Chapter 60

,Coolest Girl in Town


Samantha exclaimed earnestly, “You’re incredible, Elise! I can’t believe you actually obtained a perfect
score on the test!” While she stood at one side, Riley was in awe as she quickly pointed out, “I ought to
kneel before you, milady!”

Elise, however, kept a straight face as she took her seat. Mr. Bolton went on to announce, “While Miss
Elise has gotten the perfect score, there are two other students who did well in the test as well—Mr.
Zachary, who scored 92 on the test; and Miss Amanda, who scored 90.” The grimace on Amanda’s
face waned after she learned that she had received a 90 on the test.

It wasn’t as impressive as Elise’s perfect score, but it was comforting for Amanda to know that she had
done better than the rest of her peers. “The rest of you who have scored below 90 will need to put in
the extra work over the coming weeks.” When class ended, a large group swarmed around Elise’s desk
in fervor.

“So, you’re Elise. Our teacher has told us how brilliant you are. I mean, we know you won first place in
the City Mathematics Olympiad, but we never imagined you to be this good!” Another student piped up
cheerily, “You’re like my role model, Elise. You know, Zachary goes to Cloverfield High with us and he’s
always been the one to be in first place in the City Mathematics Olympiad. You have no idea how
completely satisfying it is to see you break his records!

I could never stand that high-and-mighty attitude of his anyway. It’s about time he gets dethroned!”
However, he was oblivious to Zachary’s presence behind him when he said this. “Excuse me.” Zachary
had spoken up so suddenly that everyone was stunned while they fell into silence before scurrying
back to their seats.



Elise looked up and met his gaze. He was the first to break the silence. “It’s been a while since I’ve had
competition. Pleased to meet you.” “Thank you. You did pretty good too,” she replied steadily. Zachary
had grown up with countless compliments that were thrown his way, but for some reason, Elise’s praise
struck a chord in him; he could detect the sincere edge in her tone. “I’ll do my best to surpass you the
next time,” he said, looking resolved. She nodded as she encouraged, “I look forward to it.”



After giving her a long look, Zachary turned to walk away. The boot camp participants kept a tight
schedule where they had lessons from morning until night. As tiring as the day had been, the girls in
Dorm 503 continued their studies for about an hour or so after classes ended.

With Elise leading them, even Samantha—who hardly paid any attention to academics—was inspired
to do better. On the other hand, Amanda was competitive by nature. She had a solid foundation to
begin with, but now that her roommates had their noses buried in math olympiad exercises, she didn’t
want to be left behind. She might not be on good terms with them, but she was perfectly fine with
studying on her own.



A week flew past in the blink of an eye, and before anyone knew it, the weekend had already arrived. In
a demonstration of humanity, Mr. Bolton decided to give the students a half-day break. Alexander was
waiting for Elise by the school entrance. She was heading out of school grounds with Samantha and
Riley, and when she saw Alexander in the distance, she said, “Hey, I have to skedaddle now. I’ll see
you both tomorrow.”

Samantha waved her goodbye and watched as Elise boarded his idling car. Riley couldn’t help but
squeal, “Goodness, is that Elise’s boyfriend? He’s a work of art!” As she was unable to hide her



admiration, Samantha agreed, “I envy her. How can a girl be so lucky as to excel in school and have a
hot boyfriend?”

They were only making casual commentary, but Amanda overheard everything by chance. She
glanced in the direction of the luxurious ride that was idling outside the school entrance and thought
about Elise’s day-to-day wardrobe. There’s no way that girl comes from a well-off family, so why would
she come and go in such a flashy car? She snorted coldly and snapped, “Please. It’s not as if he’s her
boyfriend for sure.

She’s probably a sugar baby or something, though it does make me wonder if all the rich men have
had a change of taste recently. I mean, surely one has to be blind to want to hang out with the likes of
Elise.” “Watch your mouth, Amanda.” Riley bridled at this. “Elise is a friend of mine and no one gets to
talk about her like that.” Amanda was entirely unfazed as she retorted, “I can talk about her anyway I
like.

