The sun dipped low over Shenghua High, casting long, orange shadows across the dusty floor of the Computer Lab.
"Twenty-eight seconds," Li Yan muttered, his eyes never leaving the monitor. The green glow of the code reflected in his glasses, making him look even more unreachable than usual.
"Twenty-five," I corrected, my fingers flying across my own keyboard. "Don't get cocky, Li Yan. I didn't get a silver medal in karate by letting people finish ahead of me."
He didn't look at me. He never did when we were competing. Ever since middle school, when we fought tooth and nail for the Class President seat, this was our dance. I was the fire—the girl who danced, fought, and led. He was the ice—the boy who played chess and coded in silence.
"Done," we said in unison.
From the back of the room, a loud yawn broke the tension. Lin Chen looked up from his sketchbook, his charcoal-stained fingers pushing back his hair. "Can we go now? Mei Ling and Zhang Wei are already at the boba shop. Zhang Wei said he'd cook dinner for the whole group tonight if we get there before the sun sets."
"You're only moving because there's food involved, Lin Chen," Su Lan remarked without looking up from her book. She adjusted her blazer, her 'savage' aura radiating even in the quiet lab. "But he's right. The 'Seven Stars' shouldn't be late for their own celebration."
I started packing my bag, my heart doing that annoying stutter as Li Yan reached over to shut down my monitor. His hand brushed mine for a millisecond—a spark that felt like a lightning strike to me, but clearly meant nothing to him.
"Good job today, Xiao Xing," he said coolly, shoulder-slung bag in place as he headed for the door. "But your logic in line 42 was messy. You're lucky I didn't report it to the teacher."
I bit my lip to keep from smiling. Even his insults felt like a treasure.
As we walked out, the seven of us crowded into the hallway—the famous group that every teacher praised and every junior feared. We were the toppers, the mischievous elites, the 90% club. We were invincible.
I looked at Li Yan's back as he walked ahead with the boys, talking about a chess opening. I had loved him for five years, and as we entered our final year of school, I felt the clock ticking.
Little did I know, the "prank" that would shatter us was only a few months away.