D*mn it, Maria!

1(◕⩊◕) Eureka!

For Caleb, there were only two kinds of people: Perfect and Not. In his own definition, it's Me and Them. He'd always been first— academics, social skills, music—among others that he tried. So to speak, the greatest man that ever lived. But not anymore. For the first time, his sacred name was printed beside the Number 2. Impossible, he thought. What's more insulting was the identity of the thief who stole his glory.

1. Maria M. Bahaghari

Blinking couldn't wake him up from the nightmare, so he discreetly pinched himself. Ineffective. There were rumors, but he didn't believe it until the ranking had been posted on the bulletin.

It wasn't a mistake. Their school was too elite for lapses. To ask the teachers to conduct a reevaluation was a sign of desperation and pettiness. He's never both. Automatically, he scanned the hallways for the owner of the name.

How? Just how could someone who transferred for only three weeks top the exam, and pushed him to merely second best?

"Caleb, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he smiled. "Thank you for asking, Arleen." Now, shut up. She was one of them, one of the people who followed him around with puppy eyes and blind and unwavering adoration. In short, a bother.

Her face blushed delicately. "You . . . you remember my name?"

"Of course." How could he forget? Everyday, she would put letters in his locker filled with hearts and inserted inside perfumed envelopes—like she had them printed in bulk.

The quantity possibly long surpassed her father's famous novels in circulation. Caleb never read any of them. She should be thankful he took the time to at least pick it up and feed it to the trash bin personally.

Her twinkling eyes glossed over with tears but, thankfully, they didn't fall. "I'm happy," she gasped, hands clutched near her chest like a prayer. "Anyway, I'm glad you're okay. This was the first time you got second, right?"

You insensitive hag. "It's not a big deal. See you around."

Even without the letters, he already knew Arleen for years because they move in the same circle. Yet, no matter how many novels her father sold, it didn't change the fact that Arleen was still the mud on the ground while he's a cloud in the sky.

Nevertheless, politeness was a strategy, especially to those who might be useful to him someday. A few more minutes and lunch break would come to an end. He returned to the classroom and sat on his desk by the window.

Their classroom was on the third floor, Maria, the anomaly, sat on the school garden below, examining a plant on a pot. She then jumped up and ran in circles with her hands in the air. Caleb unlocked the window, enough to hear her scream with glee.

"Eureka! Eureka!" For someone who fell short in height, her movements were big and careless. She looked insane in every angle. How could it be possible for a genius like him to lose to someone with a mental capacity of a toddler?

He was indignant, insulted, and ashamed at the same time.

Caleb momentarily showed a sneer before he smoothed it back. A person approached the wildly jumping Maria. He recognized Tamara, another classmate. The two talked for a moment, and Tamara took out a black book. She handed it over to Maria. Maria glanced around and accepted. Freaks do get along well, he thought.

The two girls parted ways with the same villainous grin on their faces. Maria looked up and caught him watching. She waved. "Hi classmate! Hi!"

Caleb turned away from the window. In front of him, Matthew sat with a hand supporting a cheek and an elbow on his desk. He stared at him with a grin, like a fool. "You ranked second? LOL." He chewed the bubble gum loudly, and threw a wink at the girls by the door.