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Novel Catalog
Chapter 68
Gary stared at Nicole coldly, his eyes burning with disgust and confusion.
There was a hint of disappointment in his gaze as he looked at her, making it clear that he wasn’t pleased with her actions.
Nicole, on the other hand, wasn’t bothered by the looks she was receiving.
She lazily rested her chin on her hand, twirling her pen without a care in the world.
The class began, and soon Ms.
Emerson walked in, her expression sour.
She didn’t look at Nicole once throughout the class, as if deliberately ignoring her.
When the class ended, Ms.
Emerson called Nicole and Gary into her office.
She began by telling Gary that he should work hard and prepare for the upcoming competition, hoping he would bring an award back to the school.
Then, she turned to Nicole, her expression softening as she sighed.
“Nicole, I asked you to join the competition because I trusted your abilities,” Ms.
Emerson began.
“But Mr.
Louis told me that you scored a zero on the mock assessment.
Can you explain that?”
Nicole immediately realized that the reason Ms.
Emerson had called both her and Gary into her office was to address the issue of her poor score.
As she prepared to explain, a familiar voice rang out from behind her.
“Oh, Ms.
Emerson,” a mocking voice said.
“Isn’t this the genius who scored a zero on the Math Olympiad assessment? What’s going on? Are you trying to have a serious conversation with her?”
It was Mr.
Kennedy, walking toward them with a smug look on his face as he sipped from his thermos cup.
He seemed to take pleasure in the situation.
“Is there no one else in Class B? One of your candidates is the third-lowest scorer in the class.
The other one, well, she scored a zero.
This is really enlightening! Why aren’t you pulling your students out of the competition if their levels are this low?”
Mr.
Kennedy’s students were top performers at the school: one was ranked first, and the other second.
He already believed that the Math Olympiad award would go to one of his students, and he had no patience for Ms.
Emerson’s students.
His disdain for her was obvious.
Ms.
Emerson, however, didn’t back down.
“I’ve seen how good Nicole and Gary are in mathematics,” she said firmly.
“Don’t judge people based on their grades.”
Mr.
Kennedy scoffed at her response.
He couldn’t resist belittling her.
“Let’s be clear, Ms.
Emerson.
If you send both of these students to the competition and they perform poorly, they’ll damage the reputation of our school.
It’s not just your personal matter!”
Ms.
Emerson’s temper flared, but before she could respond, Nicole turned to her and said calmly, “Ms.
Emerson, I want to drop out of the competition.”
Mr.
Kennedy’s eyes lit up with a smile.
“Look at how wise Nicole is.
She knows her place.
She doesn’t want to cause any trouble for the school, so she asked to be pulled out of the competition!”
Ms.
Emerson’s heart sank when she heard Nicole’s decision.
She felt a sense of unfairness rising within her, but she couldn’t deny that Nicole’s zero score on the assessment made it seem like the right choice.
She had no intention of forcing Nicole to stay in the competition if she felt she couldn’t keep up.
Ms.
Emerson took a deep breath and said, “Nicole, if it’s too challenging, it’s okay to withdraw from the competition.”
But Nicole simply smiled faintly and replied, “No, Ms.
Emerson.
I want to withdraw because the questions are too simple.
I want to challenge something harder.”
Her words were met with stunned silence.
Both Ms.
Emerson and Mr.
Kennedy were shocked, and even Gary’s jaw dropped in disbelief.
Gary’s internal frustration boiled over.
‘Nicole is bluffing again! She said the questions were too easy last time, and she still ended up with a zero!’
Mr.
Kennedy couldn’t hold back a sneer.
“Don’t make me laugh.
Are you really saying that the questions are easy? With your level?”
Ms.
Emerson, however, didn’t doubt Nicole.
Despite the mocking tone, she said, “I believe Nicole could do it.”
Nicole raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on her lips.
She wasn’t concerned about Mr.
Kennedy’s doubts.
What mattered was that Ms.
Emerson believed in her, and that was all she needed to prove herself.
