Chapter 58

The morning study period had barely begun when a crowd gathered around Elise Whitmore’s desk.

The monthly exam papers had been handed back, and her scores were startlingly high in every subject. A few classmates leaned over her desk to check the numbers for themselves.

“You got that one right? Even the kids in Class One couldn’t do it.”

“I’m not sure anyone in Class One got it.”

Elise gave them a faint smile. The scores showed that she belonged near the top of the school, but the points she had lost mattered more to her. There was still room to improve.

Claire Sutton stared at Elise’s paper, equal parts impressed and rueful. She had once thought about tutoring Elise, hoping to make up for the guilt she felt about not standing up for her when the class had turned against her. Now Elise’s total and her scores in every subject were so far beyond Claire’s that the idea seemed absurd. If anyone was going to tutor anyone, Elise could have taught her.

Most people admired strength when they saw it. With Elise’s results right there in front of them, the class looked at her differently. The busiest part of the room was the space around her desk. Most of the students who had gathered were girls, though a few boys hovered nearby, wanting to join in and not quite daring to.

“So when the placement exam comes, she’ll probably get into Class One, right?” someone asked.

“Probably? She definitely will.”

A girl made an exaggerated, wounded sound. “Nooo, Elise. We don’t want you to leave us.”

“Yeah,” someone else agreed.

Then another voice came from the crowd. “Could I see how you did this one?”

Everyone turned. Owen Brooks stood there, his expression carefully blank, his lips pressed together. The strain in his face gave away how uncomfortable he felt.

It had taken him a good deal of courage to come over. He had studied the problem he missed for a long time and still couldn’t see where he had gone wrong. Elise, he was sure, would know.

A low murmur passed through the students around them.

“I’ve never seen Owen ask anyone to explain a missed problem.”

“He used to think he was better than everyone. When Elise first came to our class, didn’t he say he wouldn’t sit with a girl who got bad grades?”

“Now he’s the one asking her for help. I bet he regrets that.”

Owen’s expression darkened at the whispers. But Elise was better than he was. There was no point pretending otherwise.

She lifted an eyebrow. She could still picture the day she had first arrived, when Owen had mocked her in front of the class and called her a bad student. Now he stood before her without a trace of that old arrogance. He wanted an answer, but he was afraid she might turn him away. There was even something close to pleading in his eyes.

Elise let out a quiet breath. It had happened in the past. She didn’t need to keep holding it over him.

She held out her hand. Owen immediately passed her his test paper.

Elise walked him through the problem. By the time she finished, understanding had dawned on him. He fell silent for a second or two, then hesitated before saying, “I’m sorry.”

Elise blinked. When she understood what he meant, she remembered his words from the day they first met: I don’t sit with people who get bad grades. Especially girls who get bad grades.

Owen rarely apologized, and almost never in front of other people.

He pressed his lips together. “I didn’t mean all of what I said. But I said it, and that makes it my fault. I don’t look down on students who struggle, and I don’t look down on girls.”

For a second, the students nearby went quiet. None of them had expected him to bring it up now.

Elise understood. She had already gotten even with him for that remark, but he had taken the trouble to come and apologize. She smiled and nodded, accepting it.

Since moving back into the family home, Julian Whitmore had moved his work there, too.

In the study, Daniel stood to one side with his hands folded, hardly daring to breathe. Over the past few days, Julian had lost focus at work more times than Daniel could remember. Every lapse came from worrying about Elise.

Her exams had gone wrong in one way after another, and Julian had been frowning for days. She had prepared so carefully. After school, she still came home to her tutoring lessons, and watching her keep at it made his chest ache.

He had thought all that effort might bring a dramatic improvement. Then the monthly exams stretched over two days, and Elise came down with a fever on both of them.

He had heard that she even fell asleep during the combined science exam. How could she possibly have done well after that?

When he was sick, his own work suffered badly. It had to be the same for her.

Elise had seemed much as usual these past few days. There had been no obvious defeat or disappointment on her face. But she had always been considerate. Maybe she was pretending nothing was wrong so the family wouldn’t worry.

Today was the day her results came out, and Julian was every bit as anxious as she was, perhaps even more so.

He pushed his laptop away. He couldn’t concentrate. Instead, he picked up his phone and pulled Adrian and Miles into a group chat.

Adrian: ?

Miles: ?

Julian started typing. Before he finished, a message from Miles appeared.

Miles: [Photo]

It was a picture of an English test. Miles’s name was written at the top in handwriting that still leaned and wandered, though it had improved a lot. At least this time it was clear which letters he had written.

In the upper-right corner, the score box showed a 92, with two short lines beneath it.

