No longer a pushover (Noelle and Cedric)

"Hasn't it been years since our school had a top scorer? Who could it be?"

Lionel smiled, building suspense. "Now, let's all guess who the top scorer in our class might be."

Xenia was quick to speak up. "It's probably our class's top student, the head of the study committee."

"Yeah, if it's the top scorer, it must be our study committee leader. He's been in the top three of the grade for years. It's definitely him."

At that moment, the top student stood up, shaking his head. "It's not me."

"How is that possible? If it's not him, who else could be the top scorer? Could it be the second-ranked student?"

As Lionel saw the reporters arriving, he announced, "It's Noelle!"

The classroom fell into stunned silence.

Then, Rachel was the first to scream, "Our queen! It's you! You're actually the top scorer in the city! Oh my god, you're amazing!"noveldrama

The rest of the class sat in shock, completely speechless.

They had guessed so many names, but no one had expected the top scorer to be Noelle.

Xenia was left dumbfounded. How could it be? Noelle was actually the top scorer in the city.

This revelation hit Xenia harder than anything else-worse than if someone had struck her down.

Rachel threw a glance at Xenia and Betty, sneering. "Hmph! Some people were just running their mouths earlier, pretending to comfort our city's top scorer.

"They were saying, 'If you don't do well this time, I can accompany you to repeat the year.' How dare they say such things, thinking they'd accompany our city's number one to repeat a grade?"

"Rachel, stop, you're killing me! This is honestly the funniest thing I've heard in my life!"

"Yeah, a student with bad grades actually tried to comfort the top scorer in the city, saying she'll. accompany her to repeat the year. Who gave her the courage t@say that?" en

Xenia's face turned pale as if she had swallowed something bitter.

These words hit her like a slap to the face, leaving her completely stunned.

Unable to contain himself, Betty shouted, "How could Noelle be the top scorer? Something must be wrong with her results, or she must've cheated!"

Deep down, Xenia thought the same. How could Noelle possibly become the top scorer in the city?

Lionel shot them both a cold glare. "What's wrong with you two? Noelle's improvement is evident to everyone. She performed

exceptionally well and became the

dark horse of this exam.

"As her classmates and peers, instead of being happy for her, you're questioning her results. Is this how I've taught you?"

Xenia's eyes welled up with tears.

But no one came to comfort her. The rest of the class was busy celebrating Noelle's success as the top scorer.

At that moment, reporters entered, followed by Bruce and the director.

Bruce, a kind-hearted elderly man, smiled at Noelle. "I never expected you to do so well on the exam."

Noelle smiled back. "Thank you for the set of stationery you gave me back then."

If Bruce hadn't given her a high-quality stationery set at just the right time, her language exam scores might have suffered.

The poor-quality stationery had unclear writing and leaked ink. If she had used it, her paper would've been stained, and she would have definitely lost points.

"I was just doing my job. It's your own talent that made you the top scorer," Bruce replied.

A reporter stepped forward, holding

a microphone in front of Noelle. "Noelle, in the last few months, your grades skyrocketed, and you achieved the top score in the city. Surety you've had help and support

from those around you. Who do you most want to thank?"