"I..." Juniper started to exin, then thought better of it. It was tooplicated.


    "You havenguage arts tutoring this afternoon," Salma said, patting her on the shoulder encouragingly. "There are only three months left. You''re a smart girl; I''m sure you can improve."


    "Okay," Juniper nodded obediently.


    Just then, the school''s dean of students entered, his face grim. "The official notice came down," he said to Salma. "It looks like the school closure is..."


    "Hold on," Salma interrupted him, calmly asking Juniper to return to her ssroom.


    Closure? Juniper remembered hearing the other students talk about it when she first arrived. If Queenie could get into a top university, the chances of Aurora High being shut down would decrease. And if they could produce a top-scoring student...


    Juniper''s expression darkened as she turned and left.


    "Juniper!"


    "Hey, Juniper!"


    "Juniper, want a milkshake?"


    On her way back to the ssroom, students kept greeting her. Shezily lifted her eyes, a slight frown on her face. This was all very strange.


    During the afternoonnguage arts tutoring session, Juniper, who hadn''t slept at lunch and had spent hours at the police station, was exhausted. She couldn''t help but doze off.


    By the evening study hall, the news had spread throughout the school: Aurora High''s new top dog, Juniper, had zoned out in math ss and slept throughnguage arts.


    "We should just let her go," a teacher in the staff room said, shaking his head. "She''s only just arrived and has already caused so much trouble, and she doesn''t even pay attention in ss. Queenie and a few other well-behaved students are getting close to her. If this continues, she''ll drag the whole school down."


    "That won''t happen," Salma said, maintaining her gentle smile. "Juniper is a good kid. She has many skills; she''s just a bit behind academically."


    "But exams are all about scores!" another teacher countered. "Queenie is one of our most promising students. If she gets led astray..."


    The teachers fell into a worried silence.


    "The monthly exams are next week. If shees inst..." thenguage arts teacher said with a frown. "I suggest we ask her to withdraw."


    A student like that was beyond saving.


    "So that''s basically what happened..." Qadir recounted, waving his hands animatedly as he ryed everything he had overheard in the staff room to Juniper.


    "Oh," Juniper replied distractedly, staring at the candy Shanley had given her.


    "Oh''?" Qadir was more anxious than she was. He crouched down beside her. "Juniper, aren''t you worried about being expelled?"


    "Expelled? Why would I be expelled?" she asked.


    "Because you''ll best in the exams," Qadir said with a grin. "Juniper, I heard you got a lot of zeros before."


    Tsk, tsk. Her grades were even worse than his. She was definitely going to be at the bottom of the ss.


    "That was before," Juniper said, propping her chin on her hand and blinkingnguidly. "Queenie, drag him over there to do some math problems."


    "You got it," Queenie giggled. She had no doubts about Juniper''s abilities.


    With Qadir gone, Juniper finally had some peace and quiet. She took out her phone


    and opened her chat with Lue. Lue knew men; she would definitely know what Shanley was up to.


    Juniper: [I have a question for you.]


    Lue: [Oh?]


    The little prodigy of their organization, the one they called ''Miss Know-It-All,'' actually


    had a question she couldn''t answer? This was new.


    Juniper: [So there''s this guy who''s being really nice to... a friend of mine.]


    Lue: [Your friend?]


    Since when did their little prodigy have friends?