Before I knew it, the day was over, and I headed back to the classroom for the class meeting. We had all agreed to meet after school to form study groups for the upcoming test.

"Alright... Is everyone here?" Violet asked as she walked to the front of the class.

"Um... Arthur isn't here," said a girl with brownish-pinkish hair. I recognized her face. She was one of the last five girls to drop out of the Beep test yesterday. If I recalled correctly, her name was Amy.

"Well then, has anyone seen him?"

"The last time I saw him, we were in the change room," Robert replied. "Now that I think about it, he looked like he was in a rush..."

"Well, that's because he was going on a date," said Elijah. "By now, he should be at the mall."

Murmurs and gasps erupted around the room. It seemed most of the class was surprised by the news.

Violet let out a sigh. "Maybe he forgot we were supposed to meet after school today... I'll make a note to remind him next time the class is having a meeting."

"I wouldn't bother if I were you," Ryan snapped. "That bastard didn't forget. I tried to convince him to come, but he seemed more worried about his date than the test."

"Oh, I see... If that's the case, we'll have to proceed without him."

Violet pulled out a sheet of paper from her bag and began drawing a chart on the whiteboard. The chart was divided into two sections. On one side, she wrote "Students with Averages Over B," and on the other, "Students with Lower Averages."

One by one, Violet wrote out the names of every student in our class. As she finished, she placed the marker down and faced us.

"As you can all see, I've divided the class into two sections. Students with high averages and students with lower averages. My original plan was to form one-on-one study groups to produce the best results possible. Regrettably, since there is an uneven number of students in our class, that won't be possible."

Elijah raised his hand. "Wait a second... Since Arthur isn't participating, don't we have an even number now?"

Violet shook her head. "While that may be true, there's another problem. That only works if half of the remaining students have high averages. Unfortunately, there are more students with lower averages."

Violet gave Robert a nod, prompting him to stand up and address the class.

"Using the Rank Portal app, we were able to determine that there are ten students with averages over B and fourteen with lower averages. This means we'll have to form four groups of three... I realize it's not ideal, but it's the best solution we have. I've already volunteered to be one of the leaders for the groups of three."

"I've also decided to be in one of the groups," announced Violet. "We need two more volunteers from students with high averages."

"Oh, um... I'd be glad to help," voiced Haruna.

A couple of boys quickly perked up in their seats when they heard the sudden news. Maybe it was just me, but it felt like she was getting more popular every day.

"Thank you, Haruna. We appreciate your help," Violet said with a smile. "Now we just need one more volunteer."

Silence fell over the room. The remaining students with high averages exchanged reluctant glances. I couldn't blame them. Tutoring two students at once wasn't anyone's idea of fun.

"Sigh... I'll do it," Nicole suddenly said.

"Thank you so much! I knew I could count on you!" Violet exclaimed.

I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn't dreaming. Never in a million years did I think I'd see her step up like that.

How strange... What in the world made her want to help? Was it Violet?

The meeting was momentarily paused as Violet and Robert retreated to the corner of the room to discuss something. By the looks of it, it was something important.

After about a minute or two, Robert walked to the front of the class and held up a tissue box for everyone to see.

"Violet and I have assigned letters to each of the ten students with the highest averages... I'll be going around with this tissue box. It is full of papers that have letters written on them. The letter you pick out determines which group you are in. Are there any questions?"

"..."

"Good."

Without another word, Robert began making his rounds. I couldn't help but notice how nervous some of the boys seemed when they reached into the box. If I had to guess, I would guess that most of them probably wanted to be matched with either Violet or Haruna.

Hmm... I wonder who I'll end up with.

When my turn came, I reached into the box and took out a piece of paper. I waited for about ten seconds before unfolding it.

Group D.

I glanced at the board and saw that my group leader was none other than Nicole. I let out a sigh. My luck was proving to be as bad as ever.

Robert continued making his rounds, and soon everyone had their group assignments. The classroom buzzed with new energy as students began to gather with their assigned leaders.

"Out of all the choices, you just had to pick D, huh?" Nicole said as she glanced at my paper. She looked just as displeased as ever.

"I think the universe wants us to be friends."

"Hmm... I'll be the judge of that."

No matter what I said or did, the bottom line would always be that she simply didn't like me. There was no way around it, and I had to accept that harsh reality.

"Um... By any chance, are you Nicole?"

I turned my head and saw Zach standing a few feet away from us. The poor boy was covered in sweat. He looked just as nervous as I did the first time I spoke to Nicole.

"Depends on who's asking," Nicole said as she shot him a glare.

Zach took out a piece of paper from his pocket with the letter "D" written on it.

"I think I'm in your group."

"Well then... In that case, I am Nicole."

Zach bowed his head slightly. "Nice to meet you, Nicole. I'm Zach."

"There's no need for introductions," Nicole said, waving her hand dismissively. "I already know who you are."

"Oh, okay..."

As he fidgeted with his fingers, Zach seemed to notice me for the first time. "Oh. Uh. You must be the other person in this group... Unfortunately, I can't seem to recall your name."

"I'm James," I said, trying to sound friendly.

"Well, I hope we get along, James," Zach said with a tentative smile.

"Likewise," I responded, glancing back at Nicole when I heard her mutter something under her breath. I couldn't make out what she said, but it wouldn't surprise me if she was mocking us.

Nicole tore two pieces of paper from her notebook and handed one to each of us. I glanced down at mine and saw her phone number written on it.

"Starting tomorrow, I'll dedicate two hours every day until the day of the test," she announced. "On weekdays, we'll meet in the evenings. If any of you prefer to study on the weekends as well, I'm available from 8 to 9 AM. Any questions?"

Zach and I both shook our heads, neither of us wanting to prolong the conversation.

"Good... For our first session tomorrow, I'll be assessing your strengths and weaknesses to get a better understanding of where you both stand. Once I do that, I can establish a plan of action to improve your weaknesses. Any questions or concerns?"

"Uh... to be honest, I don't think I have any particular strengths," Zach admitted. "My grades have always been pretty bad across the board."

Nicole rolled her eyes. "That's fine. We'll figure something out tomorrow once I assess you... I'm not expecting much from you anyway."

"Oh... okay..." Zach mumbled, looking even more distraught.

"For the record, I'm not expecting much from you either," Nicole added as she shot me a glare.

I rolled my eyes. "My grades aren't that bad, you know."

"Anything that isn't an A is bad."

"You know, not everyone has the same standards as you, right?"

"Well, that's a given... Ordinary people have never been capable of living up to my standards."

Before I could even come up with a response, Nicole grabbed her bag and stood up from her seat.

"I need both of you to text me your names later today so I can make a group chat. Oh, and if any of you give out my number, I'll end your existence."

With that, she turned on her heels and strode out of the classroom, leaving us in stunned silence.

Zach let out a long breath. "Oh, man... she's super scary."

"Yeah... she's something, alright."

I sighed, feeling the weight of the coming week settling on my shoulders.