Chapter 56

Perhaps her brothers had heard so much about her old grades that they had lowered their expectations without even realizing it.

Elise tapped out a reply.

Elise: What kind of reward?

Theo: It's a secret.

Elise: ...

Fine. If he wanted to keep her guessing, she wouldn't press him. She couldn't imagine what he might give her anyway. As far as she could remember, her third brother hadn't given her any gifts in her previous life.

The monthly assessments lasted two days, with students assigned to rooms at random. Northbridge High took cheating seriously: anyone caught would face disciplinary action, and cameras monitored the testing rooms. Besides, some students, her fourth brother among them, would rather miss an exam than cheat.

From what she'd heard, Miles had skipped almost every major exam since starting high school. This was the first one he was actually attending.

He sat beside her in the car, arms folded, gazing out the window as if he had nothing on his mind. His lips were pressed together, though, and he was far quieter than usual.

Of course he was nervous. He'd boasted that he would show his sister a passing grade. If he failed after all that, how would he ever show his face?

Elise stole a glance at him. “It's okay. You don't have to be nervous. It's only a monthly assessment. If this one doesn't go well, there's always the next one.”

The next one wasn't the same at all! The next exams would determine their course-group placements. If he couldn't do well this time, there was no guarantee he could do it then, and if he messed up both, his dream of being in Elise's class would be over.

Students had already gathered outside the school gates, which wouldn't open until the appointed time. Elise leaned forward.

“Ethan, could you stop a little farther away? We'll walk from here.”

After the video involving Vivian and the skateboard had circulated online, students from other grades recognized Elise even inside school. The car and its driver were conspicuous enough on their own. She preferred to keep a low profile.

Once out of the car, she spotted Nora talking with Claire a short distance away. “I'm going over there,” she told Miles.

“Wait.”

She turned back, puzzled. Miles lowered his eyes. He wanted to encourage her, but he wasn't used to this sort of thing. After a long pause, all he managed was, “Good luck.”

Elise broke into a bright smile and nodded hard.

Before she reached her friends, she felt someone watching her. She turned and met Grace's eyes. Grace stood talking with another girl, whose name Elise thought was Tessa Lane; both gave her mocking smiles.

Elise frowned. Grace could hardly have made her hostility more obvious. Elise ignored her and continued to Nora.

Nora immediately launched into her worries. “I'm doomed! I fell asleep halfway through reviewing last night, and there was so much I hadn't finished.” She looked at Elise. “How about you? Did you get through everything?”

Elise paused. She had organized the semester's material long ago. When she kept up with her work, an exam wasn't something she needed to fear, so she had hardly done any last-minute review.

Before she could answer, a voice cut in. “Would reviewing help her? If cramming worked, everyone would get a perfect score.”

Grace and the other girl were looking at them with open derision.

Nora had been angry about Grace's unexplained hostility toward Elise for some time. Now she flared up. “Can you see into the future? How do you know she was cramming?”

Claire was usually quiet enough to be overlooked in class, but even she couldn't contain herself. “Grace, that's too much. We're about to go in. What if you upset Elise before the exam?”

Grace gave a contemptuous huff. “Go tell Ms. Parker, then. A few words can ruin someone's concentration? I'm talking to you now. Are you affected?”

She seemed to be counting on the approaching exam to keep anyone from making a scene. Elise felt her own temper rise.

“We'll know after the results come out,” she said coolly. “You're in such a hurry to mock me. Are you afraid you'll lose?”

The smile vanished from Grace's face. Elise's performance in physics class had unsettled her. Someone who made a bet with that much confidence might actually have the ability to back it up. Still, Grace couldn't believe Elise could beat her when she had consistently ranked among the top three in class.

She opened her mouth to reply, but her companion tugged her sleeve and gestured behind her. Grace turned.

Miles stood a short distance away with his arms folded. His uniform hung loosely on him, its sleeves rolled up over strong forearms, and his stare was hostile.

He scanned the group, then fixed his eyes on Elise. He'd been too far away to hear the conversation; he'd come over because her expression hadn't looked right.

“What's going on?” he asked, joining her. His frown made him look impatient.

The tension spread. Nearby students edged away until a wide space had opened around the group. Even the guard outside the gate craned his neck to see what was happening.

Nora wanted to tell Miles everything, but he looked ready for a fight. Her legs trembled. Beside her, Claire seemed equally eager to hide behind Elise.

When nobody answered, Miles looked straight at Grace. “Well?”

He wasn't in their class, and he'd been absorbed in studying lately. He didn't know much about Elise's bet. He could tell Grace was troubling his sister, but he didn't know why.

Grace shivered when their eyes met. She had forgotten what a domineering brother Elise had. Could she keep mocking Elise in front of him? Absolutely not.

Her palms were damp, but she tried to keep her face composed. “Nothing. We were just talking...”

Nora and Claire regarded her with renewed contempt. Grace's companion looked even more frightened. Clutching Grace's sleeve, she pulled her backward, then hurried into the crowd with her as if something were chasing them.

