CODE HEART ♥

*CHAPTER 3: Forced To Be Partners*

Morning Assembly. 800 students. Dead silence.

It was 8:15 AM. The British sky was grey as usual, and the entire Crestwood High was standing in perfect lines in the main courtyard. The air smelled like wet grass and old books. Principal Harrison was on the stage, his mic making that annoying screeching sound.

"Students," he said, and everyone straightened up. "As you know, every year, one team from our school goes to the National Inter-School Coding Championship. It's the biggest competition in the UK. Last year, Alex Shepherd brought us the trophy."

Everyone clapped. Alex, standing in the Year 11 line, didn't even smile. He was in his black shirt, hands in pockets, looking like he wanted to be anywhere else. Jack elbowed him, "Your fan club is screaming, bro."

Principal continued, "This year, the rules have changed. The board wants to test teamwork. So, our school will send ONE team of two. The best coders. And they will be..."

He paused. The whole school held its breath.

"ALEX SHEPHERD and CHARLOTTE LANE!"

For two seconds, there was pure silence. Then the whole hall exploded.

WHAT?!

800 heads turned at once. Half looked at Alex, half looked at Charlotte.

Alex stood up, completely shocked, "Sir, I work alone. You know that. I always work alone."

From the girls' line, Charlotte also stood up, her black baseball cap slightly tilted, her long open wavy hair falling over her shoulders. "Sir, I also work alone! I have my own methods. I can't work with someone who thinks he's the king of the world."

Principal smiled. He was expecting this. "Exactly why you both will work together. You are both toppers, but you both have ego the size of this school. You are brilliant individually, but you fail at one thing - teamwork. Learn it. If you win, you both go to Nationals in London. Your photos will be in the hall of fame. If you lose, both your reputations are over. Am I clear?"

Lucas whispered to Jack, trying not to laugh so loud that the principal would hear, "Bro, God heard your wish. You said you don't let girls come near you, now you have to code with one for 7 days straight, in the same room, alone."

Jack: "RIP Alex. The legend ends here. He will finally talk to a girl for more than 5 seconds."

On the other side, Sophie almost screamed and grabbed Charlotte's arm, "OH MY GOD! Charlotte! 7 days alone with Alex! In the same lab! This is literally a K-drama! Enemies to lovers! Forced proximity! My favorite trope!"

Charlotte's cheeks turned instantly pink, even under her cap, "Shut up, Sophie! He is a cold, rude, bully. A robot with a laptop. I will just code, win, and leave. Nothing else."

But from the student council row, Simon was watching. His fists were tight. His jaw was clenched. He wanted to be Charlotte's partner. He had been practicing for months for this championship. And now Alex got her. He looked at Alex with pure jealousy.

Mia noticed it, "Simon... are you okay?"

Simon forced a smile, "Yeah. Perfectly fine."

*COMPUTER LAB - 4 PM*

The old computer lab on the third floor. The sun was coming through the large windows, dust particles floating in the air. Only two computers were on. One room. Alex and Charlotte.

Cold silence. The AC was humming.

Both typing super fast, but separately. Two different projects. No one talking. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Alex was building the backend architecture. His fingers were flying on the keyboard. Charlotte was working on the AI algorithm. She was chewing her pen, her glasses slightly down on her nose, completely focused.

After 1 hour of no talking:

Alex finally broke the silence, annoyed, without even looking at her screen: "You are doing it wrong. Your loop has no break condition. Your algorithm will crash after 500 entries."

Charlotte, without looking at him, fired back instantly: "Your algorithm is old. Like you. It's 2024 logic. My version is faster, lighter, and doesn't need a supercomputer to run. Welcome to the new generation."

Alex finally looked at her, surprised. No one ever talked to him like this. Everyone else was scared of him.

"Old? I won Nationals last year with that 'old' algorithm."

Charlotte finally turned, pushed her glasses up, and looked right into his eyes, "Last year. This is this year. Welcome to 2026, Shepherd. The world has moved on."

Alex was SO angry, but also... impressed. For the first time, someone was challenging him. Not because she wanted attention, but because she actually was that good.

He stood up abruptly. His chair made a loud noise. He went behind her chair to see her screen. He leaned over, very close. Too close.

Charlotte could smell his perfume. Something cold and expensive. Her heart beat fast for one second. She could feel his breath near her hair.

Alex softly, near her ear, his voice no longer angry but curious: "...This line... this recursive function... it's genius. Where did you learn this? This is not from our textbook."

Charlotte stuttered a little, her confident mask cracking for a second, "Y-You... don't need to know. And don't come close to me. You said you don't let girls come near you, remember? In Year 10? Everyone knows."

Alex moved back, but for the first time in two years, he smiled. A real, small, genuine smile. Not his cold smirk.

"I said I don't let girls come near ME," he said, walking back to his seat. "I didn't say I won't go near them."

Charlotte froze. Her fingers stopped on the keyboard. What does that mean?! Her cheeks were burning hot now.

What is he doing? Is he flirting? The Alex Shepherd?

*DAY 3 - The Jealousy Day*

The lab had become their world. Empty coffee cups, rough papers with codes, two hoodies hanging on the chairs.

Sophie and Mia brought snacks. Lucas and Simon also came with coffee, saying they were there to "support."

Simon gave Charlotte a coffee with a small, cute cat doodle on the lid. He had drawn it himself.

"I remembered you like cats. And... less sugar. Just like you like," Simon said, a little shy.

Charlotte was genuinely touched. She held the cup like it was treasure, "Simon, you remembered? That's so sweet! Thank you! It's so cute, I don't even want to drink it. Cookie would love this doodle."

Alex's face instantly went cold. He saw her smile for Simon. That soft, real smile she never gave him.

He looked at his own black coffee, no doodle, no sugar, just bitter. He threw his own coffee in the bin with a loud THUD.

"Charlotte, we have work. Stop wasting time on doodles."

Charlotte frowned, "It's just a 2-minute break! You are not my boss!"

Alex, typing louder and louder: "We don't have time for coffee doodles. The submission is in 4 days. Let's code."

Lucas whispered to Jack outside the door, watching through the glass window, "Bro is jealous. 100% jealous. Look at his face. He wants to punch Simon."

Jack: "First time in his life he's jealous of someone. The great Alex Shepherd is finally human."

And Simon understood too. He looked at Alex, then at Charlotte, and he knew. The heartthrob bully, the boy who never cared about anyone, had finally fallen. And he had fallen hard for the only girl who didn't care about him.

But would Charlotte ever notice? She thought he hated her.

At 6 PM, everyone left. It was just Alex and Charlotte again. Rain started outside. Heavy British rain hitting the windows.

Charlotte was tired. She put her head on the desk for a second.

Alex looked at her. Her cap was on the table now, her long open hair spread on the desk. She looked so tired but so pretty.

He took off his own hoodie and, very hesitantly, put it over her shoulders.

Charlotte woke up instantly, "What are you..."

"Shhh. You will get cold. Just... 5 minutes. Then we continue," Alex said, his voice softer than ever.

And for the first time, Charlotte didn't argue.

But just then, the main computer screen flashed red.

*ERROR: FILES DELETED. PROJECT CODE_NOT_FOUND.*

Both of them jumped.

All their code for 3 days... gone. 72 hours of work... vanished.

Charlotte's face went white, "No... no, no, no! This can't happen!"

Alex checked the system logs, his face dark, "Someone deleted it. Manually. From this lab. Today."

Who? Simon? Someone else? And with only 4 days left, could they ever rebuild it?

*[End of Chapter 3 - CLIFFHANGER]*

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