He''d recently heard the rumors circting about Juniper in the staff room, so when she asked for leave, his face immediately soured.


    "Juniper, we teachers are giving up our own rest time to help struggling students like you catch up. Do you think we have nothing better to do?" Keith snapped, his voice sharp with disapproval, stopping just short of pointing a finger in her face.


    Juniper sighed. His words were harsh, but he had a point. The teachers at the school were genuinely concerned about their students; their intentions were good. "What do I have to do for you to grant my leave?" she asked, trying to keep her patience. She didn''t want to provoke the cranky old man into having a heart attack; she didn''t have time to treat him.


    "If you can pass this test, I''ll let you go," Keith said, pping apiled paper of past college entrance exams forbined science onto his desk. He wasn''t about to be outsmarted by a teenager.


    “Deal,” Juniper agreed without hesitation. She took a pen from her bag, sat up straight, and began working on the test.


    Keith blinked, taken aback by her calm reaction. This was an advanced paper he''d prepared for top students like Queenie to push their limits. Every question was difficult. How many points could she possibly score?


    He huffed and decided to ignore her, sipping his coffee while waiting for the ss bell to ring.


    Juniper focused on the test. A passing grade was 60 out of 100. In a hurry, she decided to answer only the multiple-choice questions first. She read a question, knew the answer in a second, and filled in the bubble. Just like that, 30 points. Then she scanned the paper, picked one long-answer question from each section worth 10 points, and solved them to get another 30.


    From start to finish, the entire process took her less than ten minutes.


    "Sir, I''m finished," she announced, handing the paper to him. She even thoughtfully borrowed a pen from a ssmate and stared at the old man expectantly. The message was clear: Grade it.


    Keith had barely taken a couple of sips of his coffee. He nced at the paper, seeing that only the multiple-choice sections were fullypleted. He wondered if she''d just guessed randomly.


    He picked up the pen and began grading with reluctance.


    First question, correct.


    Second question, also correct.


    Third, fourth... all of them were right. Every single multiple-choice question was correct.


    Keith put down his cup and pushed his reading sses up his nose, looking from Juniper to the test paper and back again. He had just printed this paper out; no one had seen it before. And he had watched her the entire time, so cheating was impossible.


    "Sir, the other thirty points are here," Juniper added helpfully, pointing to the three long-answer questions.


    When Keith finished grading, he tallied up the score. Everything was correct. 60 points. Exactly passing, not a single point more or less.


    "Sir, may I go now?" Juniper asked, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. Her icy expression suggested that if he didn''t let her go, she might just make a scene.


    Keith was speechless. He could only nod dumbly.


    It wasn''t until her figure had disappeared down the hall that he snapped out of his stupor. He grabbed a nearby student who had just walked in and said excitedly, "Here, you grade this again!"


    He must have been seeing things. How else could a student who normally scored zero inbined science get a 60 on this paper in just ten minutes?


    ...


    Era Media was Borealia''srgest mediapany, boasting the most artists under its management. Its top star, Jimmie, was a household name, his face stered on promotional materials everywhere, cementing his position as thepany''s king.


    As soon as Juniper arrived downstairs, she sent Rachel a message. She was dying to find out if this "pretty boy" was really the brother she''d never met.