The Cold Genius And His Clumsy Girl.

The Cold Genius Classmate.

"My name is Carter Hayes and I want to be a Pharmacist." The pink-shirted boy was the last person to come to the front, as he sat in the back row. His voice is deep but somehow cold and his face expressionless. Not even a smile curved at the corner of his lips as he introduced himself to the rest of his classmates. Don't even bother to say why he is here, his introduction is the simplest of all.

"Class, now I want to know everyone's result in the fourth Science subject. As you already know, being in Science Stream requires you to take Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics Technical, which the syllabus here is way harder than the Ministry of Education Pre-University Programme. For Biology and Physics, you need to choose only one. However, Chemistry and Mathematics are mandatory plus the two other subjects, General Paper and English. So raise your hand if you get an A!" The classroom teacher speaks once Carter returns to his seat.

"Biology! Who got an A?"

A few students raise their hands and Anna sees Carter is one of them. While Anna herself only got a C-, she silently admires her new classmates who did better than her in Biology. It's okay! You just need to work harder! Anna tells herself.

"Chemistry!"

Like Biology, only a few students raise their hands. Anna's eyes focused on Carter. His personality somehow intrigued her in a way she herself didn't understand. It might be because he's the only boy in the classroom, so she finds him different. Just like Biology, he also got an A in Chemistry as he's among those who raise their hands, unlike Anna. Despite Chemistry being her favorite subject, she only got a C+. Well, what can she say?

"Physics!"

Once again, Anna's eyes shifted to Carter. Not many got an A, but he raised his hand for the third time already. Three straight A's for the Science subjects. Quite impressive! As she only got a D, she starts to feel impressed by Carter's excellent result.

"The last one is Additional Math! Before you raise your hands, I want to remind you of Mathematic Technical you'll learn here. It is way harder than the Add's Math you take in EC, so it will be better if you have a solid basic in this subject."

Sighing upon hearing the teacher's reminder, which is totally because she failed badly in Add's Math and she is taking a big risk here by choosing to be in Science Stream, she waits for the students to raise their hands. Is there any Math genius in her class? Anyone can she rely on to ask for help?

"So does anyone get an A?" The teacher finally asks the long-awaited question.

Anna turned her head around, screening the whole classroom, looking for someone who did well in the well-known tough subject, until her eyes landed on the pink-shirted boy, Carter. Face expressionless as ever, he lazily raised his hand for the fourth time already. This time, he is the only one. Wow, amazing! Four straight A in four science subjects, he is irrefutably a genius! If he gets an A in these four subjects, he must do well in the other five basic subjects too. There's no need to ask.

"Our boy here is an excellent scorer! An A in the three subjects, plus he's the only one who got an A in Adds' Math. So class, please give Carter a big clap!" The teacher announced.

All eyes focused on Carter, who was sitting next to the window in the back row as the crowd cheered and gave him a big clap. Looking straight at him, Anna could clearly see his face. However, he looks extremely unaffected and emotionless like a cold ice mountain as he just stares coldly at the whiteboard in the front. No one word said thanks, no slightest smile to offer, not even a nod from him to his new classmates who might be substantially starting to admire him now. Huh, so cold! Is he somehow not happy? Or maybe he just doesn't like the attention?

"Carter, why are you so emotionless? Are you not happy?" The teacher asks, like Anna, he is also curious about Carter's reaction just now.

"Err, yeah!"

Anna's eyes were blinking at Carter's other emotionless reaction. That's all he can say? Such a weird genius! Where did he come from?

"Listen here, class! Once again, I want to advise you to think carefully about your decision to be in Science Stream. Math T is a really tough subject. You might think you can do it, but believe me, a lot of students fail this subject starting from the first semester. So if you have another choice, please consider it! You may not want to regret it later."

"How many times do they need to remind us? I'm tired already. If we're scared, we'll never be here from the start." Anna sighed. As the principal and the teachers repeatedly remind them of that particular thing, she starts to get annoyed. As an average science subject scorer, she's already aware of the consequences from the moment she walks through the front gate and registers herself as a science student. But nothing can stop her from doing things she likes. Her mum prefers her to pursue English Studies as she's an A+ scorer but decided to respect her decision when she continuously rejected her mum's idea.

"You're brave, but I'm scared already. Maybe I should consider changing to an Account Management class or changing school? Oh, I'm so confused!" Sara, who is sitting next to Anna, whispers to her ears. They both come from the same high school and have been friends since elementary school. Their other old classmates are either going to the Ministry of Education Pre-University Programme or entering another college nearby, doing Social Science. Only the two of them got offers to further study at that college in HCE Science Stream.

The class is dismissed and they both go down to the cafeteria located in the next building. As they step into the cafeteria, they can see a crowd of students lining up at the counter to get their food. As well as the food kiosk at the right corner of the cafeteria.

"I think I will not eat at school until the rest of the semester. Look at the crowd."

When she is about to say the same thing, Anna hears a student in front of her talking to her friend. She knows it's a senior looking at the college shirt she's wearing. Silently agreeing to her senior, she says, "Sara, I just want a drink. What about you?"

"Me too. I'm too lazy to line up." Sara glances at the crowd while talking to Anna.

"Let's just buy a can of drinks from the vending machine over there." Anna suggests, pointing her finger at the vending machines on their left.

They walk together to the vending machine. Sara buys a can of soda while Anna buys two cans of coffee. Heading to a table quite a distance away from the crowd, they sat down.

"Why are you buying two drinks?" Sara seemed to just notice another can of coffee on the table in front of Anna.

"One for later. I feel a bit sleepy." Anna yawns. Consequently, because of her lack of sleep last night, no doubt. Anna opens her coffee. Taking off her face mask, she takes a sip of her coffee. She felt refreshed as she also felt the breeze of the wind on her now exposed cheeks. Spending years of being in a girls' high school, her mum is slightly worried about her going to college with boys. With her pretty face and flawless white skin, she can easily attract attention from boys as well as those girls who might feel jealous of her like she used to experience in her old school. So to be safe, she plans to cover her face in a mask the whole time. Lucky for her, Covid was just over and there's still some minorities who prefer to wear masks and Anna is one of them.

"Is your mum's home already?" Sara asked, checking on her phone while speaking to Anna.

"Yes! She texted me while I was in class earlier." Anna tells Sara. Her mum is working later in the evening, so she needs to go home first to get some rest. "I'll call Grab's car to go home later. What about you?"

"Me too. My mum has left already." Sara replied. She puts her phone onto the table and enjoys her soda.

"It's okay! We're eighteen! We can just go home by ourselves!" Anna smiled widely at the great idea of finally reaching that age. For Anna, eighteen means freedom! She will do whatever she wants and nobody can stop her. However, she will still remain a mummy's girl and respect her mum's opinion in every way.

"You seem happy today!" Sara commented. Despite it being a new environment for them, Anna looks comfortable enough to relax and enjoy the day unlike when they were in high school when she was serious the whole time and rarely laughed.

"I like it here!" Anna exclaims as she chuckles happily at her own words. Despite the tough syllabus waiting for them, in addition to the fact that the HCE exam they will be sitting at the end of the semester, the college seems to be just fine. The teachers are lovely and the environment is comfortable enough for her to fit in. She just needs to make some friends with her new classmates and that wouldn't be a problem, since they all look friendly, well except for one person.

Speaking of the devil!

As soon as Carter's name crossed her mind, she was struck by his cold, mysterious stare. Eating alone at the table far away from the crowd, he looks isolated and lonely. Anna's smile faded as their eyes met.