By a Narrow Margin-Original

At a school where results define reputation, two teachers are locked in a quiet rivalry, measured in test scores and whispered comparisons between their classes. For them, winning is professional. Losing is personal.

When students begin to notice and comment on the tension between the two, the competition takes an unexpected turn. What was once contained within classrooms and notice boards starts to spill into glances, assumptions, and unspoken challenges.

By a Narrow Margin is a slow-burn story of ambition, restraint, and the dangerous space between rivalry and intimacy, where not every outcome can be calculated and some margins are impossible to control.

{Open Novella Contest-2026- participant}