Chapter 34: XXXIII

MUCH LIKE HOW THE DAYS were when the rankings are about to be announced, Ma'am Anne took her sweet time before she entered her advisory class.

Upon the arrival of their advisor, everyone seemed to be gloomier and increasingly anxious with every step that the woman made before she reached the center of the room.

"Good afternoon, class."

Standing up in unison, everyone replied straight away. "Good afternoon, Ma'am Anne."

The woman in front waves her hand which signified her students to take their seats. 

Laia could barely breathe the moment their adviser unfolded the piece of paper in her hands which was obviously the ranking for the second quarter.

"Hmmm," Their adviser really had the audacity to look entertained while her students are on the verge of biting their nails in both anticipation and dread. "As always, I'll be announcing the top five students of the ranking and then I will leave the paper with the overall rankings in my table for you to read and well, enjoy."

The short-haired girl's palms started to feel numb from her constant rubbing. Brie turns to her with a small smile and mouths it's gonna be okay in hopes of cheering her up, however, Laia could barely focus on her friend with their adviser in front.

"I wonder who's gonna be the rank one this quarter?"

"My bet's on Laia. She did get all those bonus points from the play."

"I think Samuel's still gonna keep his position."

"Why? Laia always gets the highest scores on any of the quizzes, though?"

"Samuel's basically hands-on when it comes to extracurricular activities, man. I wouldn't be shocked if he ends up being voted to be Most Popular too,"

The words of her gossiping classmates did nothing to ameliorate Laia's confidence in herself and her grades. Despite some of them voicing out their bets on her getting the first rank, they were still some adamant on Samuel still being ranked one much to the girl's dismay.

"Okay, enough of the chattering," Their adviser clapped her hands loudly, effectively catching everyone's attention straight away. "Let's proceed with the top five. The fifth rank for this quarter is Jake!"

Laia watched as Jake's eyes widened when his name was called. Everyone erupted in cheers and some even started yelling the boy's name and whistling loudly. 

She didn't miss how Brie smiled brightly as well, obviously happy for her (as of the moment) not-so-boyfriend.

The short-haired girl claps alongside her class again when the cheering and whistling stopped. Their adviser seemed to be very pleased as well for she didn't scold or complain about all the noise.

"Congrats again, Jake," Their adviser continues on. "Our fourth rank for the quarter is Thalia!"

Once again, everyone clapped and most of Thalia's friends shrieked in excitement. Thalia herself couldn't believe what just happened, and her mouth remained open for about a minute or so. 

Laia restrained herself from laughing at her classmate's reaction, thinking that if she did, everyone might assume she's being arrogant.

"Congrats to you, Thalia," The woman in front claps again. "Now for our third rank, we have Andrei!"

Much like earlier, everyone clapped politely for Andrei. Laia wasn't that close with the boy, for he had some sort of inferiority complex when it came to her, resulting in their not-so-amiable relationship.

Not that Laia minds. It's the least of her concerns if somebody despises her for always getting a higher rank.

Andrei even sends a withering look at both Laia and the asshat before scowling. He was clearly not pleased with just the third rank, but that's neither Laia's fault nor again, her concern.

Ma'am Anne probably took notice of the awkward air and cleared her throat. "As expected from Andrei. Now for the most anticipated part of the day,"

Laia clasped her hands together in a tight hold. She knew avoiding her adviser's gaze would not change the fact that she might still not get her (deserved) top spot again but she'd rather keep her head down for a while.

Or maybe forever if she still doesn't get her top spot back.

It doesn't help as well that the girl could basically feel everyone's gaze on her. Gazes that are either full of support or hopes of seeing the girl once again remain second to the transferee who everyone loves.

Gazes that won't help her get her top spot back and if she could only scream at them all to avert their gazes she would definitely do.

"The second spot for the rankings is Samuel!"

Silence.

And then Brie's high-pitched shriek.

"Laia!"

Laia was immediately engulfed in a hug by her friend as everyone in the room cheered louder than all the cheering from earlier combined. Most were even yelling out the girl's name, Shane being among those.

The short-haired girl didn't bother stealing a glance at what the asshat's reaction was no matter how tempting it was.

She was supposed to bathe in her glory after all. Looks like disregarding sleep and studying for six days in a week were all worth it.

Now she just has to keep her spot for the next two quarters to ensure being the batch valedictorian and get to go to the university she always wanted for college!

"Goodness gracious, I wasn't even finished yet--"

Brie cuts their adviser off with a shrill shriek. "We already know who's the top one, ma'am! We don't need you to announce it!"

Almost everyone agreed. Much to Laia's shock, instead of a frown, their adviser merely shakes her head and grins.

"Congrats again to the top five!" True to what she said earlier, their adviser did leave the sheet containing the rankings on her table. "You can check your rankings after you're done fawning over Ms. Lopez, who of course, deserves all the praise. Congrats again, everyone!"

Ma'am Anne leaves the room while humming a cheerful tune.

Brie was still jumping in glee in front of Laia even though everyone made their way to the paper containing the rankings. "I knew you're gonna be the top one again!"

"I didn't," Laia honestly says. "I didn't even think I'd still be in the top five."

"Now you're just being annoyingly humble," Brie scoffs as she rolled her eyes. "Do you really think with all the studying you've been doing for these past months instead of accompanying me to restaurants and coffee shops you won't be the top one?!"

