My High School Nerd Rival - Chapter 84

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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 84
Not going?
Ivy stared at Cyrus in surprise, then wrote her reply below his words.
[You’re not going? The party.]
His pen hovered over the blank space for a moment. The pause stretched a little longer than usual.
He’d written “no,” but of course he didn’t want to attend some school function. That was obvious.
Ivy’s lips curved into a slight smile.
[If you want something from me, just say it straight. Don’t be petulant about it.]
She threw his own words from yesterday back at him, and the thought of it tickled her so much that a small laugh escaped before she could stop it.
It was clearly an unexpected counterattack. Cyrus’s brow furrowed slightly.
He sighed and wrote something in the notebook, and in that moment, Ivy checked her smartphone again.
[Can you do it?]
Another message from Senior had arrived.
It was probably because Ivy had read but not replied.
[Yes, I understand. Do you know where I can find the playlist from last year?]
[If you ask the Dormitory Supervisor, you should be able to get a file with last year’s party preparations organized.]
At least that was helpful news.
Ivy reached for the bag hanging on her chair. Study was urgent, but securing the file took priority first.
She turned to Cyrus, who had given up his seat for her, and apologized quietly.
“Sorry, I should go now.”
He simply gestured toward the door with his chin as if to say there was nothing for it. Ivy hugged the books and notebook from the desk to her chest and left the Library.
When she looked back, the spot Ivy had vacated was quickly claimed by another student, and Cyrus had returned his focus to studying.
The first thing Ivy did after securing the playlist was listen to the music herself.
The saccharine songs pouring through the earphones sounded sweet enough to rot her teeth.
They were supposed to play this for couples who already clung to each other inseparably?
It was remarkable that this was supposedly an official school event.
Ivy sighed and skipped to the next track.
The comfortable sound of an acoustic guitar. Ivy sat down and placed the books and notebook she’d been carrying from the Library onto the desk with a soft thud.
Then she realized her mistake.
In her haste to gather her things in the Library, she’d accidentally picked up Cyrus’s notebook too.
She stared at the notebook she’d found between the books for a long moment, then let out a rueful laugh.
Cyrus must be bewildered.
A few pages in showed neat mathematical proofs.
And then she discovered something interesting: he had kept the page where they’d exchanged written correspondence yesterday, unchanged.
The fact that he hadn’t torn out this irrelevant “noise” wedged between the proofs seemed oddly out of character, and she found it strange.
Flap.
She turned another page and saw the written exchange from just a moment ago.
The rare occasion when Ivy had gotten one over on Cyrus — her proud moment.
Regardless of anything else, the instant this page reached Cyrus’s hands, it would be torn to shreds.
That prideful boy had no reason to keep something like this.
Ivy’s quiet laughter stopped when her eyes reached the very bottom of the page.
Specifically, just below the words telling him to just say what he wanted without being difficult.
[Come together.]
Ivy’s gaze lingered on those short, clear words. The music drifting around her ears seemed to grow sharper.
Ivy set the notebook aside on the desk. She thought she should return it.
But for that, she’d need to know where Cyrus was.
Her hand holding the smartphone wouldn’t move.
She couldn’t even write a short message asking “Where are you?” and ended up setting it down.
‘If it were urgent, he would’ve asked me directly.’
A thought that was almost an excuse.
Or rather, an evasion.
Ivy opened her laptop and decided to start arranging the playlist first.
It wasn’t that pressing, but it just seemed like the right thing to do.
Unfortunately, it didn’t help much. Her eyes kept drifting to the notebook sitting at the edge of the desk.
Her mind too.
‘…Does he really mean he’ll go with me?’
The boy who stayed alone in the Lab during Sports Day. The one who hated crowds so much.
‘And yet…’
He was the one who said it first, to her.
She pulled the notebook over and flipped the page. Her fingertip reached the words she’d been trying to avoid.
Come together.
She could see now that the ink at the end of the letters had smudged slightly.
Ivy traced that mark. Of course the paper was just paper to the touch, but her fingertip felt oddly warm.
