Chapter 1

Today, I finally made it.

I'd spent the whole semester grinding to get into the honors class where Alex Carter was.

But when I walked into the classroom with my backpack, I saw someone else sitting next to him.

That girl, Emily Turner, had my old notebook pressed under the corner of her desk.

"Sophie Lane, Alex is tutoring me every day. I'm keeping this seat," she said, her voice as sweet as honey.

Alex looked at her, circling something in her workbook with a red pen.

"Yeah, she's not that strong in this subject. I need to help her," he said.

Standing by the podium, I gripped my backpack so tightly that the straps cut into my palm.

Dozens of eyes fell on me, making my skin prickle.

One day, Alex cornered me at the stairwell, looking unusually flustered.

"Why didn't you ask me to tutor you?" he asked.

*****

Our homeroom teacher, Nancy Davis, cleared her throat and asked me to introduce myself.

Right after I said my name, Emily cut in with a smile, "Ms. Davis, she was from the regular class and may struggle here. Maybe Sophie should sit behind Alex and me so we can help her?"

Some students immediately laughed.

"She transferred in today and is already gunning for the seat next to Alex? Talk about desperate," someone snickered.

"Isn't she Alex's neighbor? She used to trail him after school all the time," another person chimed in.

"She was top of the regular class, and now she thinks she can waltz into honors and act like she runs the place?" someone else scoffed.

I wanted to explain. I wasn't after the seat.

It was Alex who slipped his student ID into my hand during winter break and promised that if I made it into the honors class, he'd keep the window seat for me.

He said, "Sophie, don't be scared. I'll help you make up for everything you missed."

I looked at him, but Alex didn't meet my eyes.

He slid Emily's workbook back to her, his tone gentler than usual. "It's the same if she sits in the back. I'll share my notes with her anyway."

The classroom went quiet for a moment.

The guy sitting by the door tapped his water bottle against the desk. "You hear that? Alex's chose Emily as his seatmate."

Nancy frowned. "Sophie, take a seat in the last row for now. Your grades depend on you, not where you sit."

I hugged my backpack and walked to the back of the classroom.

The walk wasn't long, but it felt like I was crossing the whole schoolyard to get to the gate.

There was only one empty seat left in the last row.

Next to it, a guy was slouched over, his school uniform sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The only thing on his desk was a blank notebook.

As I pulled out the chair, its legs scraped against the floor with a loud noise.

He looked up, half-asleep, his brow furrowed. "Keep it down."

After I sat down, Emily's low voice came from the front row. "Alex, do you think she's mad at me?"

Alex replied, "No, she's pretty easygoing."

I slid my backpack into the desk and bumped into a crumpled test booklet.

The cover had the name "Ryan Mitchell" on it.

That was when I realized my new seatmate was the guy who consistently ranked dead last in our entire grade.

The bell rang. Nancy started writing problems on the board.

I tried to focus, but all I could hear were the whispers and snickers swirling around me.

Halfway through the lesson, Nancy called on me. "Sophie, what's the next step?"

I gripped my pen and stood up.

I'd done that problem the night before, and the answer was still clear in my mind, but everyone in the class was waiting for me to slip up.

Before I could speak, Emily jumped in, "Ms. Davis, Alex taught me this. I can do it too."

Nancy looked at her. "Go ahead."

I was still standing.

Emily went through the steps slowly, but she got one of the conditions wrong.

I couldn't help but speak up, "You can't change that. You forgot a range earlier."

Emily's face drained of color.

Alex shot his gaze up. "Sophie, you just transferred in. Don't be so quick to jump in. Emily only missed a step. She's got the right idea."

Nancy put down her chalk. "Sit down. You're not the only brain in this room."

As I sat down, my back pressed against the chair, cold sweat trickling down beneath my uniform.

Ryan snatched my notebook, scribbled down the full solution in a few quick strokes, and slid it back to me.

"You're not wrong." His voice was barely above a whisper.

I froze.

Ryan was already slumped over again, like he hadn't spoken.

After class, Alex finally came over to my desk with a notebook in hand. "These are the latest notes for the honors class. Check them out first. If you get stuck, ask me."

The notebook had a light blue cover. I gave it to him over the winter break.

I flipped to the first page and saw it crammed with my handwriting. Every line was filled with notes.

During the break, I organized all my mistakes by category. I hoped we could use them together after I transferred.

Alex complained that my handwriting was too tiny, so I ended up rewriting it three times.

Now, Emily's name was on the notebook, too.

She'd stuck a sticker in the corner of the cover that said, "Emily's Only."