Miles: I PASSED!!!!

Julian: .

Adrian: We’re not interested in that, thanks. We’re only trying to figure out how to comfort our sister when she bombs her exams.

Miles: [Smiling face]

Miles nearly threw his phone at Adrian’s face. Then he reconsidered. Adrian had a point.

He was worried about how to cheer Elise up, too.

Once the two of them had finished bickering, Julian got to the point.

Julian: Short version: how do we make her feel better?

Julian was working in the study. Adrian had a schedule during the day but happened to have a few free minutes to check his phone. Miles was at school, and it was between classes.

Adrian: [Crying]

Adrian: She must be so upset. Her first exam in eleventh grade, and she already messed it up.

Miles: Yeah.

For once, there was less rivalry between them. They weren’t busy trying to win the most attention from Elise. Nothing mattered more to her than school, and their little schemes meant nothing if she was unhappy.

But how could they make her happy?

Julian: I brought back a pile of jewelry from the auction the other day. Ellie might like some of it.

Julian was a straightforward man. In his mind, apart from jewelry, houses, or money, he could hardly think of anything that might cheer Elise up.

He had still swept up more than half the jewelry at that auction, creating a stir in the room. People outside the family were guessing whom he had been spending so lavishly for.

Adrian’s fingers paused over the keyboard. A faintly disdainful smile tugged at his mouth.

Adrian: You’re going to tell her it was cheap again?

They had pulled that trick more than once lately. Miles hadn’t escaped it, either. So far, none of the lies had come out, but all three of them were getting nervous and lying less often.

Do it enough times and she would catch on. They could only hope the next one wouldn’t be their own.

Julian: No. I’ll say it was Mom’s keepsake.

Adrian: …

Adrian: Mom’s watching you from heaven. Aren’t you worried you’ll get struck by lightning?

Julian: She’d be happier seeing me take care of Ellie.

Adrian: …

Adrian: [Eye roll]

Miles: [Thumbs-up] [Thumbs-up]

Julian: What about you, Adrian?

Adrian: [Photo]

The photo showed a physical album, unlike an ordinary one. It held just a single song. The title printed on the cover was Heart of the Moon. The background featured Adrian in a black leather jacket, a chain at his throat, smoky eye makeup, and a look that dared the world to challenge him. Against his silver hair, he looked rebellious and impossibly cool.

After sending the picture, Adrian leaned back on the couch and crossed one leg over the other.

Julian’s gifts were all money and jewelry. Adrian was different. He was giving Elise a song he had written and composed just for her. It had real feeling in it, and it showed off his own charm, too.

How could she not be happy when she saw how handsome he looked on an album he’d made for her?

The chat stayed quiet for several seconds.

Julian: I have to be honest. She might not like it.

Miles: You’re so full of yourself that even we can’t stand it. You think Ellie can?

Miles: Give her a break.

Adrian: .

Adrian flared up. His fingers hit the keys as if he wanted to punch through the screen. What did these ordinary people know?

Adrian: @Miles, you only know how to criticize me. What are you planning to give her?

Miles: A passing test.

Miles: Ellie likes seeing me try to improve.

Julian: .

Adrian: Oh.

Miles: [Angry] [Angry]

Julian watched Adrian and Miles start at each other again, then set his phone on the desk. What on earth went on inside those two? Relying on either of them to cheer Elise up didn’t seem like a good plan.

He was still frowning when the phone vibrated again.

Julian glanced down. A new message had appeared in Elise’s parent group. Ever since joining it, he had never muted the chat. Whenever someone posted, he opened it to read along.

He and Adrian had both refused to leave. Each kept an eye on the parent label attached to his name. To make it easier to tell them apart, Ms. Parker had labeled them Parent One and Second Parent.

Ms. Parker: @Everyone, parents, the monthly exam results are in. I’ll share the scores in a little while. The students have all made progress this time. Keep it up!

Ms. Parker: I especially want to recognize one of our students. She placed in the top ten schoolwide and ranked first in three individual subjects. She made our class proud! Congratulations! [Clap] [Clap]

Claire’s parent: [Thumbs-up]

Owen’s parent: [Thumbs-up]

The next messages fell into line, one after another, each with a thumbs-up.

Wendy’s parent: Which student is it? That’s wonderful!

Fiona’s parent: I don’t remember anyone in our class being that good.

Violet’s parent: Right? The best we usually see is somewhere around fortieth or fiftieth in the grade.

Class Two had been formed based on the placement exam at the end of tenth grade. Its students had ranked between fiftieth and hundredth in the grade.

And now one of them had made the top ten?

