My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 12

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 12
Soon, rapid footsteps echoed behind them. Hearing this, Joye cried out, and before long, Ibee found herself shrieking alongside her.
And from behind them came…….
Tweet.
Absurdly, it was a whistle. For a ghost’s possession, it was remarkably real.
“……?!”
At this, both Ibee and Joye stopped in their tracks and turned to face each other.
Both with hair equally disheveled.
What had been following them was not a mannequin.
Thinking about it, the very idea had been nonsensical. Of course a mannequin wouldn’t come alive and walk around on its own.
Even if it did roam about, it would surely only check the face of some old schoolmate and be done with it.
No, that’s how it had to be. Leaving the building would violate ghost ethics, after all.
While Ibee entertained these useless thoughts, the person she’d mistaken for a ghost—Holden, the dorm supervisor of the 3rd Dormitory—approached with sharp eyes fixed on both of them.
In truth, Ibee had always thought Holden was a weary, flat-faced old man. But now that she’d actually committed a transgression, he appeared almost like a demon’s servant, eyes blazing with intensity.
Cold sweat trickled down her spine. And it was even this chilly outside.
“Ibee Underwood, Joye Carter.”
The teacher examined their faces carefully, then drew a small notebook from his pocket.
Ibee wanted to scream. If their names went in that book, it would mean Demerit Points.
“I……!”
A sound burst from her lips before she could stop it.
Holden paused mid-cap, meeting Ibee’s gaze. It was an invitation: if you have something to say, say it.
But what could she possibly say?
“Holden.”
As Ibee hesitated for a moment, Joye called out to him instead.
“Actually.”
Joye wore the expression of someone who had made a decision.
She’s going to confess, Ibee realized with instinctive certainty. Which meant Ibee could simply stay quiet.
Ibee was hardly innocent herself, but Joye’s transgression—venturing outside the grounds—would certainly be treated far more severely.
If luck favored them, the matter might even slip through unnoticed.
“I’ll explain, because I know exactly what happened.”
But Ibee cut off Joye’s words and stepped forward.
“I came to investigate after hearing a report that someone has been hiding forbidden beverages here at dawn. I wanted to confirm whether it was true and then report it to you. And sure enough, I found this alcohol.”
Ibee took the glass bottle from Joye’s hands and held it before the teacher. The liquor inside, halfway full, sloshed gently.
Likely something Joye kept to dab on her wrists and neck whenever she returned from outside.
With such a smell on her, anyone would assume she’d simply been playing somewhere within the school grounds.
“As you know, I’m not foolish enough to go out of my way to find and drink something like this.”
“Then why did you run a moment ago?”
“Well, that’s just it.”
Ibee laughed weakly.
“If we heard any sound from the Old School Building at this hour, what would you think we’d assume?”
She could feel Holden’s look of exasperation.
“If the rumor about the mannequin taking nightly strolls were true, the headmaster would happily have entrusted it with patrol duties. No cost, guaranteed effectiveness.”
“I understand, but when something actually moves in the darkness, it’s frightening. Would I really have screamed like that if I’d known it was you?”
“Ridiculous. But then, why was that bottle in Carter’s hand?”
Holden’s gaze turned to Joye, who stood half a step behind. She had no answer.
The teacher’s eyes narrowed. He suspected the bottle belonged to Joye after all.
Given the recent dynamic between Ibee and Joye in the dormitory, it was a perfectly logical inference. And it happened to be true.
“Don’t tell me this bottle belongs to…….”
“Joye is here because I asked her to be!”
Ibee quickly interjected. But with no excuse readily at hand, she began to ramble, buying time.
“I needed Joye to come here. This place is too frightening, and besides, the most important thing is…….”
Then suddenly, Bennett’s words came to mind.

That was it!
Ibee quickly continued in a cheerful voice.
“Carter agreed to serve as Vice-Prefect of the 3rd Dormitory.”
Joye’s eyes widened as she stared at Ibee. This look definitely meant: ‘Are you insane? What nonsense are you talking about?’
Ibee pressed on, ignoring that gaze.
“As you know, Joye has earned the trust of many students. So I asked her to serve the dormitory, and she kindly agreed.”
It was a perfectly crafted story. Even Ibee herself was impressed.
If only there weren’t rumors that her relationship with Joye was terrible.
“So.”
Holden folded his notebook and pointed at Ibee with its edge.
“You, as Prefect, made the suggestion first.”
“Yes.”
Ibee answered at once. Now the notebook pointed at Joye.
“And you accepted it?”
Joye took a deep breath and answered in a quiet voice.
“Yes, well. I did agree to serve as Vice-Prefect.”
Ibee felt privately relieved.
Joye must have understood there was no other way out.
“From what I’ve heard, you two barely acknowledge each other’s existence.”
The problem was that Holden seemed better informed than expected.
But heaven’s providence intervened to help them navigate this predicament.
Ever since they’d fled from the “mannequin,” Ibee and Joye had been holding hands. And they still were.
“Now you’re the first person to hear the ‘real information’ instead of rumors.”
Ibee swung their clasped hands back and forth with a slight smile.
* * *
Fortunately, both Ibee and Joye received only Warning Disciplinary Action. However, Ibee was given the following caution.

It was a difficult position. When she’d shown no concern, she was criticized for indifference. Now she was being told she meddled too much.
Afterward, Ibee and Joye returned to their room together, though at a proper distance from each other—except when passing that frightening mannequin.
Even after they’d returned to the dormitory and lain down in their respective beds, the heavy silence continued.
“……What are you going to do?”
Then, unexpectedly, Joye spoke first. She seemed worried about having lied to the teacher about the Vice-Prefect position.
She probably didn’t want to take on such a troublesome responsibility.
“Don’t worry.”
“You’re not actually planning to saddle me with that awful position, are you?”
“Of course not.”
Ibee laughed softly and turned to look at the bed across from her. In the darkness, she could barely make out Joye’s silhouette, lying flat and facing the ceiling.
“Eventually, a new Prefect will be elected anyway. Once the new one takes office, the entire existing system will be replaced.”
“You’re going to resign……?”
“Something like that.”
Leaving the School would eventually amount to the same as resigning.
Her conversation with Cyrus had shaken her resolve for a moment, but she couldn’t deny the truth.
When she considered every possible outcome, it became clear: Ibee leaving the School was better for everyone.
She didn’t want to burden her parents or Owen with additional royal scandal.
“……Sorry.”
Joye mumbled something quietly, but unfortunately, Ibee didn’t catch it.
“What?”
“Never mind.”
There was a rustling sound, and Ibee saw Joye turn to face her. Now they were looking at each other’s silhouettes.
“And Underwood, I’m telling you this in case you misunderstand—the person who gave me a ride earlier isn’t someone I have any strange relationship with.”
She was talking about that man who’d been desperate in front of Joye. Ibee had completely forgotten about him with all the fuss from the teacher.
‘What should I say?’
Probably, the usual Ibee would have simply acknowledged and ended the conversation there. She wasn’t one to pry into others’ secrets.
But tonight felt different, somehow.
“Then what is he?”
Ibee found her mind turning toward Joye’s affairs.
Not as Prefect, but as someone who’d gone through that chaos together with her.
How would Joye take this sudden shift in her?
Ibee felt a little afraid.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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