Nora's anger hadn't faded, and she started to call after them. Elise caught her eye and glanced toward the guard, who had come out of his booth and was watching with his hands behind his back.

If Miles learned what Grace had been doing, he wouldn't let it go. A fight before the exam could land him in the office and make him miss it. Elise kept her expression calm. Her results would be answer enough.

They waited another twenty minutes before the gates opened. Rooms and seats were assigned at random, and only after entering her room did Elise discover that Miles was in it too. Apart from him, almost no one looked familiar.

The chatter stopped as soon as he walked in. Then whispers started up.

“Am I seeing things? Miles Whitmore came to an exam?”

“Doesn't he always skip them? The school never does anything to him. Why is he here today?”

Students stared as he crossed the room. For once, Miles ignored the attention. He wanted to find Elise's seat first.

“What's your number?”

She checked her admission slip. “0345.”

All the seat numbers in the room began with 03. Miles found hers and waited until she sat down. Then he ran out and returned shortly afterward with a bottle of water. He peeled off the plastic wrapping and placed it at the upper right corner of her desk.

“Drink some if you get thirsty.”

Only then did he go to his own seat. Elise was in the last row of the fourth section; Miles sat in the second row of the second.

The students around her had heard every word. When had the school bully ever been so gentle? He looked like a different person, fetching water and fussing over his sister.

“I didn't believe the stories before. He really does spoil her.”

“Oh my God. I'm kind of jealous.”

“With a brother like that, I could do anything I wanted at school.”

Miles heard them. The noise bothered him, so he looked up and swept his gaze around the room. Everyone who met his eyes immediately bent over their desks and fell silent. The room stayed unusually quiet until the test began.

Elise paid little attention to any of it. The first subject was English, and she had worked particularly hard on the essay. On her tutor's sixty-point practice rubric, she'd once scored only twenty or thirty; lately she had reached around forty.

The proctor came in carrying the papers. Even the teacher looked surprised to see Miles sitting upright with all his supplies ready.

As soon as Elise received her paper, she turned to the essay prompt at the back. Relief washed through her. It wasn't as difficult as she'd feared, and it resembled a prompt she had practiced. She filled in her name and class and began.

By the time she looked up again, the paper was covered in her neat handwriting. The essay had gone steadily, too. With that difficult part behind her, she felt she could manage the other subjects.

The moment she relaxed, dizziness swept over her. She pressed a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes until it passed. Had she simply been concentrating too hard? She shook her head, then checked the paper from beginning to end.

Miles had a much harder time. From the instant he received the test, he shifted in his seat. English was his weakest subject, and the literary material exhausted his patience. Still, with his sister in the same room, he couldn't hand in a blank paper.

He forced himself through each question, his handwriting growing progressively worse. His patience ran out; he pulled it back together; then it ran out again. By the time he'd managed an answer for everything, he was sweating.

The bell rang. After handing in his paper, he turned toward Elise and noticed that something was wrong with her face. He hurried over and bent down beside her.

“What's wrong?”

Elise pressed her lips together. She thought she knew now: she was coming down with a cold or a fever. Of all the times for it to happen, it had to be during the exams. Had she worn herself out studying?

She looked listless. Alarmed, Miles touched her forehead and found it warm. His brows drew together. Without another word, he lifted her onto his back and ran for the health office.

Elise was disheartened too. She'd prepared for so long, and now she was ill. What if it affected the rest of her exams? She still had a bet with Grace; she might even lose it.

Miles ran so fast that she could feel his urgency. She tightened her arms around his neck. “It's probably just a little fever. Don't panic!”

How could he not? Her leg had only just recovered, and now she was sick again.

At the health office, Ms. Hayes took Elise's temperature. “A low fever,” she said. “You need some fluids and rest.” Her voice was gentler than it usually was with Miles; she had a good impression of Elise, who was polite and considerate.

“How long will I need?” Elise asked.

“Let's see how you feel after an hour. When does your afternoon exam start?”

“Two thirty.”

“Then there's time.”

Miles frowned. “How did you get a fever when you were fine?”

Elise thought back through the haze. After washing her hair the previous night, she'd become distracted, picked up her phone and messaged Nora. She hadn't dried her hair. Had she caught a chill then?

When she told him, Miles grew more anxious. “Why don't you skip the afternoon exam? Rest properly. You can work hard for the next one.”

Elise shook her head firmly. The afternoon paper covered the sciences and carried a substantial share of the assessment points. Missing it would mean giving up all of them. Even sick, she had to sit it.

After an hour of rest, Elise stayed in the health office, and Miles brought her lunch there. At noon Nora, Claire and Dylan came to see her. They gathered around her bed, distressed. They all knew how hard she'd worked, only for her to fall sick at this critical moment.

“Elise, how can you take the exams like this?” Nora asked.

Claire sighed. Now Elise was even less likely to beat Grace.

Elise smiled. “It's only an exam. I can go home and rest afterward.”

Dylan looked at her in surprise. “How did you manage to get a fever on exam day? That's terrible luck.”

Miles shot him such a fierce look that Dylan hunched his shoulders and closed his mouth.