Destiny? No, Just My Straight A’s

I was obsessed with this sweet high school romance novel. The male lead was everything—my type, down to the last detail. So, there I was, curled up in bed, squealing “husband” at my phone screen, and then…poof. I was in the book. Not as the main character, of course. I was the side character he wouldn’t spare a single glance for. Heartbreak. Despair. Resignation. Fine. If I couldn’t win the heart of the male lead, I would win the heart of academia. And so, my new life began. I studied with a feverish intensity, my nose buried in a book while I ate, while I walked. Even on the toilet. By some strange twist of fate, I tested into the same advanced class as him. Just when I thought I could fly under the radar, the female lead cornered me. She accused me of trying to steal her man. What?

1 The day I transmigrated into this world, I fell for Liam Kendrick. It wasn’t love at first sight; it was a long-nurtured crush. Back when I was just a reader, I’d clutch my blankets and whisper his name like a prayer. The cool, brilliant, untouchable academic star—he was my ultimate weakness. Seeing him in the flesh? It was almost too much to handle. But reality was a cold shower. Here, in this world, he wasn’t my fictional crush anymore. He was a complete stranger, and I was just a ghost in the halls. All I could do was watch from the sidelines as his epic love story with the female lead, Mia, unfolded. A hollow ache settled in my chest, a constant, dull pressure. Back then, he and Mia weren’t together yet. A legion of girls had crushes on Liam, and a brave few even confessed. Every single one was met with his signature icy rejection. I knew my own quiet admiration was destined for the same fate, so I buried it deep. I was a nobody. A girl with a fractured family, not pretty enough, not confident enough. I didn’t even get the standard transmigrator’s starter pack—no magical system, no cheat codes to grant my every wish. All I had was a burning frustration, which I channeled into my studies. It was partly because it was what a girl my age was supposed to do, and partly because of a tiny, selfish hope. I wanted to get closer to Liam. Just a little. I wasn’t asking for a miracle. Just being able to see him every day would be enough. From that day on, I was the first one to arrive at school and the last to leave, a book always in my hand, even during lunch. After one placement exam, my rank shot up by over two hundred spots, landing me in the honors class—Liam and Mia’s class. On my first day in the new classroom, Mia rushed over. “Ava? Who are you looking for?” In the original story, my character was a certified slacker. She and Mia were frenemies; she’d gossip about people with Mia by day and then lie in bed at night, seething with jealousy over Mia’s effortless radiance. Studying was the last thing on her mind. So, Mia naturally assumed I was lost. “I tested into this class,” I explained quietly. “What?” Her eyes widened. She spun around and ran to the front of the class to check the roster on the teacher’s desk. When she came back, she gave me a slow, deliberate once-over. “Wow. Big improvement.” I managed a shy smile and slipped into my new seat, my head bowed. Liam sat on the other side of the room. Pretending to gaze out the window, I snuck a peek at him from the corner of my eye. Mia was already chattering at him, probably telling him about my surprising arrival. He looked utterly uninterested, but he did flick a brief, indifferent glance in my direction. I held my breath, my gaze snapping back to the notebook on my desk so fast it was almost comical. That was close. Too close. We almost made eye contact.

2 The atmosphere in the honors class was a different world. The intensity was palpable. Here, I wasn’t the weird one for studying during breaks. Everyone did. We’d cluster in small groups, debating complex problems, our voices a low, focused hum. I thrived. My grades stabilized, keeping me near the top of our year. Eventually, I got into the same magnet high school as Liam and Mia. Based on our entrance exam scores, I just barely scraped into the same homeroom as Liam. He was ranked first; I was third from the bottom. Mia, however, was placed in a different class. The original plot needed this separation. Liam was the genius, while Mia was the effortlessly smart and charming girl who could ace tests without ever seeming to try. The author split them up so Mia could meet the second male lead in her new class, sparking a whole new arc of sweet and sour drama. None of that mattered to me. I just kept my head down and studied. For the first two years of high school, Liam and I were just classmates. We never spoke. The only times we were ever in the same frame were when Mia would occasionally stop by to chat with me. Even when we’d pass each other in the halls after school, we were strangers. No nods, no greetings. He genuinely didn’t notice me. I, on the other hand, was a master of deception. My heart would thunder in my chest whenever he was near, but my face remained a perfect, placid mask. Not a single crack. I was getting really good at this. My obsession with studying meant my already-tenuous friendship with Mia faded into almost nothing. By the time we were nearing graduation, she had all but forgotten I existed. Then, senior year started, and she suddenly became friendly again. She insisted I was studying too hard, that I needed to relax. One day, she even roped Liam into her plans, inviting me to hang out with them. Did I want to go? Absolutely not. That time could be better spent tackling a few practice exams. But she was relentless, and I finally caved. I figured I could just bring my review book and study while they had fun. When I arrived at the meeting spot, my mind went blank. An amusement park. According to the novel, this was where they would have their first kiss. This was the moment they’d finally break through that last barrier and officially become a couple. My heart was in turmoil. I went through the motions of the day in a daze, barely registering the rides or the food. As dusk fell, the park lit up in a cascade of dreamlike colors. Mia grabbed Liam’s hand and pulled him toward the fireworks show. I trailed behind them, a forgotten shadow dozens of feet away, jostled by the swelling crowd. There, under a sky exploding with shimmering light, they confessed their feelings. Mia stood on her toes and gave Liam a shy, tender kiss. It was a picture-perfect moment, and I couldn’t bear to watch. I dropped my head, my vision blurring as hot tears fell, one after another, splattering onto the pages of my review book. I fled, a coward escaping a scene not meant for my eyes. I sent Mia a text, lying that I had to get home before my curfew. Of course, she didn’t reply. They had already forgotten I was ever there. As they held hands, their fingers intertwined with a promise of forever, their forgotten third wheel was running home, wiping away tears. I collapsed in my empty apartment and let out a choked, desperate sob. I’m sorry. This time, I just couldn’t pretend anymore. But even as the sobs wracked my body, I forced myself to grab a workbook and start writing, the pen shaking in my hand. A one-sided crush is a special kind of torture, especially for someone like me, who had nothing else. My only superpower, I guess, was having lived a life before this one. I knew the grinding importance of studying. And I knew not to waste myself on a love that was never meant to be.

