Pressing search, Meg lifted her fingertip from her phone, her eyes glued to the


    screen.


    The web page loaded a slew of results, with the top entry being this year''s final exam rankings posted byizens. There were two charts: one for humanities and one for sciences.


    She clicked on the science chart first, scanned it quickly, but didn''t spot Mirabe''s name. Next, she opened the humanities chart.


    Seeing Mirabe ranked first was like a punch to Meg''s gut, and the score that followed-750, a perfect score-left her reeling. How could it be perfect?


    She vividly remembered a few months ago at Parkside High School, that girl said her English scores were terrible.


    Meg frowned, not because she doubted the legitimacy of the perfect score, but because she found the girl insincere. iming to be weak despite good grades? That''s not humility; that''s deception.


    More so, she recalled Matthew mentioning that the girl was already a shoo-in for Prestige College, having been rmended. If she was rmended, why take up a spot in the final exams?


    Meg couldn''t stand such pretentious behavior and even found it nauseating. However, now wasn''t the time for personal reflections.


    She nced up stealthily at her teacher and remarked quietly, "I didn''t expect her to be the valedictorian of the final exams... Looks like we''ve got a prodigy freshman in our department this year."


    Mr. Calvin responded with a light shake of his head, his voice calm, "Biomedical engineering isn''t about book smarts; a humanities student probably doesn''t grasp the basics of biomedical theories. Where''s the genius in that?"


    Meg, initially floored by Mirabe''s perfect score, had momentarily forgotten she was a humanities student. Hearing her teacher''s take, she felt a tiny bit relieved.


    After all, being the valedictorian was a big deal, enough to have all the teachers moring for that student.


    Meg pinched her fingers and said, "You''ve got a point, sir. But hasn''t our department always admitted only science students? Howe we epted a humanities student this year?"


    Calvin wasn''t about to reveal that Wade had poached the student; spreading such info wouldn''t do the department''s reputation any good. So, he simply said, "That student listed our biology department as her top choice. Since she was the valedictorian of the final exams, the department discussed and decided to make an exception."


    Hearing this, Meg sighed inwardly.


    Alright, she had thought Mirabe was highly regarded for her abilities, but it seemed the valedictorian status indeed carried weight everywhere.


    Noticing Calvin wasn''t all that optimistic about Mirabe, she didn''t dwell on it and soon left the office.


    **


    Meanwhile, after leaving the biology department, Mirabe headed straight to the physics department.


    The physics department was notably popr, so at the neers'' registration, there were at least three times more students than at the biology department, with notably fewer females.


    Mirabe, standing behind a crowd of male students, clearly stood out.


    The department had arranged for senior students to introduce the freshmen to the registration process, among them Matthew, who noticed Mirabe as soon as she arrived.


    "Mirabe, so you''ve chosen our physics department after all!" Matthew seemed quite pleased, ncing at the documents in her hand.


    Mirabe paused for a moment and said, "Suppose so."


    Matthew''s smile twitched, "Suppose so''... what do you mean by that?"


    Kevin, let''s aim to finish early tonight.