Chapter 4 A Dare

"Guys, guys! Have you heard? The new transfer student in our class is from the poor countryside!" Cristian Fuller, the most informed student in Class 14, excitedly said to his classmates before classes began.

"Come on, dude! Where did you hear that from? A country bumpkin got into our school? Impossible!" The other students wagged their fingers and shook their heads in disbelief.

Cristian grew more anxious. "I kid you not! I just heard it from someone in Key Class! I even heard that the new student was rejected by Ms. Cooper before she ended up with us!"

"What? Do they think of our class as a dumpster for the worst students? How insulting!"

A while back, Felicia was very pleased to learn that Emberly wouldn't be in Key Class. Her plan was already set in motion. She was going to make Maybourn High a dreadful place for her rival.

The students of Class 14 already had a bad impression of Emberly even before meeting her. They all thought she was a troublemaker at first. But when she stepped into the classroom and introduced herself on the platform, everyone was held spellbound. What the hell! Why didn't anyone tell them that their new classmate was so beautiful and articulate?

Emberly looked around the classroom and walked to the only empty seat at the third row from the back. She was yet to get the new textbooks, so she took out the book she brought and started reading.

One of the students, Shawn McCoy, nudged his friend whose eyes were on his phone as he played a game on it. "Dude, look! The newcomer is holding the Wealth of Nations. I've never seen anyone like her, so pretentious."

His friend Marcus Haywood raised his head and squinted at him. "Have you read that book?"

Shawn was silenced by that question. He had seen the book on his father's bookshelf. His father hadn't really read it, let alone him. The book was just bought to put up appearances.

Unbeknown to the two male students, Emberly had picked up the book from Darian's bookshelf in the living room this morning. It was a fresh read and she enjoyed it.

A girl named Ivanna Fowler was Emberly's deskmate. She gawked at the newbie who just sat down and began to read a book. After sneakily reading a paragraph of the book, Ivanna turned her head away. She couldn't understand most of the phrases on the page and she thought it was really boring. It was rather odd that a girl from the underdeveloped countryside was not only reading that book but seemed to be understanding and even enjoying it.

The first period was for math class. All the students were scared of the math teacher, Hector Thompson. Although he was good at his job, he was just too strict. He was quick to notice the new student as soon as he entered the room. He frowned and began to teach.

Emberly listened for a few minutes before she yawned and continued to read her book. The math was as simple as ABC to her. What was the point of listening?

"Fuck! Marcus, it seems you have a competition right here. This new girl is more audacious than you. She's reading a book in Mr. Thompson's class. She's definitely in for it today!"

Shawn and Marcus, who were sitting at the back of the class, saw everything clearly.

In no time, Hector also caught glimpse of the erring student. Emberly didn't hide what she was doing. The fact that she read the book in the open made the teacher even more furious. "Hey, the new girl! Come up here to solve this problem!"

Emberly was hooked by what she was reading. It wasn't until Ivanna pulled the hem of her garment that she finally jolted back to reality. She frowned at her deskmate, who chinned towards the blackboard.

"Yes, you. Come up here to solve what is written on the blackboard!" Anger was steaming off Hector at this moment.

Still looking as calm as ever, Emberly closed her book and walked up to the platform. She then asked, "Sir, how many solutions are you seeking here?"

Hector curled his lips and sneered inside. "Knock yourself out."

Without racking her brain, Emberly began to scribble on the blackboard. Her handwriting soon filled up everywhere. "There's no room, sir." She looked at Hector innocently, still holding a piece of chalk.

Hector looked at the four solutions listed on the blackboard. He had thought the question could only be solved in two ways. After a moment of silence, he waved his hand to dismiss Emberly from the platform.

"I have to hand it to you. You did a good job. But you have to be disciplined in my class. Don't busy yourself with something else while I'm teaching. Now, everyone should write down all these four solutions into their notebooks. This was the last math problem of the final exam last year."

A deafening silence fell on the class as soon as Hector finished speaking. Emberly just solved a difficult math problem in four ways. How could she be an ignorant country bumpkin? With great doubt in their minds, all the students turned to look at Cristian—the originator of the rumor.

Cristian could feel their stares stabbing his back. He lowered his head in shame. He had truly heard from someone that Emberly was a bad student from the countryside.

Ivanna looked at her badass deskmate with admiration. This was the first time Hector was praising anyone in his class. She immediately decided Emberly would be her new best friend!

Oblivious to what her classmates were thinking, Emberly looked out of the window. It was a hot summer morning. Cicadas perched on the trees nearby and produced a crescendo of high-pitched buzzing. The scenery was beautiful, making Emberly feel relaxed.

After class, Hector rushed back to the teachers' lounge and found Mona.

"Ms. Lyons, where did the new student come from? Which high school was she transferred from? She just solved a math problem from last year's final exam with four different methods; that's two more than the standard methods we provide. She's a genius!"

Hector practically jumped with excitement.

