As the first ray of sunshine shone through Elise’s room, her annoying alarm rang on time yet again, and
she got up reluctantly to take a morning shower. Then, she went out and bumped right into Alexander.
“Morning,” Alexander greeted her. “Morning,” she greeted back. They walked ahead side by side. “Had
a good sleep?” he asked. She smiled sweetly at him. “Not bad.” They went downstairs, and Elise
looked around, but Danny was nowhere to be found.
“Danny should be taking me to school today. Where is he?” Alexander answered, “He was wasted last
night. Probably still sleeping, so I’ll give you a ride later.” Elise wasn’t going to object to that. “Sure.”
She went to the dining room for her breakfast. It was a simple one, which was her favorite. Once she
was done, she went into Alexander’s car. While she was on her way to school, Elise did her extra
homework, while Alexander looked at her, who was focused, in the rear-view mirror gently.
When they stopped at her school, she quickly kept her stuff away. “I’ll be going now. You should go to
work too. Bye.” She got out of the car and strode toward the gate, but then, a guy stopped her. “Elise!”
Elise stopped instinctively and turned around, and she was greeted by a delighted Zachary. “Finally.”
He beamed at her and showed her the breakfast he bought. “For you.” Elise was slightly annoyed that
he was here, so she didn’t take the breakfast. “Why are you here?”
Zachary chose to ignore that question and only smiled at her, but then he looked sad. “I thought I asked
you to wait for me after the test. Why did you leave without me? I…” He bit his tongue and instead said,
“It’s fine. I’ll come to you anyway. Oh, I’ve heard about the results. You got full marks again, huh?
Congrats,” he congratulated her.
Elise noticed the passion in his eyes, and it made her feel uncomfortable. She pursed her lips. “Do you
need anything, Zachary?” Zachary shook his head and pointed at the breakfast he bought. “Nothing.
Just here to give you breakfast. Got some great egg sandwiches for you. Here, take it.” Elise refused,
“Thanks, but I already had breakfast.” Zachary looked crestfallen, but he still said, “I’ll bring you
something else next time.”
Elise looked straight at him. “Zachary, we aren’t as close as you think. You don’t have to do this.” That
made him blush, and he stammered, “I-It’s fine. I want to do this.” Elise kept on refusing. “Please don’t,
Zachary. We’re only highschoolers, and relationships aren’t really what we should be focusing on right
now. I don’t want any rumors to start, so please stop seeing me.” Her straightforward response caught
him off-guard.
“D-Did I trouble you? It’s fine. I won’t do it if you don’t like it.” Since she wanted to end it right there and
then, she asked, “Zachary, why are you doing this? What do you want from me? I’m not exactly pretty.
You can even call me ugly and I won’t say a thing. Why are you so interested in me?” Zachary tried to
look at her calmly, but his heart wouldn’t stop pounding. “You got this the wrong way. I’m not interested
in you. I-I like you.
I like you, Elise.” Elise blinked at him. What on earth is happening? Why do guys keep saying they like
me? Am I in a novel or something? “Yes, you aren’t the prettiest girl around, but you’re very capable. I
mean, you got full marks in the Math Olympiad nationals. That alone is already great enough. Also,
you’re kind and always helpful. That’s why I like you. I don’t care about your looks. I care about what’s
inside. Yes, I know it’s not great for high schoolers to get in a relationship, but I can wait.
I’ll start when we get into college. Just give me a chance—” Before he could finish, someone coughed
behind them. Elise snapped out of it and saw Alexander standing behind her. He smiled apologetically,
“Sorry for interrupting you guys, but you dropped your pen in my car, Elise.” Really?
He just has to show up at this moment? Zachary, on the other hand, looked at Alexander suspiciously.
The guy looked and felt better than Zachary in every way, and that realization crushed his confidence.
Even so, he asked, “And this is?” Elise held Alexander’s arm without thinking. “He’s my boyfriend.
I’m sorry, Zachary, but I’ll have to refuse you.” Zachary couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The news
came as a bombshell for him, and he stared at the both of them in disbelief. “Is that true?” His voice
changed. “Are you her boyfriend?” Alexander was about to say no, but he felt Elise gripping the hem of
his shirt from behind, so he smiled. “We live under the same roof every day.” He wrapped his arm
around her waist. “Is that answer enough?”
Elise was shocked that Alexander would tell Zachary about that, and she gawked at Alexander.
Alexander ignored her, continuing, “You have great taste seeing that you fell for my girlfriend, but my
girlfriend’s taste seems to be better than yours.
After all, she did fall in love with a prince like me instead of a peasant like you.” Zachary almost tripped
over himself, and he looked offended by that comment. Wow, what’s the deal with this guy?
Did he knock his head when he was a kid or something? He looked at Elise with sadness and
determination. “I won’t give up no matter what.” Just give up. Elise wanted to tell him that, but Zachary
left without giving her the chance. That was inconvenient for her, of course. Why won’t he just quit? I
just told him I’m taken.
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