Chapter 3: Genius in the Shadows

Ever since I was a kid, all my skill points were in school.

Other kids sweated over memorizing vocab; I could recite texts backwards after one look. Teachers whispered about me in the lounge, expecting me to be the one who’d make it out.

I picked up concepts in a flash, solved the hardest problems with barely a pause. But I also knew: in a small, ordinary town, standing out was asking for trouble. My mom always said, "Don’t make waves if you don’t want trouble."

So I made sure my grades were always just enough—never more than five points above Rachel, always close but never blowing her away. Enough to keep my scholarship, but not enough to draw fire.

Except for once.

The day before a monthly exam, I caught Nick and Rachel kissing outside the testing hall. I was ducking behind the vending machine for a water, and there they were—his hand in her hair, her giggle echoing like something out of a Netflix teen drama. The jealousy hit like a mouthful of sour lemon.

During the math exam, I couldn’t help but crush the hardest question. In physics, out of spite, I nailed every multiple choice. It was the only fight I had.

That month, I scored 150 points higher than Rachel. The principal called my mom in. People started talking.

Afterwards, I regretted it for days—too much attention, exactly what I always tried to dodge.

Until, three days later, Nick showed up.

He wore a bright yellow No. 23 jersey, jogging over with his all-American smile, the kind of boy every parent wished would date their kid.

"Sorry, Jamie, my shot was off—hit you, didn’t mean it."

"Are you okay? Want me to take you to the nurse?"

Even without thinking, I knew that basketball wasn’t a fluke. I’d seen enough games—Nick never missed by that much.

I knew he was coming over for Rachel—maybe to vent, maybe for a bet. But it didn’t matter.

That was my shot to get close to Nick. Even if it started as a joke to everyone else, to me, it meant everything.