"But why me?" I snarled at Mrs. Dale and then bit back my tongue the next moment.

She threw daggers at me with her eyes first and then propping her elbows on the desk, sighed deeply. "Because McArdle refused to go there and you are the only other person suitable for this competition."

I groaned internally, stressing my brain to come up with a perfect excuse but the traitor didn't help at all. "What about Candy Rivers? She has the third-highest average."

"Well, now that you mentioned her name, I should tell you that she is joining you too. You'll be going there as a team." Mrs. Dale said, well more like ordered.

"But what about-"

"Miss. King! If you want to earn some extra credit, you need to join the team. That's it." she said and turned her attention back to checking the assignment.

"Brainiac 2019" was going to be held on coming Saturday and teams from all over the city were going to participate in this competition. For the last two years, as Emily had told me, Adam was winning the trophy for Redwood High but for some vague reasons, he was backing out from the competition and guess who earned the honor of replacing him. The sweet, little me.

"Fine." I said in a fake saccharine tone and walked out of her office.

Huffing, I made my way to the last class of the day. Realizing that I had arrived a little too sooner, I decided to turn around but a voice stopped me. Angling my neck, I found Adam's tall height towering over me as he looked into my eyes with relatively softer expressions.

"Yeah?" I asked, keeping my voice distant and aloof.

"Um.. I don't remember much of last night but thanks for the ride." he said while my eyes kept focused on his Adam's apple as he spoke.

I tried my best not to let my grief cloud my senses. I wanted to scream at him that I didn't need his thanks, I just needed his sorry. His sorry for breaking my heart, his sorry for all the tears I have shed because of him, his sorry for being the cold, arrogant idiot that he was. Instead, I just spoke in a straight voice, "It's fine."

Nodding, he walked inside the classroom and sat down on the last seat. The class had started to fill so I seated myself in the opposite corner. Noah arrived soon after, flopping on the seat beside me.

"A little birdie told me that you are going to participate in Braniac 2019." he said and I nodded for his confirmation. "Nerd." he teased and passed me his M&Ms.

Dropping a handful of the heavenly delights into my mouth, I chewed until my mouth was empty. "Jock." I replied and opened my notebook.

"So Candy Rivers gets to spend two whole days with you in a single room. Lucky girl!" he said, using his flirtatious voice and I rolled my eyes.

It was a two day event. On the first day, sixteen teams would participate. Out of which, six would be selected for semi-final and then there would be a final round between three teams with the highest scores. The participating teams will spend those two days in a hotel.

"Get your mind out of the gutter. I'm straight and apparently, so is she." I smacked his head and told him.

"Well, one can never be so sure." he commented, raising his eyebrows as he winked at me.

While talking to him, my eyes accidently fell on Adam and strangely, he was looking right at us, without even realizing that I had caught him looking at me. Feeling warm and flushed under his gaze, I licked my lips and turned my attention back to the board.

...

After sleeping for almost five hours, I woke up at almost dinner time and made my way downstairs. Dad had not arrived yet so I decided to cook the dinner for us. Pulling chicken breasts out of the refrigerator, I marinated them with some spices and left them in the oven to cook. While it was getting prepared, I made some garlic rice to go with the chicken.

"What smells so nice?" Dad appeared out of nowhere and I jumped up in surprise.

"It's you." I sighed in relief.

"Who else?" he shrugs, loosening his tie and rolling his sleeves upto his elbows.

Asking him to take a shower and change out of his business suit, I placed the food on the dining table and waited for Dad to come out of his room. I scrolled down my phone, observing the new picture Emily had uploaded. She was at a movie date with Damien, his arm around her shoulder and her head resting against his neck. They looked so happy together that I mentally prayed to God to never let her suffer again like she did with Justin.

"Hey." Dad said, sitting down beside me and breaking the chain of my thoughts.

"Hey." I smiled and served the dinner on his plate. "How was your day?"

"Just usual. Signing files, meetings, lunch with our Korean partners." he told me as he took the first bite of the chicken and nodded in appreciation. "What about you?" he asked.

