I'm just an ordinary student from an ordinary family with an ordinary IQ. Not particularly handsome, but decent enough to look at. Every day, it's the same three-point route: home, school, home again. Life drifts by in perfect stillness.
I used to think I could peacefully float through my high school years — three years that somehow felt like five — until that day when I discovered something abnormal lurking in my ordinary life.
It all started when I entered eleventh grade. The teacher assigned me a new deskmate. Her name was Vanessa Liu, a goddess-level top student with exceptional beauty, silent and brooding by nature, her whole presence radiating a "Don't come near me" aura. An atmosphere of perpetual melancholy. But there was no denying she was stunning. Brilliant, too. Still the object of countless guys' affections.
Except me. I felt nothing for her, not even a spark of interest. My heart belonged to the bright, energetic girl from the class next door, a sports enthusiast named Grace Shu, which was also why the teacher paired Vanessa with me.
Why not seat her with a girl? Because apparently she had a severe cleanliness obsession. The slightest touch from anyone and she'd act like she'd lost a piece of flesh, her face immediately darkening. She preferred doing everything alone, never communicating with anyone. All the other girls expressed zero interest in being her deskmate, while the guys all had their own ulterior motives. So I became the most suitable choice to be Vanessa Liu's deskmate. I'm the quiet, introverted type, a certified bookworm.
During those days as Vanessa's deskmate, we stayed in our own lanes. Peaceful coexistence, with no greetings, no conversation. Books stacked in the middle of the desk, barely any interaction.
No matter how terrible her personality, every day when she arrived at class, new love letters would appear on her desk. She'd simply tuck them into her bag without a word. At first she tossed them in the trash, but people would fish them out and read them aloud. After that, she collected them all in her bag. I assumed she took them home and destroyed them.
Vanessa Liu never lacked admirers, but lately I'd noticed something strange. Every so often, some guy would appear, desperately trying to catch her attention. Each time he failed, he transformed into a completely different person. His personality totally changed.
I held onto that bizarre feeling, like an outsider observing them from the sidelines.
"Vanessa, I don't understand this math problem. Could you help me?"
The speaker was the most handsome guy in class, a face like those cute influencers online. He stood beside Vanessa, placing his textbook on her desk, looking somewhat shy.
Vanessa glanced up coldly. "I don't know," she said icily.
Talk about lying without blinking. Her math scores were always perfect. I'd never seen her grade change.
The smile at the corner of his mouth froze slightly. "Oh. Okay then."
I watched him leave, still wearing that bright smile. Looking at his eyes, though, I knew he wouldn't give up that easily.
Sure enough, during afternoon PE, I saw him carrying a bottle of water, offering it to Vanessa as she sat under a tree seeking shade.
"Vanessa, you must be thirsty, right? Have some water."
Vanessa immediately responded, "I'm not thirsty."
Vanessa rejected him, then picked up the water bottle beside her, unscrewed the cap, and drank. I noticed the guy's fist clench silently.
"No worries. I'll leave it here for you. Drink it whenever you want." The handsome boy maintained his polite smile and walked away.
A cool breeze stirred beneath the tree's shade. Vanessa's bangs lifted in the wind, the lines of her face sharp and delicate, like carved jade, beautiful enough to take your breath away. At an age that should overflow with vitality, her eyes held a layer of darkness, completely devoid of life.
She suddenly turned and looked straight into my eyes. I pretended nothing had happened and pulled my gaze away, looking up at the clouds, letting my mind wander.
At the end of PE, when the class assembled to dismiss, the handsome guy let out a yell, then fell forward, right in Vanessa's path. But he'd severely underestimated Vanessa's coldness. She stepped aside, calmly watching him hit the ground, her arms hanging at her sides, not even the slightest reflex to catch him.
The handsome guy cried out in pain. His fake fall had become all too real. Vanessa looked down at him from above, her lips curving with mockery, like she was watching a clown.
From the next day on, the handsome guy went silent, returned to his old self, no longer hovering around Vanessa.
The teacher droned on from the podium. The girl beside me was writing formulas I couldn't understand on paper, dense lines covering the entire page, the ink colors hard to distinguish. I noticed that whenever she wrote those formulas, her entire demeanor shifted, a rare light flickering in her eyes.
Today was the day midterm scores would be announced. The entire grade buzzed with excitement. Vanessa Liu, who always held the top position, had finally met her match. Two people tied for first place appeared on the rankings board. Next to Vanessa Liu's name was a male student's name, like a dark horse that shocked everyone. The whole class erupted in chatter, everyone talking about this mysterious new academic genius.
Vanessa sat motionless without a flicker of expression.
I looked at the math test that had just been explained in front of me. My score barely reached average. I let out a quiet sigh. My sigh made Vanessa glance over. Her eyes lingered on my score. No contempt in them, no smugness either, just an incredibly calm gaze. But I still secretly flipped my test paper over.
On hers was a perfect score. I truly envied the difference between people.
During break, the whole class went outside to exercise. When they returned, a male student blocked Vanessa's path, a face with perfect proportions, sharp features, so handsome there wasn't a single flaw.
"You're Vanessa Liu, right? I'm the one who tied for first this month. I want to tell you something. Next time, my name will definitely be above yours."
The guy arrogantly declared war on Vanessa. Vanessa looked straight into his eyes. I thought she'd be impressed by his appearance, but her gaze flickered with annoyance instead. She didn't even bother responding, just ignored him completely and walked up the steps.
The guy stood there under the crowd's theatrical stares. His face flushed bright red. He shouted at Vanessa's retreating back, "Vanessa Liu, don't look down on people. I will definitely surpass you."
After that, the guy kept accidentally running into Vanessa, each time looking at her with a proud gaze, his words dripping with determination. "I will definitely crush you." He was trying to provoke her, but Vanessa couldn't care less to respond.
When the second monthly exam came, everyone eagerly waited to see how this guy would crush Vanessa. But what shocked everyone was that Vanessa still topped the board. Perfect scores in every subject. Her essay even earned a perfect score.
When the guy found out he only placed second, he told Vanessa, "You just got lucky getting a perfect score on the essay. I won't give up. Just you wait."
The guy had barely finished that sentence when Vanessa, who'd never paid him any attention, finally spoke.
"Would you just drop dead? Whatever you want to do has nothing to do with me."
Vanessa's eyes turned dark. Her tone went ice cold. The guy froze in shock. His face twisted with rage. Then he went silent and never appeared again.