Chapter 26

Shermaine didn’t know the girl who spoke. But since she called her the Jean family’s heiress in such a mocking tone, the girl was clearly someone from that circle. Just from how she said it, it was obvious she didn’t like Shermaine.

Summer recognized the short-haired girl standing in front of them–built like a tank with muscles to match. She was Brightwater Academy’s alpha girl, the big boss around here, Sheila Leeds.

As a sports scholarship student, Sheila had won last year’s National Youth Kickboxing Championship, the National Youth Boxing Championship, and a bunch of other trophies from all kinds of athletic competitions. Basically, she was a total combat junkie.

Nobody at Brightwater Academy dared mess with Sheila. As for students outside the school, they avoided her like the plague.

Summer started to get nervous.

Shermaine stayed calm. “You need something?”

Sheila slapped a hand down on her shoulder. “Wait for me in the classroom after school. I’ve got a special welcome party planned just for you.”

She called it a welcome party, but everyone knew she was just looking to bully Shermaine.

“Sheila, you can’t just pick on a transfer student like that,” Summer said, trying to muster some courage.

Sheila glared at her viciously. “Who said I’m bullying her?”

Summer bit her lip, too scared to talk.

Shermaine wasn’t the type who liked people she didn’t know getting too close–she couldn’t even stand her clothes being touched.

She grabbed Sheila’s wrist and flung it off, then gave her shirt a quick brush as if she were dusting off something dirty. “I don’t have time,” Shermaine said.

Sheila tried to threaten her. “If you leave after school, you’re dead.”

Just then, the bell for class rang.

On the way back to class, Summer looked uneasy. “Shermaine, that was seriously badass, but Sheila Leeds is not someone you want to mess with.”

Shermaine asked, “Her last name’s Leeds?”

Summer nodded. “Yeah. Her family owns Leeds Group.”

Shermaine thought, ‘Really? That would mean Ronnie’s her brother, huh?‘

Summer said, “You better watch out this afternoon. Don’t let her catch you. It’s probably best if someone from your family picks you up.”

But Shermaine didn’t have any family coming to pick her up–just a driver. And she had already told him not to come that afternoon because she was going to look for Lily Cox.

“I’ll be fine,” Shermaine remarked.

At noon, Shermaine borrowed Summer’s meal card to eat at the school cafeteria. After lunch, she hung out in Summer’s dorm room for a while until afternoon classes started.

The school allowed both day students and boarders. Since Shermaine had things to do in the evenings, staying on campus wasn’t really an option. Right now, she was scrolling on her phone.

The dorm housed six people. Two of them were at the library, and of the remaining four, aside from Summer, the other three were studying.

Summer, who clearly hadn’t been all that focused in class earlier, was now actually working on problems back at the dorm.

But not long after, she was stumped in frustration. “This problem is so hard. Can anyone help me with this one?”

The other two girls, also from the regular classes, glanced at the problem and tried to solve it. Then they both shook their heads and said they couldn’t figure it out.

All three of them looked over at the girl from an accelerated class, but she didn’t even look up and said coldly, “I don’t have time. I’ve got a pop quiz this afternoon.”

The three of them looked awkward. One of them said, “Summer, maybe just wait till Evelyn gets back and ask her.”

Evelyn Cunningham was the top student in their dorm. She was in one of the accelerated classes and ranked in the top ten in the grade.

Compared to Hannah Lind, she was easier to get along with and didn’t look down on regular class students like them.

Just then, Shermaine put her phone away and walked over. “Which problem are you stuck on?”

Summer pointed at it without thinking.

Shermaine glanced at the problem. It was a piecewise function question—“In a certain city, the residential water billing policy is as follows: If a household uses no more than 4 tons of water per month, the rate is 60 cents per ton.

“But if the usage exceeds 4 tons, the portion over 4 tons is charged at one dollar per ton. In one month, Residents A and B together paid y dollars in total. Their monthly usage was 5x and 3x tons, respectively.

“Find the function that expresses y in terms of x. If A and B paid 8.8 dollars in total that month, determine their water usage and the amount each paid.”

It was an easy problem. Shermaine picked up a ballpoint pen and was just about to explain how to solve it.

But then, Hannah sneered, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “If you can’t solve it, don’t act like you can. You should at least know why you ended up in Class 9.”

Shermaine thought, ‘Looks like I’ve already made a name for myself at Brightwater Academy. People are spreading rumors about me everywhere.‘

Summer, furious, snapped, “What’s your deal, Hannah? Did Class 9 offend you or something? Shermaine hasn’t even started yet. How would you know she can’t solve it?”

Hannah mocked, “You suck at school and you don’t even keep up with the news online? You two really are a perfect match.”

Irritated, Summer shot up from her seat, but Shermaine pressed a hand on her shoulder and said, “Sit down.”

Summer was so angry her eyes were turning red.

Shermaine spun her pen and looked at Hannah’s profile. “No one asked for your opinion. Since you know so much about me, you should also know I’ve got a bad temper. I wouldn’t mind getting called into the Student Affairs Office on my first day.”

Hannah’s grip on her pen tightened. “I–I’m not wasting my time arguing with you.”

“Maybe try spending less time online and stop believing every rumor you see. Otherwise, you’re the one who’s gonna look stupid,” Shermaine said.

Hannah bit her lip, put on her headphones, and shut them out completely.

The school broadcast kept playing, looping some soft emotional song.

Shermaine’s pen touched the paper. “When Resident A’s water usage doesn’t exceed 4 tons…” Ten minutes later, she asked, “Got it now?”

Summer hesitated. “I’m still kinda confused.”

“I’ll walk you through it again,” Shermaine remarked.

The two girls from the regular classes saw that Shermaine’s solution matched the answer key exactly and hers was even clearer and more concise. They then immediately sat up straight and started paying close attention to her explanation.

A few minutes later, Summer lit up. “I get it now. Shermaine, you’re amazing.”

Shermaine held her pen, ready to reinforce the knowledge in Summer’s mind. “I’ll give you a similar problem. Try solving it for me.”

“Okay,” Summer replied.

Another girl jumped in. “I want to try too.”

Summer couldn’t help thinking, ‘Oh my goodness. What a nice deskmate. She’s the best,‘

The whole lunch break flew by with Shermaine explaining problems. She knew how to solve every type of question they couldn’t figure out.

It only took one lunch break for Shermaine to become a legend in their eyes. All three girls couldn’t help but wonder if she was secretly some kind of genius.

In the afternoon, they had physics and chemistry. Shermaine spent both classes fighting off sleep. As soon as the bell rang at the end of the last period, she packed her books into her black backpack and made a quick exit.

Right after she left, Sheila showed up. She came looking for Shermaine, only to find that she had already vanished. Furious, Sheila punched the metal back door of the classroom, leaving a dent.

Scared, Summer went pale, thinking, ‘How can she be so terrifyingly strong? Thank goodness Shermaine got away in time.‘

What Summer didn’t know was that if they’d shown up a little earlier and run into Shermaine, the ones in trouble would’ve been Sheila and her crew.