3 Liam and Mia were officially together. Their ten-year romance, a marathon of love and devotion, was just beginning. They would fight, they would break up, but Liam would never stop loving Mia, and she would always have a place for him in her heart. A beautiful sentiment. For me, it was a death sentence. I wasn’t the only one suffering. The second male lead, Caleb, was about to have his world turned upside down. After they got together, his unrequited love for Mia would drive him to stir up all sorts of trouble. In the book, I was supposed to be one of the people fanning the flames, but frankly, I was more worried about my midterm grades. A wave of relief washed over me when my teacher told me, a proud smile on her face, that I’d placed second in the year. It soothed the ache in my heart, just a little. From third-to-last at the start of the year to second place by midterms. My hard work was finally paying off. In our class, seats were assigned based on rank. Liam was the immovable king, always in the first-place seat. And now, I was assigned to the desk right next to him. My desk mate. His desk mate. This had to be the start of something, right? The kind of trope that sets up a whole story. In reality? Nothing happened. We sat inches apart, but days went by without a single word exchanged. His silence was born of his naturally aloof personality; mine was born of a guilty conscience. I didn’t dare speak. The first and only thing he said to me in a week was a quiet observation. “Ava, your water bottle is leaking.” As I wiped up the puddle, I couldn’t help but correct him on a different matter. “It’s Ava Song…” Haha. He didn’t even remember my last name. We continued on like that, two strangers sharing a desk, until one day Mia stormed into our classroom and started a fight with Liam right in front of me. She demanded to know why he hadn’t told her we were desk mates. Liam just frowned, genuinely confused. “Is that important?” Since the school year began, he’d already had several desk mates thanks to the constant reshuffling after each exam. But for some reason, Mia seemed particularly bothered by me. Her eyes darted between me and him. In the end, she didn’t say another word. She just turned and ran out, tears streaming down her face. I guess I could see her point. I was someone she knew, at least peripherally. If my boyfriend was suddenly sitting next to a girl I was acquainted with and didn’t mention it, I’d probably feel a little slighted, too. After lunch, I decided to find Mia and try to clear the air. “Mia…” I called her name, but she acted like she hadn’t heard me, laughing and joking with her friends. “Oh my god, so I watched that movie you told me about yesterday, and I was literally dying, hahaha…” I stood there awkwardly for a beat before deciding to retreat. This was clearly not the time. We barely talked anymore anyway; bringing up something as trivial as our seating arrangement would probably just make things weirder. And Liam and I were practically strangers. He’d sort it out with her. It wasn’t my problem. Overthinking it was a waste of brainpower, so I let it go. A few days later, however, someone was waiting for me after school. “Ava Song, right?” It was Caleb Vance, the second male lead. I had my earbuds in, listening to a language lesson, and didn’t even hear him call my name. I walked right past him. He let out an indignant squawk, jumped in front of me, and yanked the earbuds out of my ears. “…” I scowled. “Can I help you?” My expression must have been less than friendly, because he flinched before puffing his chest out, trying to look tough. “Listen up!” he snarled. “I don’t like that Kendrick kid, but I’m not gonna let you hurt Mia and mess up their relationship.” That was… a weird way to phrase things. It took me a second to process. “How exactly am I messing up their relationship?” “Don’t play dumb,” Caleb scoffed, crossing his arms. “You’re the one trying to seduce Liam, aren’t you? Hah. All this trouble, and for what? I thought you’d be some supermodel or something, but you’re not even half as pretty as Mia.” I was trying to seduce Liam? That was news to me. “Do you have any proof?” I asked, my voice flat. “Of course I do!” he declared. “The proof is that you’re sitting next to him!” “…You do know seats in our class are assigned by grades, right?” I paused, letting the implication hang in the air. “Oh, wait. Are you suggesting I should have intentionally failed my exam just to avoid sitting next to him?” “That would be for the best.” Caleb didn’t catch the sarcasm, a smug grin spreading across his face. Normally, I wouldn’t waste my breath on someone like him. But his rudeness, combined with the baseless accusations, had officially crossed a line. “Too bad,” I said, my voice dripping with ice. “Unlike you, who had mommy and daddy pull some strings to get in here, I don’t play games with my education.” Caleb was a trust-fund kid. His parents, new money, wanted him to have the prestige of a public magnet school rather than some elite private academy. But the “money can buy anything” mindset was already hardwired into his brain. He could afford to treat life like a game. I couldn’t. Sitting next to Liam was a happy accident. But even if it wasn’t him, I had earned that seat. In fact, I was coming for his seat. Caleb’s face turned purple with rage. He threatened to make me pay. It was exactly like his character in the book—impulsive and hot-headed, but not truly malicious. After all, he was here, warning me not to hurt the girl he loved, even as he was heartbroken that she was with someone else. I didn’t take his threats seriously. Until the next monthly exam. When I was caught for cheating.

