Chapter 5
"Whoa!"
"Top scorer in the state!"
"No way! The best student in the state came from our market!"
Suddenly, our little stall was swarmed. The air was filled with congratulations and amazed voices.
Holding onto my mom, who was trembling with excitement, I felt the heavy stone that had weighed on my heart for so long finally crack open just a little.
The sunlight poured in, almost scorching, but it was full of hope.
Almost as soon as I got the call, our class group chat blew up.
At first, just a handful of people started posting their results.
[I got 589! I'm definitely getting into a top university!]
[I got 602! I totally crushed it!]
Suddenly, someone dropped a message in the chat.
[Liana, the genius, what did you get? Bet you totally crushed it!]
A flood of questions followed.
I didn't even look at my phone, so of course I didn't reply.
Soon, someone somehow got the news.
[Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap!]
[Breaking news! Liana scored 738 points! Number one in our state!]
The group chat went dead silent for a full thirty seconds.
Then, the chat exploded. Messages were flying in nonstop.
[What? 738?]
[Number one in the state? Oh my god!]
[Liana, you're a freaking genius!]
[Who was spreading rumors about her before? Bet you feel stupid now!]
[We can't even begin to understand the world of true geniuses like her. She's on a whole other level!]
[Liana, bless us with your study powers!]
In the middle of all the hype and congratulations, a message popped up that was totally out of place.
[Ethan, what did you get? Did you check your score yet?]
It was like someone hit the pause button. The chat slowed to a crawl.
Everyone knew about Ethan and me, and how he'd started hanging out with Ivy lately.
A bunch of people were just waiting for his results to drop. But even after several minutes, Ethan still hadn't replied.
Someone couldn't wait any longer and looked up his score on the official site.
Then, a stunned message appeared in the group chat.
[Ethan... 389 points?]
That score was like dumping a bucket of ice water on everyone.
[What? 389? Seriously?]
[Am I seeing this right? He didn't even pass the college cutoff?]
[Seriously? Even in his worst mock exams, he got over 400...]
[This is bad. He's really done for now.]
The vibe in the group chat flipped in an instant.
[See? If you hang around with the wrong crowd, it rubs off on you.]
[Serves him right. That transfer student totally messed him up, huh?]
[Staying up all night gaming every day. No wonder he bombed the exam!]
[People were talking trash about Liana before... but now, she's the real deal. Guess she's really awesome, but also super unlucky to get tangled up with a guy like that.]
No one even mentioned Ivy's score. It was as if she wasn't even worth talking about. Later, I found out she barely broke 200, did even worse than Ethan.
At school, the achievement board got a late-night update. My color photo was blown up, front and center, for everyone to see.
In the picture, I was in my school uniform, face calm, but my eyes held a determined look.
Underneath, in bold letters, it said, "Congratulations to our student Liana Morris for scoring 738 and becoming the top science scorer in the state!"
Red background, yellow letters. It practically screamed for attention.
Of course, Ethan's name was never going to make it onto the achievement board.
Word was that, after the scores dropped, he locked himself in his room, trashed the place, and totally blew up at his parents.
His mom, the neighborhood gossip queen, always had a sour comment ready for anyone she met.
She said, "What's the point of girls studying so hard? They're just going to get married anyway.
"Getting good grades isn't as important as marrying well. Who knows how she got those scores? Maybe it was just luck, or..."
She never said it outright, but her tone and the look in her eyes made it clear. She was implying there was something fishy about my results.
But this time, no one backed her up.
The halo around the top scorer was way too bright. Any gossip or shady talk just got blown away.
The neighbors humored her to her face, but behind her back, they were all snickering.
"Her own son bombed, and she's still jealous of that girl?"
"Yeah, I used to think Ethan was a decent kid, but turns out..."
"Liana's had it rough. Her mom's out there selling fruits just to get her through school, and look at her now! That girl's really something!"
The day the TV station came to interview me, the school gates were packed with people just there to watch the show.
I stood in front of the cameras, wearing my faded school uniform, calm and composed.
The reporter asked, "Liana, how did you feel when you found out you were the top scorer in the state?"
I looked straight into the camera and said calmly, "I was a little surprised, but mostly, I'm just grateful. I want to thank my school, my teachers, and especially my mom. I know this score is the best way to pay her back for all her hard work."
The reporter asked, "Do you have any study tips you'd like to share with everyone?"
I replied, "Honestly? The real secret is to keep your eyes on the prize." I paused with a meaningful look. "Tune out all the noise, ignore the drama, and just keep chasing your goal, no matter what tries to get in your way."
After the interview aired, I was famous all over the city.