More Than Rivals [Academic Rivals to Lovers]

1.0 The rivals

Isabella sit anxiously at her desk, tapping her pencil as she watches the clock. its the day the exam results are being posted, and the tension in the classroom is thick. the teacher walks in holding a stack of papers, and laine can already feel the pit forming in her stomach.

the class fall silent as the teacher starts handing back the test scores. isabella's heart races-she's been studying for weeks, determined to maintain her spot at the top. she knows exactly who her biggest competition is: rafael.

as the teacher reaches laine, she hold her breath, flipping over the test paper. 98%. a smile of satisfaction begins to form on her face.....until she hears it.

"perfect score, rafael. well done."

her head snaps up, and there he is, rafael, leaning back in his chairs with his usual calm confidence. he catches her eye and gives a small, infuriating smirk.

flashback to 2 years ago, first day of high school.

isabella walked into her new school with determination in her eyes. freshman year meant a clean slate, a chance to prove herself. but as she walked into her first advanced math class, she noticed a brown curly hair with spectacles in the seat next to hers. he looked just as confident as she felt.

by the end of the class, their rivalry had already begun. he raised his hand faster, answered more questions, and-by the time their first test scores come back-had narrowly beaten her by one point.

from the moment on, rafael was the one to beat.

present time

isabella stared at her paper, the 98% at the top mocking her. one careless mistake. that was all took to lose to rafael. her finger clenched the edges of the paper as frustration bubbled up inside her.

she heard a sigh from across the room. marceline dropped her head dramatically onto her desk, shaking her head. " i stayed up all night, drank too much coffee, and still-seventy. ugh."

her head snapped up again, eyes darting over daphne, who was fiddling with her paper.

"what did you get daph?" marcel asked, half hoping her friend didn't outperform her.

daphne pouted, her lips forming a small, pink frown as she held up her test. "horrible. got a 56%."

marcel let out a relieved sigh, while daphne shrugged, already tucking in the paper into her backpack.

"but hey, I never get more than a 70% in math anyway, so I guess it's not that bad."

without missing a beat, daphne strolled over to isabella , giving her a playful nudge.

"hey what did you get?"

isabella hesitated for a second, still staring at the paper in her hand. she could already feel the sting of rafael's silent victory. she was so close.

"98%," she muttered, her voice lacking its usual confidence.

daphne eyes widened, "98? laine that's amazing!"

but isabella just shook her head, unable to hide her disappointment. "not good enough. rafael beat me. he got 100."

daphne rolled her eyes. "oh come on, isabella. it's just two points you'll get him next time."

but to isabella, it was more than just two points-it was everything. as much as she tried to brush it off, tge rivalry with rafael had turned into something else she couldn't seem to escape.

from across the room, she could feel rafael's eyes on her. that same, infuriating smirk still lingered on his face, and it made her blood boil.

isabella crumpled the edges of her paper, her fingers twitching with frustration. daphne was already moving on, chatting with marcel but laine couldn't shake the sting of her defeat. it wasn't just about the grade anymore-it was about him.

"two points? thats nothing!" marcel said, flipping her paper dramatically. "you're practically genius, isabella . I'm over here drowning with my 70%."

"still" isabella mumbled, more to herself than to anyone else, "it's always him."

daphne sighed, placing a hand on laine's shoulder, "girl, let it go. there's more to life than beating rafael."

but there wasn't. not for laine. not when rafael's smug grin was across the room, radiating with silent triumph.

out of the corner of her eyes, isabella noticed rafael getting up from his desk, still looking effortlessly cool, as if a perfect score was just another day for him. he slung his bag over one shoulder, catching her gaze as he strolled over the door. his smirk deepened, and with a casual wave, he said, "better luck next time, Isa."

the single sentence lit a fire in her chest. she cleched her jaw, determined to not let him see how much his words stung.

marcel shot isabella a look, eyebrows raised. "did he just-"

"yeah" isabella muttured, cutting her off. "he did"

marcel shook her head. "i swear the day you don't let rafael get under your skin will be the day pigs fly."

isabella stood up, grabbing her backpack with more force than necessary. "it's not about letting him get under my skin. it's about winning."

"isn't it always?" marcel teased, but laine wasn't in the mood for jokes. she slung her bag over one shoulder and pushed her chair in, determined to escape the classroom before rafael's weighed her down any more.

as she walked out of the room, she could still hear daphne chatting behind her, but her mind was focused on one thing: the next test, the next chance, the next win.

rafael may have won this round, but isabella wasn't going to let him keep that smug smile for so long.