The Elites

Chapter 11

Chloe

Chloe rushed into the classroom, ignoring the way Ms. Reed glared at her as she rushed to her seat. She plopped down on it and yanked out her notebook and pencils, ignoring the way Nash stared at her, his eyes curious. Focus. Her eyes flung up to the chalkboard Ms. Reed scribbled equations across. She began to note them down.

But a few seats ahead of her, Thomas snickered. The two girls, who Chloe learned were Carly and Erica, shot her looks and their friend, Peter, shook his head at her. Their eyes were full of judgement and Chloe pulled her eyes away.

"What's their problem?" Nash returned their glare, leaving Chloe stunned. She glanced back at Thomas who scoffed before returning his attention to the board.

Amazed, Chloe admired Nash for a moment, wishing she was more like him. Just so unabashedly himself, never afraid of what others thought. He was so fearless and Chloe wished once again, she was more like him than herself.

"You're going to make them more mad," Sophia hissed next to Chloe's seat.

Nash glanced at Sophia and rolled his eyes. "Good. Those jerks deserve to feel my wrath."

"And those jerks are going to do something you'll regret."

"I dare them to try."

Sophia huffed, returning her focus to the board and Chloe glanced at Nash. Maybe it wasn't always a good thing to be so unafraid. She bit her lip, hoping Thomas wouldn't do anything to Nash. Nash wan't perfect, but Chloe was sure his intentions were always in the right place.

"Okay class, you can work on your assignments for now," Ms. Reed said "I need to step out for a few minutes, I'll be back."

Ms. Reed left the room and Nash bolted up. He glanced at his watch and wandered off, leaving Chloe frowning, but she didn't say anything. Nash was never one to fool around in school - he valued his education, so she didn't worry.

"I don't understand what we're learning," Sophia groaned. "Double integrals. I thought regular integrals were already hard enough."

Chloe smiled at her friend. Sophia had sunk into her seat with defeat, her black hair spilling around her.

"I can help you," Chloe said. "Maybe we can have a study session in the evening."

"No, no you already have so much on your plate! I don't want to burden you."

"You could never burden me. Let me help you."

Sophia shook her head vigorously. Her shoulders dropped in the process as her eyes fell across her notebook scribbled with notes.

"I wish I was smarter. I hate that nothing comes easy to me like it does to you."

"You're an Elite. You're brilliant, Sophia."

"But I have to try so hard. If we were given an IQ test, I'm sure I'd be kicked out of the Elites tomorrow."

"Sophia, trust me, it's more important to be hardworking than naturally intelligent. You are brilliant the way you are. You should never feel bad. Instead, you should feel proud that you are the fourth Elite. You're one of the best of the bests."

Sophia said nothing, but she finally met Chloe's gaze. Chloe smiled and Sophia returned it, leaving Chloe relived.

"Thank you Chloe, you're so perfect but you never make anyone feel beneath you. You deserve to be the first Elite."

Chloe flushed, embarrassed and Sophia giggled. Chloe then pushed her desk closer to Sophia's and she helped her through her assignment.

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