Julian scrolled through the messages without much expression. His mind was still on how to make Elise feel better.

The announcement caught his eye. He raised an eyebrow, then joined the line with a thumbs-up of his own.

She really was impressive.

Adrian had seen the message, too. When he noticed Julian had joined in, he couldn’t let his brother show him up.

Elise’s Parent One: [Thumbs-up]

Elise’s Second Parent: [Thumbs-up]

At first, the other parents had wondered why two people in the group had almost identical labels. By now, they hardly noticed. They were too busy trying to get the school to allow only one parent per chat. Most of them were occupied all day, and the parent group was already set to silent.

Ms. Parker looked at the thumbs-up messages from Elise’s two brothers. Her finger stopped over the screen.

Were those two bragging about themselves?

After posting, Julian switched out of the chat and set his phone aside. It vibrated again not long after. He hesitated before picking it up. When he opened the group, he found several parents tagging him.

He stared at the screen, confused, and scrolled back through the messages.

A few minutes earlier, people had started asking which student had done so well. At the next parent meeting, they wanted to talk with the student’s family and learn their secret.

Ms. Parker had sent a picture. It showed the top ten names in the class, and Elise’s name stood out at number one.

Violet’s parent: 704 total points! My goodness!

Claire’s parent: [Thumbs-up] [Thumbs-up] [Thumbs-up] [Thumbs-up] [Thumbs-up]

Violet’s parent: Is she the daughter of those two people who just posted?

Wendy’s parent: That’s amazing! How did you raise her? Could you share your approach? Please!

Wendy’s parent: Does she have private tutors? Do you personally supervise her homework?

Fiona’s parent: @Elise’s Parent One @Elise’s Second Parent

Julian’s finger froze over the screen. After a long pause, he managed to type a question mark.

Julian: …?

The moment the parents saw him appear, the chat nearly boiled over. They sent question after question: How did the family educate her? Did she study on her own? Did she take extra lessons?

Julian: …………

His fingers stopped moving. His whole body seemed to lock in place. He felt like a stone with nothing inside it.

After a moment’s hesitation, he messaged Ms. Parker privately.

Julian: Is there another student named Elise Whitmore in your class?

Could there be two students with the same name?

In the school office, Ms. Parker was just as confused by the message on her phone.

Ms. Parker: Why did both of you ask me the same question?

Julian: ?

Ms. Parker sent him a screenshot. Two minutes earlier, Elise’s Second Parent had privately asked her the same thing: Was there more than one student in the class named Elise Whitmore?

Julian: …

Ms. Parker: No. I can tell you for certain that there’s only one student named Elise Whitmore in our class. She’s your sister.

Julian: …

Julian had nothing to say. He kept sending ellipses, the only thing that came close to expressing how many questions had just filled his head.

At that same moment, in a different place, Adrian was just as stunned.

Had something gone wrong? Or had he misunderstood everything?

Only a few minutes ago, they had been happily discussing how to comfort Elise. But she hadn’t failed at all. She had ranked first in her class, fifth in the grade, and first across the grade in three subjects.

Did she need cheering up?

Adrian was the one whose startled heart needed someone to calm it down.

A few minutes passed before the two brothers recovered enough to message each other. They sent their questions at almost exactly the same time.

Julian: Did you see what the group said?

Adrian: Did you see the messages in the parent chat?

Adrian gave a rueful smile. He had seen them, all right. A crowd of parents had tagged him to ask about his parenting methods. He didn’t have any. And more than twenty people had sent him friend requests. Should he accept them?

Neither brother had anything to say.

Julian: …

Adrian: …

So their sister was a straight-A student who didn’t need them to cheer her up.

Miles’s classroom was noisy. Students were shouting and racing between desks, and someone was rummaging through a pile of papers.

Miles’s seat was quieter. His English test lay open on the desk. All those weeks of drilling vocabulary and grammar had finally paid off. A passing score filled him with resolve. If he could pass English by working at it, then the other subjects should be manageable, too.

The placement exam after the monthly tests was coming up. Maybe he could still get into the same class as his sister. If they met in one of the regular classes, that would be perfect.

The thought put him in a good mood.

He stood and took pictures of the test from every angle, making sure there wasn’t a bad side. He was already trying to decide when to surprise Elise with the news that he had passed.

Dylan Price and several of Miles’s friends rushed into the classroom, running so fast that they had nearly knocked someone over in the hall.

“Miles! Great news! Your sister! Your sister is incredible!”

Dylan shouted before he had even made it to the desks. Everyone in the room turned to look.

The boys behind him were just as excited. Miles’s sister was amazing. Fifth in the grade! What did a score like that even mean?