Young Writers Society

“What’s going on now? It’s like you all have never seen an exam ranking before.”

The students grew silent and began to part, revealing Genevieve Ardemore. She walked up to the electronic board with a couple of her teammates flanking her on either side. She glanced immediately at the name at the top of the list.

Her expression changed, her eyes widening, and her gaze shifted down to the next two names. After a silence that seemed to last for an eternity, she exploded into laughter, and her teammates joined in with her, though not quite as loud. She laughed and laughed, her face growing red, while the rest of the students, Angel included, watched her nervously. Angel had thought the sinking feeling in her stomach couldn’t get any lower, but now she felt even worse.

Genevieve finally took a long breath and sighed, wiping away a tear. She fought down chuckles as she spoke, projecting her voice for all to hear. “Third place, Genevieve Ardemore. First place, Jhémes Blake.” She then raised an eyebrow and let out a scoffing laugh, smirking at Angel with a taunting gaze. “And second place, Aynnhailleah Astrid! I never thought I’d see the day. It makes getting knocked down a place worth it since poor little Angel has been pushed off her throne.” Normally, Genevieve was ranked in second place on exams, as she always tried her best to beat Angel, to no avail. “Where is Jhémes, anyways? I would love to kiss him right now to thank him for his service.”

“Are you sure it’s not because he’s hot?” someone called out from the back of the crowd. Genevieve whirled around.

“Hey!” she shouted, eyes blazing, and all the students withered under her glare. The ones directly before her flinched at the sharpness and volume of her voice. “You’d better watch yourselves.”