Mona was just as shocked. Again, she didn't expect that Emberly to be so good in math. "Do you speak of Emberly Hammond? Well, she was transferred from a school in a remote village."

"Since studying in a village high school could already make her this good, can you imagine how much she will achieve here?" Hector became excited at the thought. "Thank goodness, she's now ours! She's already ahead of her peers, so she will be good to go for the national math competition this year. The trophy will be ours!"

Seeing that her colleague was getting overexcited, Mona had to say, "Calm down, Mr. Thompson. This is just her first day at school. She still needs time to adapt herself to the new environment. Besides, the math competition is still weeks away."

"You don't understand. We need to start the training as early as we can, but... I guess we can give her more time. Perhaps until after she takes the first monthly test for this semester. Only then will we be able to tell if she's really a genius or she just got lucky today." With these words, Hector left humming a song.

Emberly didn't know what her teachers were up to. It was lunch break, so she went to the cafeteria to have lunch. Maybourn High lived up to its name and reputation as one of the best high schools in Bluabert. The teachers were the best, and the facilities were also the best of the best.

Emberly had some crab cakes and a salad with a soda. She had just recovered from a cold and didn't have much appetite. She had just found a place to sit down, when someone immediately sat next to her. Emberly looked up, only to see her classmate.

"Hey, Emberly. I don't think I introduced myself properly this morning. I'm Ivanna Fowler, your deskmate. Nice to meet you." Ivanna had a round face and a bright smile. She seemed easy to get along with.

"Hello, Ivanna. You can call me Emmie. And thanks for helping me this morning." Emberly was referring to the nudge Ivanna gave her during math class.

Ivanna waved her hand. "That's nothing. Anyway, what were you reading in the morning? It seemed sophisticated. I must say that you were amazing back there."

Emberly smiled and started, "Actually..."

"Sophisticated? She's just pretentious. Why are you fawning over her, Ivanna? What's the big deal in answering a simple math problem? She just got lucky if you ask me!" A beautiful girl walked over and made a snide remark while laughing at Ivanna's words.

"Janetta, no one asked for your opinion. Besides, how can you say such a thing? Have you read the book before? Can you even solve that math problem? I suppose you can't be as 'lucky' as Emberly even if you tried for a million years!" Ivanna retorted immediately.

"The Wealth of Nations is not just any book. Only intelligent and well-versed people understand it. I'm dead sure that your new friend, who just got out from a remote village, just carried the book around for show so she could look smart!"

Emberly couldn't take the insults anymore. She set down her fork. "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self-interest. We address ourselves not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities, but of their advantages."

She recited the words from the book.

Her voice was beautiful and her manner was calm.

Everyone sitting close by was stunned.

They had never heard such words before.

Although they had the best resources at their fingertips, most of them never read advanced books.

Janetta Cullen was one of the top fifty students in the 10th grade. She was intelligent enough to understand those words, so she knew that Emberly just criticized her. Her face darkened instantly.

"Anyone can just cram a few words and recite them. That doesn't make you special. If you are so eloquent, you should sign up for the coming speech contest. Let's see who is superior!"

"Fine, I will." Emberly agreed after thinking for a second.

"I'll see you then!"

Janetta flashed her a scornful smile. She picked up her food tray and walked away.

"Do you know anything about this speech contest? When is it held?" Emberly inquired, turning to Ivanna.

Ivanna almost spat out her soda when she heard that question. She looked at Emberly in disbelief. "No way, Emmie! Don't tell me you agreed to enter a contest without even having an idea about what it was?"

"What difference does it make? I haven't participated in any competition before anyway." Emberly shrugged indifferently.

Ivanna looked at Emberly with her mouth agape. After a while, she explained, "Janetta was referring to the National Speech Contest for high school students. First, there will be competition among all the high school students in the city, then among the students in the whole state, and then the finals will be nationwide. However, you need to note that this competition is slightly different from others. While other national competition offers the winner a recommendation to any university of their choice, the winner of this speech competition doesn't get that. But three hundred thousand dollars is up for grabs!"

Three hundred thousand? That was a lot! Emberly's eyes lit up in an instant. She was just worrying about money since she would have to leave the Hammond family sooner or later. She didn't want to take a dime from them. However, she needed money to have a smooth revenge and escape thereafter. Investing in stocks was currently the most profitable business, but she couldn't do that since she was just an under-aged girl without any start-up capital.

As Ivanna watched Emberly, who was lost in thought, she began to worry on her behalf. "Although you are talented and sound very eloquent, you have never participated in such competitions before. Every contestant would have to perform in front of a massive audience. Can you do that? It's not too late to change your mind. Everyone knows that Janetta is picking on you. If you don't pull out now, you will fall into her trap."

Emberly knew that Ivanna was genuinely concerned for her. She patted her head and said, "Don't worry about me. I won't do anything that I'm not sure of."

Her friendly and doting attitude made Ivanna blush. She couldn't help but admire her new friend, who was so attractive and confident.