4 In the middle of the exam, I was pulled out of my seat. The proctor announced that a student had reported me for bringing a cheat sheet into the exam. Then, like a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, he fished a tiny, translucent slip of paper from my pocket. It was covered in minuscule, printed text—a summary of all the key concepts for the test. “Ava, Ava, Ava! I always thought you were such an honest and hardworking student. How could you do something like this!?” “This isn’t just irresponsible to yourself! You’re bringing shame upon your family and our entire class!” “Your grades at the beginning of the year were mediocre. Did you use tricks like this to improve so dramatically?” I stood in the principal’s office, a storm of accusations raining down on me from the disappointed teachers. They questioned my integrity, my character, my past achievements. When I insisted the cheat sheet wasn’t mine, it only made things worse. Denying it was an admission of guilt. I wracked my brain. Before the exam, I’d left my blazer on my chair when I went to the bathroom. That must have been when someone slipped it into my pocket and then reported me. It had to be Caleb, or someone he’d put up to it. The plan was crude, but devastatingly effective. Who would even think to do something so childish in high school? I had no way to prove my innocence. My only defense was to suggest they question the person who reported me. But they cited student privacy, refusing to reveal the name. The verdict was final. I was guilty. A school-wide announcement was made. The Dean of Students was a firm believer in making an example of people. There would be no anonymity. [HONORS CLASS STUDENT AVA SONG (ID# XXXX) CAUGHT CHEATING ON MONTHLY EXAM] The bright red text scrolled across the digital announcement board in the main lobby. Every student who walked into the building saw it. Naturally, I became a pariah. No one wanted me in their group for projects. No one would partner with me in gym class. During after-school cleanup, I was assigned all the outdoor tasks by myself. “Stay away, cheater,” they’d sneer, making exaggerated faces of disgust. It was fine. I wasn’t a real teenager. Their accusations could frame me, but they couldn’t break me. I weathered the storm. When the exam results were posted, my score was nullified. I was moved to a desk in the corner of the classroom, a place of exile. A new girl sat next to Liam. She was brilliant, popular, and had a very public crush on him. She’d bring him water after basketball practice and “accidentally” fall asleep on his shoulder during study hall. Mia, however, seemed completely unbothered, sometimes even linking her arm with Liam’s just to watch the other girl’s eyes well up with tears. Caleb didn’t bother her at all. He would just lean against the back door of our classroom, a triumphant, gloating look on his face as he watched me. He’d mouth the word. Serves. You. Right. … Reading the book, I never realized Caleb was this immature. My public shaming was his victory. But did it really affect me? Not really. I kept studying, kept eating, kept moving forward. During gym, when no one would partner with me, I’d sneak back to the empty classroom to work on practice exams. I was just finishing the last problem on a difficult calculus worksheet when I sensed someone beside me. It was Liam. He had been standing there, watching me, for who knows how long. Not watching me, exactly, but watching my paper. He was holding a basketball under one arm; he must have come back to grab it. He was so close. Close enough for me to catch the clean, fresh scent of his soap. For some reason, neither of us spoke. The classroom was silent, so quiet I could hear the frantic drumming of my own heart. A strange, poignant sadness washed over me. I didn’t want to speak. I didn’t want to move. I wanted time to freeze in this one, perfect moment. But I couldn’t let myself be greedy. Another few seconds, and the fragile atmosphere might shatter into something complicated and awkward. Finally, I broke the silence. “What’s up?” “Hmm…” He paused, his eyes still on my paper. “You made a mistake on this step.” Which one? Can you show me? That’s what I should have said. The desk next to me was empty, a seat no one wanted. If I had just asked, he might have sat down, his voice a low murmur as he explained the complex problem. Instead, the pragmatic, self-protective part of me took over. I calmly picked up my phone and opened a study app. “Oh. I’ll just look it up online.” “Okay.” Liam turned and walked away. As I efficiently uploaded a picture of the problem, a silent tear traced a path down my cheek. Stupid, stubborn pride. I was hopeless.