Does Elise look like she’s an heiress to you? I think both of you need to get your eyes checked.” “I
guess people like you will always try to put others down no matter what,” Samantha bit out. “There’s no
point for me to waste time and energy on you.” “That’s right. You should really see a therapist, Amanda.
All that bitter resentment can’t be good for you.” After having spat those words, Riley looped her arm
through Samantha’s limb and they walked away, leaving Amanda fuming where she stood.

Amanda glowered at their retreating figures and shouted, “If you don’t believe me, then so be it! Just
you wait. I’ll show everyone that Elise is nothing but a lowlife sugar baby!” “You—” Riley was about to
turn around and knock some sense into the wretched girl when Samantha stopped her.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Samantha advised. “You can’t fight crazy, so let’s just ignore her.” The anger that
thrummed in Riley’s veins was quelled when she heard this. “You’re right. She really is crazy!” With
that, they walked away and once again left Amanda glowering behind them.



She scoffed contemptuously and thought, I have to collect evidence that proves Elise is a sugar baby.
To hell with her reputation as a top student; she’s nothing more than a floozy who lives off men’s
money. She was determined to expose Elise’s true colors to everyone and at this thought, she took out
her phone and made a call. “Find me a paparazzi who has excellent photography skills. Whatever the
cost may be, I’ll pay him accordingly.”

As soon as she hung up the phone, a wicked smirk began to play on the corner of her lips. … Elise
thought that they could be heading home after she entered Alexander’s car, but she was surprised
when he brought her to a fancy Italian restaurant instead. “Why did you bring me here, Alexander?”

He turned to give her a withering look. “Why else would I bring you here at a time like this?” She
blinked at him, and as if beating her to an answer, her stomach grumbled. She flushed and hurried to
catch up with him. They staked out a table by the window and the waiter came by with the menu, which
Alexander slid over to Elise as he said plainly, “Order whatever you want.”

“Okay,” she replied. She took the menu and flipped through it before she ordered a couple of signature
dishes. “I’d like to have a mushroom ravioli, an ossobuco, the pan-seared sea bass, a Fiorentina steak
and a classic Margherita pizza.”

She did not hold back with her order. The waiter then left and returned with all both Alexander and
Elise’s orders, and within minutes, the table was close to overflowing with food. As she was starving,
she wasted no time in picking up her utensils to dig in. “The Fiorentina steak is amazing! Here, you
have to try some.”

As she said this, she sliced a piece of the steak and placed it on his plate. He frowned slightly and gave
the meat a cursory glance. Surprisingly, despite his mildly obsessive-compulsive tendencies, he wasn’t
too offended by Elise’s gesture and he speared the meat with his fork and popped it into his mouth.



“Not bad.” Alexander thought two words were more than enough to form a true compliment, but Elise
had an indulgent smile on her face as she protested, “Not bad? It’s scrumptious! I can’t remember the
last time I had a steak as tender as this. Whatever they serve in the school cafeteria is only good for
sustenance, though the flavor is lacking.” While saying this, she grabbed another slice of pizza and
took a bite.

“If I could have pizza everyday, then life would be a cabaret.” Amusement glittered in his eyes when he
heard this, but he quickly suppressed it as he offered, “I guess I could drop by your school with a pizza
or two whenever I’m free—if you want me to, that is.”

She gaped; she was starry-eyed as she exclaimed, “Really? In that case, you should definitely get
more than two pizzas. I have two girlfriends to feed.” He hummed nonchalantly.

“That’s no problem at all.” It was with a beam when she answered, “Thank you.” Elise appeared to be
in a good mood today and her appetite was astonishing as well. She practically bulldozed her way
through the meal while Alexander sat across from her, seemingly pleased to watch her eat.

It was a complete mystery as to how a face as plain and ordinary as hers could attract him. I must be
bewitched, he thought ruefully.






62fb1bb41dcb31934bd49bda