October, the time when Autumn is at its peak. None could open their eyes and walk through the metropolitan without witnessing its yearly masterpiece. Every tree graciously volunteered to donate their leaves, which the wind skillfully carried to further spread the art.
The school wasn't spared from this beauty, but the students residing in it had no time to admire nature. Today marked the start of exams, and the students chatted among themselves to melt the cold anxiety.
10 minutes left till it started, all the students were in their class. Just then, a certain boy walked in. He had shining jet-black hair and bright ocean eyes combined with an athlete's body and a calm face.
His hands were joined, and his lips could be seen slightly moving now, and then that looked odd. That boy, as you might have guessed, was the great Alexander Dean.
The students gawked at him like he was a celebrity, but none made a particular move. The exam was about to start, they couldn't do anything that would destroy their focus, the same reason Alex chose to come at this time. He couldn't handle any unnecessary attention right now.
His lips started moving again, and Alex continued his grand plan, which was, "Become the most religious man on earth." *Nice plan!*
'Oh merciful, merciful God, please just let me pass, I don't care if I come dead last, Please Just Let Me Pass!'
Alex prayed desperately.
'Um, Alex...are you okay?'
This stunned Alex. No one was supposed to bother him right now, so this was unexpected. He immediately turned from his seat to face the voice and saw a girl with long black hair and bright violet eyes anxiously looking at him, thinking she might have upset him.
'Asuna?'
That girl was Asuna Hayashi.
Asuna knew Alex since middle school. She isn't the type that you can easily befriend just by talking to her. In most cases, she is a reserved human that doesn't interact much with others except a selected few.
You can say she's your typical shy girl who doesn't have many friends but is sweet and kind, also a pushover in most cases. Her long hair, which she always fiddled with when talking to someone new, and her violet eyes that usually perceived the ground, confirmed that.
'You were...sort of joining your hands forcefully and mumbling something, are you feeling alright?'
--Obviously, because I was praying. I wonder if she heard me.
'Ye-yeah, just doing a mental exercise and giving myself a pep talk.'
'I see. I was worried because you didn't come to school for a long time, but you always have good grades. This time I'm sure you will get the highest score. Good luck.'
'Uh...thanks, you too.'
After elevating her concern, she returned to her seat.
--I can't believe she actually bought that.
'Okay, class, your exam is about to start. I wish you good luck.'
The invigilator arrived.
The days of the exam passed slow for the students and extremely fast for Alex.
He would skim-read the textbooks in the hope of at least knowing what chapters were in the exam. During the exam, he went with flukes and hunches and finished before everyone else and left before anybody had a chance to talk to him.
The midterm exams ended, and finally, the result was pinned on the mainboard.
Alex went to school late in the hope of avoiding at least a little bit of the tremendous embarrassment that awaited him.
He dreadfully walked to the board and checked if his name was on it. Looking at the bottom of the list, his name didn't appear.
He gave a sigh of despair.
--So this is the demise of Alexander Dean.
'Well, always keep your expectations low.'
He muttered.
'Congratulations on coming first, Alex.'
Alex heard a familiar voice. He turned back to see Asuna showing one of her rare smiles to congratulate him.
'What?'
Alex's eyes raced to the top of the board and saw his name. His eyes widened, he turned to Asuna.
'Are you a Goddess?'
'Um… I don't understand? What?'
'No-nothing, it's just I am really shocked by this.'
Alex had Fluked the entire exam, and he needed some serious luck just to pass it.
Him coming first isn't some luck. It's a Miracle in which God himself came down from the heavens to help him or a Goddess.
'You have always been good in studies, weren't you expecting this?'
'I might have if I actually studied anything.'
Continuously muttering prayers affected Alex's speech, and his voice naturally became low at moments.
'What did you say?'
'Um…nothing, then-'
'I don't believe it.'
A sharp voice interfered. The owner of the sound made his presence known. Apparently, somebody heard Alex saying he didn't study, and you can't ask for anyone better than him.
'Hikaru, what are you doing here?'
Hikaru Yoshida, a.k.a, the smartest guy in school.
He is the same age as Asuna and Alex, but unlike them who are in first year, he is in third year and graduating this year.
Even the teachers cannot rival him in terms of intellect. For some reason, he hates Alex.
'I was just stopping by to see the result when I heard your conversation.'
Hikaru glared at Alex through his thick glasses.
'My face is not the board, and you didn't even need to come, 1st as always, see.'
Alex tried to avoid the stern glare that Hikaru's light hazel eyes gave. He glanced at the board, then quickly turned to Alex.
'I see, but I already saw that.'
--Then why are you here?
Alex wanted to leave as soon as possible.
'What intrigued me to join your conversation was what you said, "I might have if I actually studied anything? you are talented, but you shouldn't think of yourself too high.'
'Yes, you're right, I shouldn't. Anyway, I have to go now so-'
Alex tried to end the conversation.
'Wait.'
--Now what?
Hikaru wasn't done yet.
'Yes?'
'I recently heard the teachers talking about the student who got the highest marks in 1st year. They were saying that he didn't lose even a single point as if he had memorized the entire syllabus.'
'Memorized the entire syllabus, huh?'
A surprising fact of the human brain; The brain has a memory capacity of 246 billion Gigabytes but forgets to lock the door, where he put his keys, turn off the stove, and the list goes on.
'I heard about that too.'
Asuna joined in.
'You must have studied a lot, Alex.'
'Of course, I studied really hard.'
This had at least some truth to it.
'I'm glad. Your grades had started to fall, and you always looked pale and didn't participate in anything as much as you used to.'
--Obviously, because I had brain cancer. Wait! How did she notice that? I did my best so nobody could find out.
Alex continued to give a warm smile. Apparently, he had become a good actor.
'Thanks, and sorry for making you worry about me.'
Relieved, Asuna left quietly, but Hikaru was still not letting Alex go.
'As I was saying, the teacher also said that you either have to be a genius or an excellent cheater to achieve such a perfect score.'
Hikaru looked into Alex's eyes as if he knew his every sin.
'I can promise you I didn't cheat.'
'I'm not so sure about that, but anyway, Congratulation.
'Thanks, you too.'
Just then, the bell rang, and classes were about to start.
'I have to go now, bye.'
Alex was grateful that he could end the conversation.
'Of course, I hope you do well in the final exam too.'
With his shaggy dark hair bouncing, Hikaru went to class.