My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 69

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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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Episode 69
The call was still connected, but Ivy couldn’t bring herself to say a word.
……
Tap, tap.
Someone tapped her shoulder lightly from behind.
She startled and spun around.
It was Cyrus, standing right there.
The moment he slipped his mobile phone into his pocket, the call dropped.
Only the dial tone remained, ringing in her ears.
“Something wrong?”
Only after he asked did she lower the phone from her ear.
Something was wrong, yes.
She’d been assigned a Group Project with Fabian.
But that wasn’t what was bothering her now.
Why did it bother her so much that Cyrus had said he wouldn’t do the project with her?
Even though she’d said the same thing to him countless times before.
“No, nothing.”
That was all she could manage.
It didn’t match the person who’d been shouting into the phone just moments ago.
“It’s just… I was surprised that things changed so suddenly.”
Ivy quickly added an excuse.
“I mean, it’s true I said I didn’t want to work with you, but that wasn’t necessarily… and anyway, you did lend me those books, so. God!”
What was she even saying?
There was no logic to it as persuasion, and the circumstances made no sense as an excuse. It was just nonsense.
“Right, anyway. Fine. Good luck with Mia on the project.”
Even with Cyrus staring at her, she pushed out the words with pouting lips.
This is the worst. Really.
Ivy chose to run instead. No matter how she thought about it, that was better.
There was no way to explain to someone else thoughts she couldn’t even sort out herself.
“I’m going first.”
Ivy took one last look at Cyrus, then turned sharply away.
But her wrist was grabbed at once.
Following the pressure of his long fingers, her head turned back toward him.
“Work with me.”
* * *
“Mia will struggle quite a bit. I’d appreciate it if you’d help her, Quinton.”
Hartley, the Latin teacher, didn’t hide his displeasure at the request.
It was understandable.
A Group Project was a process of cooperating to produce better results, not a tutoring session for one person’s benefit.
Whoever Mia was, the fact that the teacher felt the need to ask separately meant she was definitely not his type.
Though there wasn’t anyone at this school who was his type anyway.
So of course he’d meant to refuse.
If only Ivy’s words hadn’t come back to him.

He knew those words weren’t a negation of his very existence.
For Ivy Underwood, chasing first place, it was only natural strategy.
And yet those words had been scratching at his nerves steadily since last week.
“And what about Ivy?”
“She’ll be paired with another student. I’ll assign her a suitable partner.”
So he wanted to ask who that was. But that was an unreasonable question, so he held it back.
“Understood.”
Cyrus accepted the teacher’s proposal.
He wondered how much Ivy would jump with joy when she heard this news.
Perhaps she’d even run up to him to boast.
That this time, she’d definitely complete the project better than him and take first place.
Good then.
He gave the teacher a small bow and left the Administrative Office.
And soon after, a call came in.
He’d thought Ivy was calling in high spirits, but it was different.
An irritated voice.
She was the one who’d firmly insisted on not wanting to work together.
Since she seemed to have forgotten that, he had to remind her of the unpleasant truth when she questioned why.
“You said you didn’t want to.”
The words came out through pursed lips.
—What do you mean—!
Ivy seemed about to argue back, but fell silent instead.
Could she have forgotten what she’d said?
It was just last week that she’d said it with such determination.
Down a quiet hallway leading toward the Latin Classroom, he spotted Ivy standing by a window.
There was no choice to simply pass by.
For reasons he couldn’t explain.
Tap, tap.
He tapped her shoulder with his finger, and soon two wide eyes turned toward him.
“Something wrong?”
Her blue eyes wavered, unable to find their center.
He recognized that look. It was a habit that appeared when she was troubled.
Looking at that face, something strange—yes, genuinely peculiar—welled up. An expectation.
It was hard to accept, but it was true.
Soon she shook her head. No problems at all.
She couldn’t quite meet his gaze, and her lowered hands wouldn’t stay still.
So she was no good at lying whatsoever.
The moment he just kept staring, she seemed to think she needed to explain, and began rambling.
“I mean, it’s true I said I didn’t want to work with you, but that wasn’t necessarily… and anyway, you did lend me those books, so. God!”
In that desperate stream of words, one sentence suddenly struck the back of his head like a blow.
‘That wasn’t necessarily.’
He absolutely had to see what expression Ivy Underwood was wearing when she said those words.
Her flushed face, heated with emotion, shouting like that… it looked like nothing so much as a child carelessly letting her true feelings slip out and then panicking.
His fingertips twitched. If he hadn’t hidden his hand behind his back, who knew how far it might have reached. He’d already confirmed the answer to that question several times recently.
“I’m going first.”
She slipped away without finishing the conversation properly.
The hand he’d kept hidden behind his back finally reached out. He grasped her hand back.
It was small and cold.
Since he hadn’t decided what to say, he licked his lips once.
But the moment he met those blue eyes, the answer came to him at once.
He could only speak as the words came.
Just as Ivy had done moments before.
* * *
How long had they stood in silence?
The hand he held was growing warmer. The place that had been cold at first.
Held captive by him, Ivy kept swallowing back the familiar words that kept trying to come up.
‘Working with you makes it harder to get first place.’
‘I already told the teacher I’m working with Mia.’
Those weren’t wrong answers, but they weren’t honest ones either.
No—more than that, Ivy herself didn’t want to say such things.
“Fine.”
Only after lowering her head to avoid his gaze did the answer finally come out, and it sounded pathetic.
But at least, among everything she could think of, that was the best answer she could give him.
From the stairwell at the end of the hallway came the sound of students approaching. Class time was drawing near.
“Let go.”
Ivy looked down at his gripping hand and spoke quietly.
“Let go, what?”
The answer that came back was shamelessly matter-of-fact.
Couldn’t he hear the other students coming from over there?
If Cyrus held her like this in the middle of the hallway, the rumors would be predictable.
Everyone would say first place was bullying second place.
“P-please let go.”
At her stammered plea, he finally released her hand. Ivy quickly pulled her hand to her chest.
“If the teacher was going to ask like that, I wish you’d consulted me first.”
“Because you’d obviously say yes.”
“How could you possibly—!”
Ivy instinctively started to rebut him, then lost her words.
Foolish. She’d already rejected him so many times.
“I’m sorry.”
Ivy apologized at once.
For so many things.
“No.”
But his answer was somehow ambiguous.
Did he accept her apology?
He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked past her toward the classroom.
After a few steps, he turned back to look at her.
His expression asking why she wasn’t coming faster.
Ivy adjusted her bag strap and followed him.
Only then did Cyrus speak.
“You’re right. I should have asked first.”
They arrived at the Latin Classroom.
The sound of students already inside could be heard even from outside.
Cyrus grasped the door handle and continued.
“You’re my partner.”
And the door opened. The voices of other students filled the classroom.
And yet in Ivy’s ears, the faint echo of his words took up far more space.

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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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