My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 78

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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 78
Long ago, Owen had criticized the global education system for forcing schooling on teenagers, calling it a rotten practice of modern society.
He’d said that squeezing people into rigid time slots made us lose what truly mattered.
Right now, Ivy was living proof of his argument.
A face washed in haste, nothing more.
Hair hastily combed down because it refused to cooperate.
A wrinkled shirt that had never seen an iron.
Sneakers forced on in desperation, laces barely holding before they came undone.
Most of her social dignity had been thoroughly demolished.
(Though Owen would probably say, “All of it, Princess.”)
She’d rushed out like this because of morning classes.
It was embarrassing, but what could she do?
Ivy crouched in the corner of the classroom and listened intently to the lecture.
Afterward, she headed to the Cafeteria without much hope. There wouldn’t be anything left after the first class ended.
The warm eggs would already be cleared away, leaving only thick oatmeal.
So be it.
The quiet state of the Cafeteria matched Ivy’s expectations perfectly.
“Pinch, is there any croissant left?”
“When was it that the locusts came through? Of course there isn’t.”
She’d expected as much.
Ivy sighed and plunged a ladle into the oatmeal hardening in the corner of the Cafeteria.
She knew it was healthy, but this texture—like paper left to soak in lukewarm water for a day—she hated it.
Ivy gathered her dishes and sat in a corner seat.
Almost at the same moment, someone set a plate in front of her.
“…?”
Ivy looked up. Fabian had appeared across from her.
With the same meal on his own plate.
“What’s going on?”
Pinch had said all the menus were already claimed by “the entire locust swarm.”
So how was this still here?
“Not like that, Ivy.”
Fabian pushed the oatmeal that had been in front of her to the side of the table.
“This is when you say thank you.”
“…Oh.”
Ivy nodded slowly.
“Of course, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. You hate oatmeal anyway.”
Was it strange to find something odd about this situation, or just her imagination?
“How did you know that?”
Fabian answered her question with a bright smile. As if it were the most obvious thing.
“Does any student actually like that stuff?”
True enough—she’d never seen one who did.
It made sense.
Ivy’s gaze swept across the tray once more.
Croissant, fruit salad, yogurt drizzled with honey. A combination that lacked nothing according to her taste.
There was nothing strange about it. He’d simply brought extra for her, since she usually skipped breakfast.
But why couldn’t her hand reach for it right away?
“Eat well. I was planning to eat all of it myself, but I’m sharing it with you.”
“…Thank you.”
Ivy bit into the croissant. Strangely, she couldn’t quite taste it.
Fabian was smiling at her from across the table.
* * *
After breakfast, she returned to the Dormitory and managed to preserve some social dignity.
Which is to say, she washed her hair.
For most of the afternoon classes, she was with Joy.
More precisely, Joy never left her side.
It seemed she felt some sense of responsibility for the Anonymous Bulletin Board post from yesterday.
Every boy who approached Ivy retreated with a single glare from Joy.
“Back off, Blake.”
Especially when Logan came near, she blocked his path entirely.
A crowd had even gathered to watch.
On the Bulletin Board yesterday, someone had said “Logan’s close to the class rep, isn’t he?” and another had added “Lol Logan’s really torn about it.”
Of course, no one genuinely believed such nonsense.
Logan laughed with a snort and tilted his head slightly.
“You’re making me feel rejected, miss.”
Joy tapped the book she was holding against his approaching forehead.
“Go manage your girlfriends. Cut your limbs into pieces and hand them out equally so you can go to all the parties fairly.”
“Oh, now that’s an idea. Which part would you like, miss? My right hand? Or perhaps…?”
“I don’t need a single hair from your head. Come on, Ivy.”
Joy pulled Ivy’s arm toward the stairs. Glancing back, Logan waved at them.
“Joy, you don’t have to do this.”
“No, I absolutely have to. If I hadn’t been there, you’d have heard “let’s go to the party” more than six times by now.”
“Six people? That’s ridiculous.”
Ivy shook her head as she followed Joy down the stairs.
“They came to ask you to be their partner.”
“Not all of them! Oh, hi Quinton.”
The moment they ran into Cyrus coming up the stairs, Joy stopped in her tracks.
Ivy stopped behind Joy and awkwardly waved her hand.
Cyrus gave a small response without much reaction. “Yeah.”
It was a subtly uncomfortable response.
More than it had been in the Laundry Room yesterday.
Cyrus passed by them, and Joy observed his retreating figure carefully before tilting her head lightly.
“Was it really that shocking?”
“What was?”
“Never mind, nothing.”
Joy walked ahead again, and without thinking, Ivy turned to look back.
At that moment, her eyes met Cyrus’s, who was watching her.
Her heart skipped a beat.
Ivy quickly quickened her pace to follow Joy.
Lunch ended and afternoon classes began. Ivy and Joy were inseparable the whole time, and no one else could approach Ivy.
“Joy, isn’t your next class French?”
But they couldn’t stay together forever.
As the time came for them to part, Joy became visibly anxious.
As if someone might snatch Ivy away.
“You’re worrying too much. Nothing will happen, I promise? Trust me.”
“Of course I trust you. I just don’t trust the boys at this school.”
“There’s nothing to worry about. I’ll be in the Seminar Room, and those party-obsessed boys won’t go anywhere near there.”
“Wouldn’t the Library be better?”
When the Library was mentioned, someone came to mind unbidden.
Ivy laughed awkwardly and shook her head. Right now, she didn’t want to run into him if she could help it.
For some reason.
“The Seminar Room is quieter. I need to put together a Playlist for Sports Day.”
“Then I’ll walk you to the Seminar Room.”
“Good grief.”
Ivy laughed, hugging her books. At this rate, Joy would end up like Owen.
“Surprisingly, I’ve managed upright locomotion for seventeen years. I can walk ten steps on my own.”
“Still.”
“And you have to get to the Language Building. Don’t worry and just go.”
As Ivy smiled and waved her hand, Joy pouted.
“I’ll be back soon, so stay put in the Seminar Room……”
“Ivy.”
Before Joy could finish, a gentle voice cut between them.
It was Fabian, walking from the end of the Hallway.
“Ivy, you don’t have class next, right? Perfect timing. I had something I wanted to ask you about an assignment anyway.”
He spoke kindly to Joy as well.
“Carter, you have French class, don’t you? Don’t worry. I’ll be right there.”
In the royal household where Fabian grew up, many people used to describe his smile as “angelic.”
They said just looking at it put your mind at ease.
And that fact apparently hadn’t changed. Joy’s persistently sharp demeanor softened immediately.
“If you do that, I’ll feel much better, Montrose.”
“It’s the least I can do.”
He shrugged, and Joy winked meaningfully at Ivy before turning to leave.
“……”
Watching her go, Ivy silently began walking. Fabian followed half a step behind her.
The afternoon Hallway was quiet. Oak tree shadows stretched across it from the windows.
“I saw the Bulletin Board.”
Fabian spoke first, his voice low.
“Everyone was making a big deal of it.”
Ivy answered casually.
“I don’t care.”
They arrived at the Seminar Room entrance.
As Ivy reached for the doorknob, Fabian’s hand extended from behind and grasped it a moment sooner.
She turned in surprise to find his face inches from hers, looking down at her intently.
Less than a step away.
Ivy tried to reflexively step back, but the door was behind her.
“…I don’t like seeing strangers throw your name around so carelessly like that.”

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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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