Gary looked at Nicole coldly as his eyes burned with disgust and confusion. If one looked closely, one
could see a hint of disappointment in Gary’s eyes as well. Nicole did not bother about the way
everyone looked at her. She just rested her chin on her hand lazily as she played with her pen.
The class started, and Ms. Emerson walked in with a sour expression. She did not look at Nicole
throughout the entire class.
When the class ended, she called Nicole and Gary over to the office. Firstly, she told Gary to work
hard and prepare himself for the competition to bring an award back to school. Then, she turned to
Nicole and sighed before speaking.
“Nicole, I asked you to join the competition because I trusted your ability. But Mr. Louis told me that
you actually scored a zero on a mock assessment. Can you explain yourself?”
Nicole figured that Ms. Emerson looked for both her and Gary because she wanted to talk to them
about this issue. Nicole looked up at Ms. Emerson, but a peculiar voice rang behind her when she
was just about to speak.
“Oh, Ms. Emerson. Isn’t this the genius who scored a zero for the Math Olympiad assessment from
your class? What’s wrong? Are you trying to talk to her?”
It was Mr. Kennedy. He was walking toward them with his thermos cup as he gloated.
“Is there no one else in Class B? One of your candidates is the third-lowest scoring student in the
class. The other one is even worse; she actually scored a zero. This has really enlightened me! Why
aren’t you pulling your students out from the competition when their levels are this
low?”
The two candidates from Mr. Kennedy’s class were top students in the school: one was the first place
and the other second. Mr. Kennedy thought, ‘The Math Olympiad competition award will go to my
students!’ He looked at Ms. Emerson even more disdainfully upon having this thought. Ms. Emerson
was really angered by him. “I’ve seen how good Nicole and Gary are in Mathematics. Don’t look
down on people based on their grades!”
Me. Kennedy could not help but scoff when he saw Ms. Emerson, who used to always swallow her
anger, talking back to him. “You’ve got to be clear about this, Ms. Emerson. If you send both of these
students to participate in the competition and they get bad results, they will bring down the name of
our school. So it isn’t your personal matter!”
Ms. Emerson did not want to give in and wanted to clap back. But when Nicole heard what Mr.
Kennedy said, she turned to tell Ms. Emerson, “Ms. Emerson, I want to drop out of the competition.”
Mr. Kennedy heard Nicole and smiled until his small eyes behind his glasses were squinted.” Look at
how wise Nicole is. She knows her place. She did not want to trouble the school, so she asked to be
pulled out of the competition!”
Ms. Emerson felt an indescribable sense of grievance when she heard Nicole’s fast decision to drop
out of the competition. However, when she thought about Nicole getting a zero for the assessment,
she perceived that Nicole might not be able to catch up, so she did not want to force Nicole.
Ms. Emerson calmed herself down and said, “Nicole, if it’s too challenging, it’s okay to withdraw
yourself from the competition.” Nicole looked at her and smiled faintly, “No, Ms. Emerson. I want to
withdraw from the competition because the questions are just too simple. I want to challenge
something harder.” After she said that, not only Ms. Emerson and Mr. Kennedy were shocked, but
Gary was also stunned.
Subsequently, an unexplainable fit of anger rose within Gary. ‘Nicole is bluffing again! She said the
assessment was too easy last time, yet she got a zero in the end!’
Mr. Kennedy sneered, “Don’t make me laugh. Are you really saying that the questions are simple?
with your standards?” Ms. Emerson looked at Nicole too. She also felt that Nicole was too much
when she said the questions were easy. But after listening to Mr. Kennedy’s words, Ms. Emerson
said, “I believe Nicole could do it!”
Nicole arched her brows as she did not expect Ms. Emerson to have so much trust in her. She then
turned to Mr. Kennedy and said flatly, “Mr. Kennedy, do you want a bet?”
Mr. Kennedy looked at her with disdain. “What are we betting on?”
Nicole tapped on the desk lightly with her finger. “We’ll bet that Ms. Emerson’s class will get the first
place in this competition instead of your class, Mr. Kennedy!”
Mr. Kennedy almost laughed out loud. He looked at the uppity Nicole and agreed immediately.
“Sure, let’s bet on this. What are the stakes?”
Nicole said coldly, “If I lose, I won’t join the Math Olympiad competition ever again. If you lose, Mr.
Kennedy, you’ll have to admit in front of the whole school that Ms. Emerson is the best teacher for the
junior year in Royal Creek Institute during our break time!” Although Mr. Kennedy was a little upset by
Nicole’s words, he was certain that Nicole had no chance of winning the bet after some consideration.
So, he simply agreed to her suggestion. “Alright, Nicole. I admire your courage!”
Then, Mr. Kennedy howled as he left, looking like he had secured his victory. After Mr. Kennedy left,
Ms. Emerson looked at Nicole worriedly as if she wanted to say something
But Nicole acted like nothing had happened and said, “Ms. Emerson, why did you call me here just
now?”
Ms. Emerson remembered that she wanted to ask why Nicole got zero for the assessment, but it was
no longer important. Ms. Emerson asked hurriedly, “Nicole, are you confident about this competition?”
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Ms. Emerson did not know why she imagined things. Nicole had already gotten zero for the
assessment, let alone the actual competition? How could she get the first place?
“Forget it, don’t tell me. Go back to class, the two of you. Study some Maths Olympiad questions
together when you have some free time.”
Nicole knew what Ms. Emerson was thinking just by looking at her expression, but there was no need
for her to explain herself.
Both Nicole and Gary left the office, and Gary immediately exploded.
He looked at Nicole coldly and asked, “You’re such a liar. Why did you say that the questions are
easy? If they were, why did you get a zero? Besides, why did you make that bet with Mr. Kennedy?
Do you know you’ve completely ruined my plan? Great, now I have no choice but to get the first
place!”
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