My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 82

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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 82
The results of Sports Day unfolded exactly as everyone predicted: victory for the First Dormitory.
Their glee was so obnoxious that even Ivy found herself shooting them sour looks by the end of the event.
The First Dormitory’s Class Representative, who still despised Cyrus, was openly jutting out his chin in triumph. It seemed he’d come to dislike Ivy as well by now.
So be it.
After the closing ceremony, students headed toward the area behind the dormitory for the barbecue.
“Ivy.”
Fabian approached her as she was the last to leave the tent.
“Fabian, I saw you out there earlier. You were incredible—so fast.”
Ivy rushed to praise him. It was part of her duty as Class Representative, after all.
“It was nothing special. Your cheering made the difference.”
The two of them walked along behind the other students.
“By the way, earlier…”
Fabian opened his mouth carefully as they walked.
“Yeah?”
“Where were you during lunch? I didn’t see you around.”
“Oh.”
Ivy answered as if it were nothing much.
“Just dealt with some measures regarding unreliable participants, I guess.”
Not that she’d actually done anything to Cyrus.
But she couldn’t think of any other way to explain how she’d spent that time.
“I see.”
Fabian didn’t press further.
As they walked side by side, the area behind the dormitory began to come into view.
Long tables had been set up in rows across the lawn.
Checkered cloths, bread baskets, bowls of coleslaw and salad, mustard and ketchup bottles arranged in a line—and at the far end, House Master Holden stood in an apron tending the barbecue grill, cooking meat.
“The meat’s burning. Come grab it, you slowpokes.”
Holden’s tone was as sharp as always.
Yet his hands moved with surprising delicacy as he grilled the sausages and trimmed the charred bits from the meat.
“Last place—not even second. A historic low for the Third Dormitory. And I have to watch Reynolds preen about this for a whole year.”
Reynolds was the House Master for the First Dormitory.
Clearly there was some rivalry between them.
“Come on, sir, but we won all the main events, didn’t we?”
“That’s right—you were happy enough then.”
Students quickly grabbed plates and chattered away as they began securing the meat.
“Three ribs per person! Ivy, tell them to grab their own plates!”
Free from her duties as Class Representative, Ivy stepped back and surveyed the lawn.
There was still a long line in front of the grill.
Students wielding tongs loaded their food with military precision, while those behind craned their necks to peek over the shoulders of those ahead.
“You can come back for seconds, so don’t pile it on so thick.”
Despite the warning, they followed their locust-swarm instincts and heaped their plates high regardless.
Those who’d secured spots early sprawled on the grass, munching sausages and chatting about the day’s events or taking photos.
Slow music played from the speakers, but their chatter was so loud it barely cut through.
Then Ivy’s eye caught a shadow beneath the dormitory building.
A hand without a plate.
Footsteps heading unhesitatingly toward the building’s entrance.
Cyrus.
Ivy sighed.
That guy really did have a habit of slipping away.
“Cyrus.”
She caught up with him at the dormitory entrance. The noise from the lawn had faded somewhat, and she was slightly breathless from the rush.
“Where are you going?”
“To my room.”
The moment she asked, she realized what a stupid question that was.
“Eat first.”
“No thanks.”
“What do you mean no thanks? I ate your lunch earlier anyway.”
His eyes shifted away for a moment before returning to hers—perhaps reviewing her use of the word “ate.”
Well, strictly speaking, he’d yielded it to her of his own accord.
“You’re not expecting a lecture on the relationship between nutritional intake and learning efficiency, are you?”
Ivy tilted her chin defiantly, and Cyrus stared at her in disbelief before ultimately turning around to walk with her.
“Fine. Teach me.”
“You’d better pay attention. Professor Ivy’s classes have rather tricky exams.”
“I’ve heard rumors.”
They returned to the lawn and joined the now-shorter barbecue line.
They arrived at the salad bar. Ivy loaded her plate with variety, then turned to see Cyrus wasn’t even looking in that direction.
“Here’s your vitamin C.”
Ivy scooped coleslaw onto his plate.
“Skip it and your gums will bleed.”
“We’re in an age of autonomous vehicles and you’re warning me about scurvy?”
“Your excuse for not eating vegetables is awfully dramatic, isn’t it?”
Cyrus stared at her incredulously, but once they reached the grill, he deliberately loaded his plate with grilled bread, sausages, ribs, and chicken legs in equal measure.
Ivy took only bread and sausages. It was the easiest to eat.
Then Cyrus placed three ribs on her plate.
“Protein doesn’t seem to rate high on your priority list.”
“It does. But I’m aware of the dangers of overconsumption.”
“At your age, this hardly counts as overindulgence.”
He said this while adding roasted asparagus to her plate as well.
Fair is fair—I should return the favor.
Ivy added roasted corn to his plate.
Both of them now found themselves holding unnecessarily full plates as they turned back to see Joy waving at them.
