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Chapter 27 Bad Timing

A bfew /bstudents whispered quietly among themselves.

bTo /bthem, ss Six kids were bjust /bthe kind you stayed away from.

+8 Pearls

The second you bwere /banywhere near one of themb, /bpeople acted like you had some kind of disease.

Eliza caught the judgmental stares. For a second, she felt like calling them out–iseriously/ii? /iiGet /iiover /iiyourselves/ii, /iiyou /iilittle /iipunks/i.

But then she shook it off. iNot /iiworth /iithe /iidrama/ii. /iiThere’s /iino /iipoint /iiwasting /iienergy /iion this/i.

bNn/bb, /bsitting nearby, frowned. The noise was clearly getting on his nerves.

He lifted his head and gave the room a cold once–over. The second his

Not one of them dared to say another word.

eyesnded on them, everyone went silent.

Everyone knew Nn had a record–he’d hurt someone and been sent to juvenile detention.

He wasn’t just some street punk. He was the kind of person you stayed far away

“Eliza.” Nn’s voice was low and rough, like he’d just woken

She caught the exhaustion in his tone. iWhy’s /iihe /iasking ime/ii? /i

from.

“Call me when ss ends.”

The rest of the ss looked even more uneasy, shooting nces their way.

Zayden sat in front and heard Nn’s words clearly. A momentter, he stood up from his seat.

Whether it was on purpose or not, the noise of the chair dragging back echoed across the room.

He dragged the chair back and sat down in the same row bas /bEliza.

The air in the room instantly shifted. Something felt off.

The teacher didn’t mess around. They were expected to finish an entire test in two periods, go over the answers, and identify every mistake. Anyone with poor results wasn’t expected toe back next week.

The teacher focused on the students who actually wanted to improve. If you weren’t putting in the effort, the teacher didn’t waste time on byou/bb. /b

Eliza didn’t dare ck off. While others found excuses to ck off, she stayed locked inb, /bflipping through problems and working nonstop.

H2 H3 H 3 NHO

Zayden kept ncing at her out of the corner of his eye.

He’d thought she would bgive /bup on bthe /bmathpetition after what he said–but inste Outside the ssroom, Naomi peeked in through bthe /bdoorway and bcalled /bsoftly, “Zayden.”

Even though she barely whispered, everyone inside heard her.

Heads turned toward the back of the room.

The teacher looked up briefly, then nced back down when he saw it was Naomi.

she seemed even more motivated.

Naomi’s grades bwere /bexcellent, and her parents–the Rivers family–had made it very clear to the school that she bwasn’t /bto bbe /b–enrolled in any prep sses or special tutoring.

They’d said Naomi was bgoing /babroad in the future, so things like piano and painting bwere /bway more important than test prep.

So even though bthere /bbwere /btraining programs like this one, her family never let her take part.

No one wanted to risk crossing a family like bthat/b.

+8 Pearls

Chapter 27 Bad Timing

b“/bWhat are you doing here? Don’t you have piano lessons?” Zayden asked. He was supposed to be studying at the International Music Academy next door until 5 p.m.

But it bwas /bonly 3:30 now.

“I snuck out,” Naomi said with a yful grin. “Piano’s so boring. Come shopping with me, Zayden.”

Her eyes lit up the moment she said it.

The rest of the ss turned back to their work, pretending not to notice.

Most of them were gearing up for senior year–crammed schedules, constant pressure. But Naomi? She was still out here goofing off like it was middle school.

Some of the girls gave her a quick side–eye, full of judgment.

Still, none of them said anything out loud. Naomi’s status made her untouchable.

“I’m in the middle of ss. I can’t go shopping right now,” Zayden said, clearly frustrated. “You should head back. If Mr. Nathan and Madam Evelyn find out you skipped your lesson again, they’ll be upset.”

Back in freshman year, things were easier. He used to take Naomi out on weekends all the time.

But things were different now. Senior year was right around the corner, and there was no time for distractions.

“Zayden, you’re amazing at math. You’re totally going to win the citywidepetition!” Naomi said with pleading eyes. “Juste hang out with me today. Please?”

In the back of the room, Eliza cringed at the sound of her voice.

Naomi had always clung to Zayden like that. She never seemed to get it–ithis /iisn’t the timei. /i

Thispetition mattered–a lot.

Zayden’s mom had always expected a lot from him.

He might not alwayse in first, but he was expected to be in the top three. No excuses.

For something like the citywidepetition, where the school’s reputation was on the line, his mom had already made it bclear/b–Zayden had to ce high.

If he didn’t, bGrace /bwoulde down hard on him. Again.

Zayden bhad /bgrown up under that kind of pressure. For him, it was the kind of thing that left a mark–it was a nightmare he could bnever /bbshake/bb. /b

Zayden bsaw /bthe look on Naomi’s bface /band hesitated. “Fine,” he said. “But at five, I’m having someone take you home. It’s not bsafe /bto be out that bte/bb./bb” /b