Laia was quick to cover her friend's mouth with her hand. "Shh, no need to go all ballistic,"

Her friend pushes the short-haired girl's hand away. "It's not my fault that you're making me angry with your humility!"

Laia was about to respond to her friend's words when Jake and the asshat made their way to the two girls. 

"Congrats, Laia," Jake smiles genuinely at Laia.

She smiles back at him. "Thanks. Congrats to you, too!"

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The boy sheepishly grins. Laia notices how his eyes reddened. "Yeah, I didn't expect it at all."

"Now you're just being humble like Laia!" Brie teases.

Probably not expecting her from answering instead of Laia, Jake awkwardly smiles at his not-so-girlfriend. "I'm serious, though?"

"Stop it with the unnecessary humility, man," The asshat interjects with a laugh. "Don't be like our top one here,"

Laia couldn't believe that the asshat didn't even seem one bit dejected from being second place. She honestly expected him to either complain openly about the rankings or go around and mope.

Definitely not his current state on where he looks almost like... he's free.

However, Laia knew better than to say her thoughts out loud. There is a huge chance that the asshat would only laugh at her claims rather than take them into consideration.

"By the way, looks like a congratulation needs to be said?" The asshat grins playfully at Laia who rolls her eyes. "Congratulations, Lopez."

Unlike how Laia thought that the asshat would congratulate her in a mocking manner, he was unusually genuine about it. 

Even the smile on his face was more genuine than all those smiles he had on his face when facing other people.

Laia felt something inside her chest but she ignores it.

"Thanks," was the only thing the girl was able to say.

Just like she expected, the four were enveloped in an awkward silence that was interrupted by Shane appearing behind Laia and hugging her from behind. "Congrats again, Laia!"

Only did the girl come to realize that Laia had companions when she looks up. "Oh!" She apologetically waves. "Congrats to you three too!"

"Did you check your ranking already, Shane?" Brie asks.

Shane pulls away from Laia and nods. "Yeah. I'm rank fifteen."

Brie claps her hands and did her happy dance. "Congrats! That's high up!"

The two boys agree with a nod. Jake even moves closer to Shane and pats her in the head unexpectedly making the girl raise her eyebrow. "Did you do that because I'm terribly shorter than you are?"

Shane wasn't that short in Laia's opinion. The girl was around 5'3, just a tad shorter than Laia who was 5'4. However, Jake was around 5'11 so there really was a significant difference when it comes to their heights.

Brie's irked expression didn't go unnoticed by both the asshat and Laia. Laia was the first to react to it by elbowing her friend subtly. "Hey, your face,"

"Shit," Brie whispers and immediately plasters a smile on her face as if nothing happened. "I don't think you're very short, Shane,"

Shane nods in agreement. "Definitely! It's not my fault all of our male classmates are tall like giraffes."

Brie laughed and Laia was pleased that it wasn't fake this time. "I agree. It's kind of annoying seeing them tower over us, don't you think?

The asshat chuckles as well. Laia notes that he seemed to be taller than he was a few months back. Not so much, but it was noticeable if one looks closely enough. "Don't mind me, I'm just chilling while being 5'11,"

Jake pushes him playfully. "Stop going around and drinking height supplements, man,"

"I'm not taking anything, it's all in the genes."

Laia couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes. "Sure, the genes."

"I can show you pictures of my--"

"I'd rather not see any of those--"

And their bantering continued until their final period of the day ended, with Brie bringing both Laia and Shane home. Laia was even taken aback by how Brie quickly forgot about the issue earlier, but she never was somebody who held grudges.

Maybe just when it came to her parents.

She drops Shane at her home first because it was nearer than Laia's house. 

Laia wasn't very surprised at how huge Shane's house was. It was more like a mansion than a house, to be honest.

The gate alone was probably the same height as the gate on Brie's mansion. There weren't guards present, but Laia knew they were probably around.

Shane jumps out of the back seat and waves goodbye. "Thanks for the ride, Brie!"

"No problem!" Brie was quick to reply.

The two girls waited for Shane to enter the gates and left after. 

"Her house is really huge," Laia decides to start a conversation after she noticed how Brie's grip on the steering wheel tightens. "Is she the one with the politician dad?"

Brie nods. "Yeah. The assemblyman."

Laia's eyes widened as she lets out a whistle. "I knew about her dad being a big shot but I didn't know he was that--"

"Influential?"

"Yeah," Laia turns to her friend who had an unpredictable expression on her face. "Are you okay?"

Brie sighs and decelerates the pace of the car. "I'm just.. jealous."

"Of what happened earlier?"

"Uh-huh," Brie's shoulders slumped. "I just... if it's Vivi, I don't see her as a competition very much--"

Laia elbows her. "Don't be rude."

"I'm just saying!" The long-haired girl chuckles. "But Shane, well, if Jake ends up liking her, she's definitely way better off than I am--"

"Are you kidding? You do realize you're the heiress to a hotel chain, right?"

The girl sighs again. "But her dad may end up in a higher position sooner or later--"

"We don't know that yet, idiot," Laia flicks her friend's nose, making the other girl yelp. "Anyway, don't go all negative for no reason. You and Jake are talking again, right? Just don't pressure him very much or give any reason for him to change his mind again and you'll be back together in no time."

Brie smiles at Laia but Laia knew her enough to know that her friend was barely keeping it together.. "I hope so."

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