The classroom was unusually loud for a Wednesday morning. Students everywhere were discussing plans for the weekend or exchanging gossip. However, one girl sitting in a corner barely noticed the chatter.
Julia Vale, sixteen years old, was the top student in her class. Known for her discipline and intelligence, she focused only on one thing—success. Not only was she admired for her hard work and talent but also for her beauty.
At that moment, she was siting quietly, rewieving her notes. Around her laughter and whispers arose, but none of it interested her. The only thing that mattered were results.
As the classroom door opened, the chatter subsided. The teacher stepped in and placed her books on the desk.
"Good morning, class."
A scattered reply followed. Then she added something that drew everyone's attention.
" We have a transfer student joining us today."
Julia looked up. Transfers weren't unusual but midterm transfers surely were.
A tall figure with slightly messy hair and dark eyes entered the classroom, looking unusually confident for a transfer.
"Students, this is Charles Montrell."
He raised his hand casually.
"Hi everyone."
Everyone started whispering, while a few girls also giggled. This however did not interest Julia and she returned her gaze to her notes. He was just another meaningless distraction.
The teacher looked around.
"There's an empty seat there", she said pointing towards the seat next to Julia.
Charles casually stepped forwards, seating himself next to Julia.
"Hi, You're Julia Vale, right? I looked you up. Top of class, huh?"
She paused for a moment then without looking up, said,
" So"
Charles simply grinned. This was not what he had expected. He leaned back against his chair and muttered under his breath
" Interesting"
The teacher began her lesson and halfway through it, asked a rather tricky question. Julia's hand shot up instantly, but before the teacher could call on her, Charles answered,
almost casually, as if the difficult problem were nothing more than a simple exercise.
"You isolate the variable first, then substitute the values."
There was a brief silence,the teacher was clearly taken aback.Then she simply said
"Correct."
The whole class turned to look at Charles. This was the first time someone had answered before Julia.
The teacher continued her lesson, but Julia couldn't focus on it entirely. This was the first time someone had beaten her to answering a tricky question. For the first time since Charles had entered the classroom, she took him seriously.
He might be a hurdle.