Ivy picked up her smartphone.
She typed a message asking Cyrus where he was, but hesitated before she could press send.
Tap.
She only managed to press it after squeezing her eyes shut tight.
[Where are you?]
[My room]
Cyrus’s reply was, as always, prompt and brief.
He could have asked first if she’d seen his notebook, but that was so like Cyrus not to.
Ivy grabbed his notebook and stood up from her desk.
As she passed the mirror set up in the room, she glanced at it briefly.
Her hair tumbled down in disarray.
Ivy ran her fingers through it half-heartedly, then gave up.
She wasn’t going to do anything strange, so she didn’t really want to fuss over her appearance.
‘Right, going to the party together isn’t really a big deal.’
Attending a school event together didn’t necessarily suggest anything ambiguous. That era had ended some fifty years ago.
What was wrong with close friends enjoying a school function together?
Besides, Cyrus, who detested school events, had volunteered to go for the first time.
As a dorm representative who should be encouraging all students to participate, was there any news more welcome than this?
Maybe Cyrus only had Ivy as a close friend anyway, so he’d proposed they go together.
Before leaving the room, Ivy practiced her response to him one last time in front of the mirror.
“I saw what you wrote in the notebook. I’m so glad you’re thinking about coming to a school event. As your dorm rep, this makes me really happy.”
Wasn’t that too forced?
And what was she even trying to say? The context didn’t make sense.
Ivy tried again, attempting to muster an affable smile.
“That’s a great idea. I really love it!”
…She sounded way too excited.
It might make him think she had some other expectation.
If Cyrus had made the suggestion without any special intention, such an answer would confuse him.
Ivy quickly wiped the smile away.
“I’ll be happy to accept your invitation.”
Chin slightly raised, speaking with confidence.
It wasn’t bad, but it sounded like Evelyn speaking, not Ivy.
What do people usually say in situations like this?
Ivy pulled out her smartphone and did a search.
‘What’s the appropriate response when a close male friend asks you to go to a dance party together as friends?’
The search results were overwhelming. So collective wisdom truly is mighty, Ivy thought as she checked the first result.
’15 cute ways to say yes!’
Useless.
She immediately scrolled past.
‘Learn the thrilling way to talk that turns your male friend into your boyfriend.’
Even more useless.
Disappointed in collective wisdom, Ivy checked another result.
‘My male friend asked me to go to a dance party with him — does he like me?’
Here she paused for a moment. But only for a moment.
Finally, she marked ‘Not satisfied with these search results’ and shoved her smartphone into her pocket.
This was only making things stranger.
All she had to do was return the notebook and say she understood.
Ivy tousled her hair deliberately, clutched the notebook, and left the room.
* * *
She knocked on Cyrus’s door.
No one asked who it was before the door swung open, and Ivy jumped back in surprise.
When his eyes met her wide ones, he spoke first.
“You said you were coming.”
So that’s why he’d opened the door without answering the knock.
“…I didn’t say I was coming.”
Ivy answered petulantly.
“I just asked where you were.”
Of course, asking where he was essentially meant she’d go find him, but she wanted to insist otherwise right now.
“Hmm.”
He had the look of someone with plenty to say, but he didn’t bother to argue.
“I see.”
Then he extended his hand and gestured at the notebook Ivy was holding. Hand it over, he seemed to say.
“…….”
Ivy handed him the notebook.
Now was the time to speak.
Ivy recalled the most plausible of the lines she’d practiced in her room.
‘Do you know how shocked I was when I saw what you wrote? Of course I’m not refusing. Let’s go and have fun.’
She rolled the words over in her mind once, then looked up.
But when her eyes met Cyrus’s as he held the notebook and gazed down at her, Ivy suddenly forgot all the words she’d prepared.
What had she been about to say?
“So, what’s your answer?”
He asked her boldly instead, catching her off guard. What was she going to do?
What should she do?
What should she say?
As confusion overtook her, he extended both his hands toward her.
“Right is yes, left is no.”
Binary code that required no words.
But she knew what her answer was.

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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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