Ivy finally blinked.
"You know what? Go ahead and tell them. I don't care. Just know that I know what you guys do too."
Ivy turned to leave.
"You'll die if you try to reveal what we do," Bruce said, moving backwards until his back rested against the kitchen sink.
"I would rather die than have my secret exposed," Ivy replied, her face deadly serious. "If you reveal my secret, even if I have to die, I will make sure I reveal yours too."
Ivy stepped closer until she was only an inch away from him.
"If you want to play your game with me, play it well…" She adjusted his shirt and smiled. "…You can't break this family I've lived with all my life," she whispered into his ear before walking away.
Bruce ruffled his hair aggressively.
When Ivy returned to the dining table, she put on a smile.
"Mom, Dad, I've lost my appetite, so I'll skip dinner today." She picked up an apple, smiled, and went upstairs.
Bruce came out of the kitchen shortly afterward.
"Hey! What did you say to upset my sister?!" Scarlett glared furiously at Bruce.
"Me? I didn't say anything wrong to her," he pleaded, feigning innocence, but Scarlett continued to glare.
"Scarlett!" Mr. Joseph called out. Scarlett turned to him. "Can't you be nice to Bruce for once?"
Scarlett looked away and stared angrily at her food.
"I'll be going now. Thanks for dinner," Bruce said with an innocent smile.
"Okay, it was nice having you at my humble abode," Mr. Joseph replied. Bruce bowed gently and left.
Scarlett clicked her tongue as she watched him go.
Ivy entered her room, locked the door behind her, slid down against it, and threw the apple into the dustbin. She stared blankly at the wall.
Five days later, on Monday, Leo returned to school. He arrived late to class. As he entered, the teacher and students turned toward him.
"Good thing you recovered," Mrs. Waterford said. "Who among you sent Leo a 'get well soon' message?"
Everyone shyly looked away.
"You guys are kidding me, right?" Mrs. Waterford looked at them with disappointment. She turned to Leo, who stood there looking as emotionless as ever. "Only Ivy—your senior, that beautiful angel—sent him a get well soon message," she announced to the class with a confident smile.
"So, Leo, did you read it?" She stared at him, waiting for an answer.
"I saw it, but I didn't read it," he replied coldly.
The teacher looked at him in disbelief. "Go and have your seat then."
Leo walked to his seat, passing Brittney's column. He glared at Brittney, and she quickly looked away in fear. Leo then glanced at Bruce, who smirked at him before looking away. Leo sat down and took out his writing materials.
"I can't believe he didn't even check the message from the only person who wished him well," Ted whispered to Scarlett.
"So I will now be sharing the results for the Maths test from two weeks ago," Mrs. Waterford announced.
"The best result is from Leonardo Appleford. That guy always has the best results. I want you all to emulate him." She held out Leo's script, and he came to the front to collect it. Some of the nerds stared at him with jealousy.
"It amazes me every time he gets the best result. How is it possible that a guy as cold as him has that kind of brain?" Ted asked Scarlett, who was playing a game on her phone.
"Who knows?" she replied nonchalantly, eyes glued to her screen.
Leo returned to his seat, and the Maths teacher continued calling names.
Two minutes later, Mrs. Waterford looked toward Scarlett.
"And Scarlett Joseph has the lowest grade again, followed by Ted Osborne."
Ted and Scarlett looked at each other, then burst into laughter. The rest of the class started murmuring and whispering.
"Should we drop out?" they asked each other as they went to collect their scripts.
"No, let's keep going. We can do this," Scarlett encouraged.
"Actually, you can't do anything. Don't motivate yourself," Michael teased. The class—including the teacher—giggled.
"Whatever." Scarlett adjusted her shirt in an exaggerated, funny way and sat down. The whole class laughed again—except Leo, who only gave a small sniff.
"Okay, that's enough," Mrs. Waterford said. "Let's talk about the topic we'll be treating today." She wrote the topic on the board, and the students began copying it.
In the car, Sheldon sat in the back seat, scrolling on his iPad.
"Tomorrow's her birthday. Is everything ready?" he asked.
"Yes. When school closes, I'll go pick her up and bring her to the hotel," Mr. Cole replied.
"Good. Make sure she comes to the hotel using the excuse that I want to celebrate her birthday eve. That girl is pretty smart," Sheldon commanded.
"Okay, sir," Mr. Cole nodded, eyes on the road.
"Make sure it's successful. I can't wait," Sheldon said, a dirty look spreading across his face.
Back in the classroom, Charlotte tapped Scarlett on the shoulder. Scarlett turned around.
"Tomorrow's your birthday. Where are you going to celebrate it?" Charlotte asked.
"At my house," Scarlett replied with a wide smile.