Chapter 2

Math class, Hanley was going over analytic geometry.

I kept my eyes fixed on the blackboard.

Since I could hear Micah's thoughts, I could totally get inside his head and see how he tackled these problems.

Hold on. That was not it. I was thinking too small.

Wasn't that kind of unfair to him? I need to think bigger.

As I was mulling this over, more thoughts from Micah drifted into my mind.

[Nicole's got on a white shirt today. That top button looks like it's about to come off. Should I say something?

[No, that'd make me look like some creep, like I've been staring at her the whole time.

[But if it falls off and some other guy notices, that's not good. I should figure out a way to help her fix it after class.

[Micah, you're really such a considerate guy.]

I looked down at my shirt. The button was totally fine. What was this dumbass even thinking?

"Nicole, solve this problem for us," Hanley said.

He suddenly called on me, catching me off guard.

I stood up and scanned the question. It was just your typical conic section problem, but definitely leaning toward the tougher side.

Just as I was about to start answering, Micah's thoughts popped into my head again.

[There's a catch in this question. Hanley is probably testing if Nicole notices the hidden condition.

[For the second part, she needs to use parametric equations. Just plugging in points is a pain. Switching to polar coordinates is way faster.

[I wonder if Nicole's gonna miss the catch? If she slips up, I'll just raise my hand and help her out. She'll definitely be grateful.]

My lips twitched in annoyance. Grateful, my ass. Like I need your help. Please, I knew what I was doing.

I cleared my throat and started, "First, we need to pay attention to the condition that the line passes through the focus.

"A lot of people miss the fact that the focus is on the x-axis. For the second part, use polar coordinates. Let ρ equal..."

Micah's head snapped up, his eyes going wide in shock. [Holy crap, how does she know about polar coordinates?

[I just saw that trick in a competition prep book last night.

[Wait, is Nicole secretly grinding for math competitions too? She's putting in all this effort just to catch up to me, huh.

[No way, I gotta work even harder. Can't let her catch up. I need to stay ahead, so she keeps chasing after me.]

Seriously, I almost treated him like a normal person for a second.

Thinking bigger? Shutting that down.

Hanley nodded in approval. "Nice work, Nicole. That was a really clear explanation.

"Everyone, pay attention to how she solved it and learn from her."

I sat back down. Micah fixed his gaze on me, his expression complicated.

When the bell rang, he came straight over.

Micah paused for a moment, then pulled an envelope from his backpack and slapped it onto my desk. "This is for you."

I raised an eyebrow. "What's this?"

"Just open it and see." Micah turned away, his ears a bit red.

[I pulled three all-nighters putting these competition problems together. Each one comes with my own exclusive solutions.]

[And I was planning to wait for some romantic moment to give them to her.

[But after how awesome she was today, I gotta strike while it's hot and let her know that hanging with me means scoring big.]

[Man, Micah, you're really generous. This is your labor of love.]

I opened the envelope and found a thick stack of neatly printed competition questions, each with detailed handwritten solutions.

His handwriting looked like he'd never even been to school. Seriously, how did he ever get first place?

I looked up at him. "If you don't want to give it to me, just say so."

Micah stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Don't get it twisted. You've been doing alright lately, so I'm just helping you stay sharp.

"If you drop out of the top three, it'll make it look like I don't have any real competition."

[Hurry up and tell me how awesome I am. Just say you're so moved you could cry.

[Then I'll say, 'Why are you crying? If you need to cry, you can do it right here on my abs.' She'll come running into my arms, and I'll get to hold her close.

[Flawless. Micah, you're such a genius.]

Expressionless, I pushed the envelope back into his hands. Noted. No comments. No clue what any of this was.

Micah's expression froze. [What? She rejected me? That's not how the script was supposed to play out.

[Did I come off too aloof? Does she think I'm looking down on her? No way, I gotta fix this.]

Micah looked genuinely flustered, stammering, "Don't overthink it. I didn't mean it like that."

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and made a slicing motion across my neck.

"One of these days, I'm gonna wipe the floor with you," I said.

With that, I turned and walked away.

[She said she's gonna wipe the floor with me. Wait, does she mean... what I'm thinking? Man, that's so embarrassing.]

I stopped dead in my tracks, nearly tripping over my own feet.

Nope. This wasn't it. Time to switch up my strategy.

I needed to mess with his head.

Otherwise, I wouldn't even get to beat him. I was gonna lose my mind first.

Step one: tease him. I walked over to Micah's desk.

He was wearing headphones, spinning a pen between his fingers.

When he saw me coming, Micah raised an eyebrow. "What's up? Need something?"

[Oh my god, Nicole's actually coming over to me. Was she totally blown away by how cool I was yesterday? Turns out those books were right after all.

[Sit down, sit down. I wiped that chair next to me three times just for this moment.

[Man, what shampoo did she use today? Smells like jasmine. I just wanna bury my face in her hair and breathe it in forever. No, Micah, get a grip. You're supposed to be the aloof genius.]

My lips twitched in annoyance. Jesus, I was honestly at a loss for words. Lord, someone please rescue me from this clown.

I took a deep breath. Bending down, I got right up in his space.