Reborn as the Villainess

1

Eleanor felt a bit uneasy, even though that guy was staring at her wrist, not her face. After a few seconds, when she noticed that the man still didn't shift his gaze away, she tugged her sleeves down to cover the bracelet. "Excuse me..."

But before she could finish, she noticed the man's expression shifted from cocky to shocked, his pupils wide as saucers.

Then, he straightened up and bowed to Eleanor while saying, "Madam, glad to meet you...See you, Madam."

By the time Eleanor processed what just happened, he had disappeared. The stall owner called out after him, "Hey, kid, you don't want your sherbet or what?"

The stall owner received no response since the guy was long gone.

Looking down at her wrist, Eleanor realized he freaked out because of the bracelet. She wondered if it held some kind of secret. She studied it closely, but it looked like any ordinary silver bracelet. She finally concluded that the guy was off his rocker. Meanwhile, the pink-haired guy dashed down a narrow alley and only relaxed once he was far enough away to feel safe. Leaning against the wall, he let out a few deep breaths.

He fumbled in his green coat pocket and pulled out a black phone. With trembling hands, he unlocked it and dialed a number. After a few rings, someone finally picked up.

"Hello? Gregory, this better be important. If you're calling me at this hour just to spit nonsense, I swear I'll kill you," a man on- the other end of the phone said.

The pink-haired guy, Gregory Harper, ignored the threat and huffed. "Listen, I just saw the sect leader."

There was a long pause on the other end before the man finally spoke, "It is now dark here in Mandorium; is it dark over there? Do you mean the sect leader's spirit came to chat with you?" Gregory kicked the ground in frustration. "Ugh, stop jinxing it. I'm talking about the new sect leader. I swear I saw the new sect leader, and I can't believe it-she's a high school kid."

On the other end of the line, there was another long silence. Finally, a sound clicked, like a lighter being sparked. "Are you sure you didn't see it wrong?"

"Don't doubt my eyes. The bracelet was right in front of my face. If I'm wrong, just kick me out of the Ghost Sect," Gregory snapped.

"Alright, got it. I'll be back in a few days, and we'll talk then," the man on the other end replied.

"Uh..." Gregory stammered, seemingly still wanting to say something else.

It seemed like the other person caught on to Gregory's hesitation. Instead of hanging up, he asked, "What's up? Is there something else you want to say?"

Gregory swallowed hard and asked cautiously, "I didn't realize she was the sect leader, and I might've...said something rude to her. You think I'm gonna get killed for it?"

Before the other man could reply, Gregory started to cry, "Oh, no. My career's just taking off; I can't afford to get killed now. If I do bite the dust, you better get me a purple sandalwood box to contain my ashes, 'cause I'm not into scentedwood. It's gotta be intricately carved, but no flower pattern-they're too basic for my style..." Gregory kept talking about his "last wishes", yet the call was hung up.

*****

Aloria High School didn't waste any time; the exam results were but the next morning. But it wasn't Betty announcing them -it was the beaming principal, Freddie.

He strutted onto the stage with paper in his hand and cleared his throat. "Ahem! Alright, everyone, Class A made a huge leap in this exam. The average score shot up from 680 to 705-what a breakthrough!"

The room erupted into chatter as Freddie finished his words. The exam was extremely difficult, and for them to smash through that barrier was indeed amazing.

"One student really crushed it, scoring full marks in three subjects, only dropping five points in English Language Arts. The total score is 745, taking the top spot in the whole grade," Freddie announced, and everyone instinctively turned to the back of the room where Felix was sitting.Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Felix frowned and thought, 'It can't be me. I've missed a question in math. Could it be Liam?"

Meanwhile, Liam was grinding his teeth and seething with anger. 'Damn! I can't take first place this time. I didn't finish the last physics problem, so there was no way I could've scored full marks. Seems Felix will steal the thunder this time!

When their eyes met, it felt like invisible sparks flew, each thinking the other would take first place.

Freddie kept the excitement going and said, "Let's give it up for Eleanor, who nailed a whopping 745 and took the top spot in the grade.

After a pause, he continued, "Also, congrats to Felix and Liam for tying in second place with 735."

Back in the office, while Eleanor was busy crunching numbers, Felix already knew she was a force to be reckoned with, but this was beyond anything he imagined. 745 points, which meant Aloria High School was about to have another "genius student" headline, and he, as principal, would bask in that glory. How could he not be pumped?

The students were all in shock with their jaws dropping. No one could believe that Eleanor came in first, especially scored full marks in math, physics, and Spanish. That was impossible.

Liam had thought Felix would snag the top spot and had nursed his grudge, but when he realized his desk mate had won, he couldn't help but cry, "You're a legend, Eleanor!"

Everyone looked at Eleanor with awe and envy, while she remained cool and collected. For a PhD graduate from a top college like her, taking high school tests felt like a walk in the park, like a pro crushing newbies.

Felix bit his lip and glanced at Eleanor, feeling more admiration than defeat. Maybe even he didn't realize how his feelings had shifted from disdain to respect.

After Freddie wrapped up the announcements, he strolled off, and soon Betty walked in, her face a storm cloud as she lugged a pile of papers.

With such a big improvement for the whole class and another academic superstar, she should've been thrilled, but it was her least favorite student-Eleanor-who pulled it off. Just the other day, she had been throwing shade, so she was far from happy now. "Could anyone hand out the papers for me? We'll dive into them today," she said curtly.

"Miss Mille, shouldn't we first address that whole thing about me getting into A class because of connections?" Eleanor's clear, confident voice rang out, cutting through the tension.