Logan was sitting beside her.
“Were you two together the whole time?”
Ivy asked as she set down her plate across from them, and Logan answered immediately.
“Yeah.”
“Wait, no?”
Joy gasped and quickly denied it.
“There was simply one uninvited guest in my seat.”
Ivy wasn’t sure whose version was correct.
She tilted her head and sat down. Cyrus, who’d briefly left, returned with Ginger Ale.
“When did you grab that? I like this stuff.”
Cyrus responded with genuine interest to her comment.
“Even though it has 30 grams of sugar?”
Ivy read the nutrition label on the can and laughed, saying, “Oh, that’s true.”
“Blake.”
Joy, watching the two of them, asked Logan in a low voice.
“Is 30 grams of sugar in ginger ale really that funny?”
“They’re nerds.”
Saying so, he eyed the ribs on Ivy’s plate before taking a hit to his back from Joy.
As students began drifting back to the dormitory with full bellies, the lawn grew quiet.
Ivy gathered paper plates into a bag along with the other students and cleared away the sauce bottles left on the tables.
Once everything was tidied, she created a lost-and-found box. Items students had dropped were scattered across the school grounds.
“Here.”
A hand suddenly appeared and placed a Lip Balm and a small handkerchief into the box. Looking up, it was Cyrus.
“They were in the tent.”
“Haven’t you gone inside yet?”
“Just…”
Ivy didn’t press further about the vague answer.
Then, without a word, he took the box from her hands.
The two naturally began moving together.
The Gymnasium, the Athletic Field, the lawn, the tent.
By then the sun had completely set, the sky a deep navy, and the breeze had grown cool enough that the rustle of grass against the wind became distinctly audible in the silence.
Ivy huddled against the chill, and Cyrus’s pace quickened slightly.
When they reached the dormitory entrance, Cyrus set the lost-and-found box down on a table.
“I should give this to Holden?”
“I could do it.”
He held his gaze on her for a moment as she rolled up her sleeves, then answered.
“No, go on inside.”
“…Thank you.”
Honestly, she was quite grateful. She wanted a warm shower to rinse away the accumulated dust.
He picked up the box again. But before he’d taken more than a few steps, he turned around.
“I had fun.”
“Huh?”
Not sure how to respond, that was what came out. But he’d already turned and begun walking away.
“Just… that’s all.”
Did he mean how she’d dragged him to the barbecue?
Or was he referring to what had happened earlier in the Chemistry Laboratory?
Before she could discern the meaning, he was already gone toward the House Master’s Office.
* * *
After a warm shower, Ivy and Joy dried each other’s hair.
Then they lay on their respective beds with Sheet Masks that Joy always remembered to bring, spread across their faces.
Her body felt like it was melting away. From dawn until now, it had been such a long day.
“That was fun, wasn’t it?”
Joy spoke first.
“Yeah.”
Ivy answered with a slight smile. It really was.
“So you and Cyrus are on good terms again?”
“No, that’s not it!”
Ivy denied it almost instinctively.
“I’m just looking out for him because I’m Class Representative.”
The excuse sounded so forced and awkward that even Ivy could tell it was a lie.
Why was she panicking like this?
“Ah, because you’re Class Representative?”
Joy seized the moment to tease her, and Ivy ripped off her Sheet Mask and rolled away.
She’d decided to just run away.
“…Good night.”
“Sleep well. And tell Cyrus good night for me.”
“I’m telling you, it’s not like that!”
Ivy raised her voice, but it was completely drowned out by Joy’s laughter.
And shortly after, Joy’s breathing grew steady.
She must have fallen asleep quickly—she was tired.
Ivy tossed and turned for a moment before, following the habits of the modern age, reaching for her smartphone on the bedside.
After pulling the blanket up over her head to block the light, she began looking through the photos she’d taken today.
Most of them were taken to record scores on the scoreboard.
And at the very end was a photo of their two barbecue plates placed side by side—Cyrus’s and Ivy’s.
Thinking back on their ridiculous nutritional science conversation, Ivy laughed to herself.
After a moment’s hesitation, she sent him that picture of the perfectly balanced plate.
[I had fun too.]
She was simply returning what he’d said to her, yet her heart tickled with an odd warmth.
Soon a thumbs-up emoji appeared as his response below the photo, and a message came back.
[See you tomorrow.]
It was an ordinary greeting, but Ivy read those short words over and over.
See you tomorrow.
Such a simple phrase, yet it made her this happy.
Ivy stared at his message a little longer, then fell asleep with her screen still on.
Moments later.
Once Ivy’s breathing had become steady and even, Joy, who’d been lying still, rustled and turned over.
She checked on Ivy once more, then retrieved her phone from under the blanket.
The dimmed light of her phone screen flickered faintly across her face.
She sent a short message.
Then, just seconds waiting for a reply.
Joy read the response and slid her phone under her pillow.
The room was now completely silent.

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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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