𝐁𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 (𝙱𝚃𝚂 𝙵𝙰𝙼𝙸𝙻𝚈 𝚂𝙴𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚂 #𝟷)

Chapter 4

Zaria's POV

The term moved faster than I expected and soon it was test week. At Limes Light, we had terminal test four times before the exams start. I had to keep my record intact and prove to Joel that I was still the best, so I had spent all of my time reading like no man’s business.

We were all seated in class, waiting for the physics teacher to come in and start his test. I was chatting with some girls because Physics has always been a piece of cake for me, I wasn’t worried at all about it.

I looked around and my eyes fell on him. Him.

He was surrounded with girls and they all had their notes in their hands. It looked like he was explaining some of the calculations to them. I frowned, I had always been the one to explain things to my classmates. Whenever anyone needed help with equations or calculations, they came to me. Why did they go to him this time?

My thoughts were cut short when the physics teacher came in and asked everyone to go to their seats. I went to mine and settled for the test.

My eyes flitted in Joel’s direction and I saw the sheet of paper on his table. I rolled my eyes and started reading the questions written on the board. I started to solve the questions without a break. I had to show the boy what I was capable of.

"Stop writing and submit." The physics teacher said after ten minutes elapsed. We submitted one after the other. Knowing the physics teacher, he would mark the scripts and solve the questions immediately after the test. I waited impatiently to see my script, tapping my feet against the floor as I watched him mark.

Soon he was done and he stood up to solve the questions.

"I would pick two people to solve these questions." He announced.

He looked around. "Zaria, come out." I stood up and walked majestically to the board, waiting for him to call the second person. "Joel, please come out." He said again.

Joel stood up and walked to the board. I hissed quietly, why did it have to be him?

"Both of you, pick a marker and start solving the questions. I have divided the board into two, so I give you both ten minutes to solve these questions. GO! " He yelled.

We turned to the board and started solving the questions. I turned slightly to look at Joel's work. He worked fast, not even sparing me a glance. There were five questions, each carried two marks.

I looked back to my work and kept writing. We both finished before the time elapsed.

The teacher stood up and inspected the workings on the board. I saw a different answer to one of the questions I solved in Joel's calculations. I was so confident I had the correct answer.

"Nice work. Although Zaria, you made the exact same mistake in your test, with that question" The teacher said, pointing to the only answer that was different from Joel's in all my calculations. I was awestruck.

What the hell?!

"I don’t think so, sir. I am very sure I got the calculations correct." I retorted.

"No." Joel spoke up. "Though, you could have gotten it correct if you used the right formula to solve the question. You used a wrong formula." He smirked.

"Look at Joel's calculations, that's the correct answer. He used the correct formula. You tried any way" The teacher said. I looked at Joel and saw a triumphant smirk on his face. I seriously had the urge to slap it off.

Tried? I had never gotten 'tried' before. It had always been 'Well done' or 'Excellent'. The guy was gradually stealing my spot light!

I huffed as I returned to my seat.