to sulk. "You’re too boring to talk to."

The young lady with short hair sighed. Max was a big guy that has an athletic body. Yet, he always acted like a baby.

"Should I go to France tonight?" Max drew circles on the concrete ground with his index. "This news will make Finn a lot happier."

"Finn is surely a lot happier since the person who died has been causing his father’s problems," Kiara coldly remarked. "Also, there’s no fun in talking about Theo Miller challenging Finn. We all knew he was going to make a fool out of himself."

"Well, I don’t think you’d be so relaxed with the news I’m bringing!" Suddenly, a jolly voice pierced through the peaceful air.

Everyone turned their heads to the owner of the voice, and their eyes landed on a tall seventeen-year-old boy with a small portion of white hair on the side of his hair.

"What do you mean, Ray?" Cassandra, the girl with short hair, tilted her head.

Ray, the rank two of the star section, sat down on the vacant chair languidly. "You hadn’t heard about the bet?"

"We already heard of it," Max grumbled. "That Miller kid is dreaming."

"Ah. You heard that one, huh?" Ray chuckled. "But he’s not the only one who did the bet."

Everyone looked at Ray with slight curiosity.

"Not just one challenger, but two?" the boy with glasses furrowed his brows.

"Two?" Ray shook his head before he raised three fingers. "There are three in total."

"Wow. Students this year are very enthusiastic." The girl with short hair clapped happily. "I like their spirit."

Kiara arched a brow. "Who are these other challengers?"

Ray smirked as he scanned their faces before he stressed the name, "Atlas Bennet."

This time, everyone’s expression changed. Seeing how they now look serious, Ray chuckled. Atlas Bennet never entered the star section, but everyone in the special section respected that Atlas was someone they should watch out for.

"Atlas Bennet never publicly admitted he wanted to enter the star section, but now he did!" Ray clapped excitedly as his eyes squinted until they looked like mere slits. "Things are about to get interesting!"

"Is Finn in trouble now?" Max wondered, only to see Ray shake his head.

"We all are."

They furrowed their brows and asked in unison. "Even you?"

"Even top 1."

"Hey, Ray, you’re kidding." Max laughed nervously. "Atlas might be a scary opponent, but I don’t think he’s much of a threat to you, let alone to One."

Ray grinned happily. "I’m not talking about Atlas."

"Huh?"

"I told you there were three challengers, but the last one isn’t in the bet. From what I heard, the headmaster poached her and personally sent out an invitation with a full scholarship," explained Ray. "I checked the records and I can predict something is going to hit our pride so hard we’d not expect."

Despite saying all that, Ray seemed happy. "This kid’s thirteen, by the way. She might be the youngest to enter our class and also the youngest to be first. How exciting! Let’s study together!"

"..."

All of them could only stare at Ray in disbelief. He said all of that, but instead of worry, he was showing excitement. It was rare for everyone in the star section to feel threatened by another smart genius. However, since Ray said it and didn’t even spare the top one, it only meant he was serious.

Someone who could take any spot in the star section arrived at their school.