"Well, I'm participating in Brainiac 2019.it is an interschool competition that is held every year in this city." I told him, swallowing the garlic rice down my throat. It tasted good, though not as good as Dad cooks, but still.

"That's great, sweetie." he smiled. "Have you thought about your acceptance letter from Columbia yet?"

I moved the chicken piece around in my plate, feeling nervous as Dad's gaze fixated on my face. "I'm still considering it."

"Well, what's there to consider? You wanted to go to an Ivy school and you got accepted in one. Isn't that great?" he asked, his voice excited.

"Hmm." I nodded, still stabbing the chicken without taking any bite.

"Plus, Adam is going there too. You won't feel alone." he said and I exhaled loudly at his mention.

That's the issue, Dad.

"Hmm." I once again mumbled.

When the tension in the air became too thick for me, I picked up my half-full plate and put it back in the fridge. Not wanting to worry Dad, I excused myself saying I had already eaten a sandwich before and trudged towards my room.

...

"What's going on in this crazy little brain of yours?" I asked as I dried my hair with the help of a towel.

"I'm just imagining. You and that Candy Rivers, taking a bath in the hot jacuzzi of the hotel, throwing soap bubbles at each-"

"Ew. It's not what happens when two girls share a room." I said, throwing the towel towards him that hit him right on his head.

"Why did you break my dreams? Why you stone-hearted woman?" he pouted, throwing the towel back at me.

Putting it aside, I hopped on my bed and scooted closer to Noah. He was reading my magazine while eating my leftover sandwich and chugging down my apple juice, in my room and he still had the audacity to smirk back at me.

"By the way, why are you so obsessed with this Candy Rivers?" I asked because honestly, I didn't think she was Noah's type. He went for blondes mostly, tall, leggy blondes while she was short, cute and nerdy.

"Are you jealous?" he asked and I scoffed.

"Yeah right." I said and pulled the sandwich out of his hand.

"Don't worry sweetheart, I am obsessed with you." he cleared and I glared at him.

"You know what. Just stop talking. Silence suits you better." I said and opened my notebook.

Noah was there to help me study for the competition and I couldn't think of a single reason why I even let him come to my house. I should knew better that he was just going to waste my time, which he was doing effortlessly.

"Okay let me help." he said when he noticed me that I was studying by myself.

"No thanks. I don't want a repeat of last time." I said and turned away from him. Just an hour had passed since he "accidently" emptied the glass full of coke on my clothes and I had to take a bath to get rid of the stickiness.

"Sorry Alicia! I promise I won't try anything this time." he said. He sounded genuine this time so I agreed to let him help me.

Running his fingers through his brown hair, he opened the textbook and started jotting down some of the important points. I took the time to study his features. His thick eyebrows, his bluish-green eyes, his slender nose and his angular jaw. He was definitely blessed with strong and defined features, something now I knew was because he shared genes with the most beautiful guy I knew.

"Alicia!" his voice pulled me out of the trance and I gasped when I realized he was bent towards my face with only few inches between us. "You should stop staring at me like this. I might get wrong ideas." he said, his breath tickling my forehead.

"Umm.. I.." I stammered, not knowing what to say. I couldn't just tell him that I was missing his brother or that I was in love with that son of a biscuit. Could I?

He smirked before leaning forwards, probably mistaking my stuttering for something else. I sat there frozen as his lips slowly grazed our mine and that's when I finally decided to jerk back.

"Noah!" I whispered, noticing the reddish hue crawling up his neck. "I'm sorry. I.. I.."

"I what Alicia?" his voice held a hint of accusation.

"I'm sorry. It's just.. I.." I looked around myself, feeling claustrophobic all of a sudden because of his presence . "I love him."

I needed to say that aloud otherwise Noah might get his heart broken, if his feelings were sincere and he wasn't trying to get into my pants.

"What?" he mumbled, a whirlpool of emotions swirling inside his gorgeous eyes.

"I am in love with Adam."

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