Coolest Girl in Town

As the first ray of sunshine shone through Elise’s room, her annoying alarm rang on time yet again, and she got up reluctantly to
take a morning shower. Then, she went out and bumped right into Alexander. “Morning,” Alexander greeted her. “Morning,” she
greeted back. They walked ahead side by side. “Had a good sleep?” he asked. She smiled sweetly at him. “Not bad.” They went
downstairs, and Elise looked around, but Danny was nowhere to be found.
“Danny should be taking me to school today. Where is he?” Alexander answered, “He was wasted last night. Probably still
sleeping, so I’ll give you a ride later.” Elise wasn’t going to object to that. “Sure.” She went to the dining room for her breakfast. It
was a simple one, which was her favorite. Once she was done, she went into Alexander’s car. While she was on her way to
school, Elise did her extra homework, while Alexander looked at her, who was focused, in the rear-view mirror gently.
When they stopped at her school, she quickly kept her stuff away. “I’ll be going now. You should go to work too. Bye.” She got
out of the car and strode toward the gate, but then, a guy stopped her. “Elise!” Elise stopped instinctively and turned around, and
she was greeted by a delighted Zachary. “Finally.” He beamed at her and showed her the breakfast he bought. “For you.” Elise
was slightly annoyed that he was here, so she didn’t take the breakfast. “Why are you here?”
Zachary chose to ignore that question and only smiled at her, but then he looked sad. “I thought I asked you to wait for me after
the test. Why did you leave without me? I...” He bit his tongue and instead said, “It’s fine. I’ll come to you anyway. Oh, I’ve heard
about the results. You got full marks again, huh? Congrats,” he congratulated her.
Elise noticed the passion in his eyes, and it made her feel uncomfortable. She pursed her lips. “Do you need anything, Zachary?”
Zachary shook his head and pointed at the breakfast he bought. “Nothing. Just here to give you breakfast. Got some great egg
sandwiches for you. Here, take it.” Elise refused, “Thanks, but I already had breakfast.” Zachary looked crestfallen, but he still
said, “I’ll bring you something else next time.”
Elise looked straight at him. “Zachary, we aren’t as close as you think. You don’t have to do this.” That made him blush, and he
stammered, “I-It’s fine. I want to do this.” Elise kept on refusing. “Please don’t, Zachary. We’re only highschoolers, and
relationships aren’t really what we should be focusing on right now. I don’t want any rumors to start, so please stop seeing me.”
Her straightforward response caught him off-guard.
“D-Did I trouble you? It’s fine. I won’t do it if you don’t like it.” Since she wanted to end it right there and then, she asked,
“Zachary, why are you doing this? What do you want from me? I’m not exactly pretty. You can even call me ugly and I won’t say
a thing. Why are you so interested in me?” Zachary tried to look at her calmly, but his heart wouldn’t stop pounding. “You got this
the wrong way. I’m not interested in you. I-I like you.

I like you, Elise.” Elise blinked at him. What on earth is happening? Why do guys keep saying they like me? Am I in a novel or
something? “Yes, you aren’t the prettiest girl around, but you’re very capable. I mean, you got full marks in the Math Olympiad
nationals. That alone is already great enough. Also, you’re kind and always helpful. That’s why I like you. I don’t care about your
looks. I care about what’s inside. Yes, I know it’s not great for high schoolers to get in a relationship, but I can wait.
I’ll start when we get into college. Just give me a chance—” Before he could finish, someone coughed behind them. Elise
snapped out of it and saw Alexander standing behind her. He smiled apologetically, “Sorry for interrupting you guys, but you
dropped your pen in my car, Elise.” Really?
He just has to show up at this moment? Zachary, on the other hand, looked at Alexander suspiciously. The guy looked and felt
better than Zachary in every way, and that realization crushed his confidence. Even so, he asked, “And this is?” Elise held
Alexander’s arm without thinking. “He’s my boyfriend.
I’m sorry, Zachary, but I’ll have to refuse you.” Zachary couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The news came as a bombshell for
him, and he stared at the both of them in disbelief. “Is that true?” His voice changed. “Are you her boyfriend?” Alexander was
about to say no, but he felt Elise gripping the hem of his shirt from behind, so he smiled. “We live under the same roof every
day.” He wrapped his arm around her waist. “Is that answer enough?”
Elise was shocked that Alexander would tell Zachary about that, and she gawked at Alexander. Alexander ignored her,
continuing, “You have great taste seeing that you fell for my girlfriend, but my girlfriend’s taste seems to be better than yours.
After all, she did fall in love with a prince like me instead of a peasant like you.” Zachary almost tripped over himself, and he
looked offended by that comment. Wow, what’s the deal with this guy?
Did he knock his head when he was a kid or something? He looked at Elise with sadness and determination. “I won’t give up no
matter what.” Just give up. Elise wanted to tell him that, but Zachary left without giving her the chance. That was inconvenient for
her, of course. Why won’t he just quit? I just told him I’m taken.