The second week had started, and students came in tired for their first lesson with their homeroom teacher. It was 8:27 AM, and Malakai was already at his desk; he was tired but 3 minutes early despite being up till 3 AM. Malakai and William walked in together, so they were already seated; David and Ray also came together and were present, but Lucas and Benjamin were not there yet. More than half the class was there, with some people still waiting to turn up.

"Wow, you came here before me", Delilah said, walking towards her seat.

Malakai turned towards her, "I told you I was jetlagged last week. Now I'm fine".

"You look tired", she said, putting her bag down and taking a seat.

"I'm always tired", he replied, putting his head on the table.

Moments later, Maria and Tanisha walked into the class, and most of the students were looking at them. Maria looked up to see if Malakai noticed she walked in, but she saw him in conversation with Delilah. A little disappointed, she looked away and went to her seat; she thought Malakai would look at her and greet her with his eyes after last night's conversation. Maybe she was being too hopeful. A few seconds later, Benjamin and Lucas walked in.

"Bro, how did Mally come in before me?" Benjamin whined, walking towards them.

"I told you I was jetlagged. It's not my fault you didn't believe me", Malakai replied, lifting his shoulders.

Benjamin put his bag beside his table and sat down. "Did you have to wake him up, or did he wake himself?" he asked, pointing at William.

"He woke up by himself", William replied, drawing in his notebook.

"Hell nah. You woke him up fo sure", Benjamin said, shaking his head.

"Why are you disappointed?" William asked, looking at him.

"He's the laziest guy here, and he got here before me".

"It's not that deep", William laughed.

"Whatever, man", Benjamin leaned back on his chair, pulled out his phone and started to scroll through.

Behind them, Malakai and Delilah were still talking. Delilah looked at everyone else in the class and saw Maria covering her mouth, yawning.

"Someone's tired", she said.

"Who?" Malakai asked, looking around.

"Maria. You think she stayed up late?"

"Yeah, she did", he replied casually.

"How do you know?" Maria looked at Malakai with a concerned look, thinking something happened between the two.

"I was talking to her on the balcony. I couldn't sleep, so I was just chilling on my balcony, and she came out to her balcony. She said she was thirsty, so she woke up and got some water".

"What time was it?"

"It was like half one, I think. I don't know, I just remember us finish talking at like two".

"You've got a celebrity neighbour, not everyone can say that", Delilah said. "Who's your other neighbour?"

"Ben and Lucas", Malakai replied, pointing at them. "Who's your roommate?" he asked, not knowing.

"She's not from this class, she's in class B", Delilah replied.

"B? How'd you know her?" Malakai curiously asked.

"Her name is Akari. We're not friends. We just know of each other. When I saw she came to this academy, I went to talk to her, and we agreed to be roommates".

"That's sick, having a roommate in a different class. You can get gossip from their class", he joked.

"Maybe, we have to get closer first".

Suddenly, their homeroom teacher, a tall blonde woman with heels, walked in. Yep, the same teacher who told Malakai off on the first day was his homeroom teacher.

"Everyone quiet now", she announced. She stood behind her desk, "Well done, you've made it to the second week, and I've had no problems with you as a class, which I'm happy about. Hope things can be smooth sailing throughout the year", she said, looking around the class. "This week will be the same as last week. Nothing will change. You will do your lessons as usual. However, you will prepare for your first challenge".

The mention of the word challenge alerted everyone; if some students weren't listening before, they were listening now.

"The challenge will occur next week. Today is about telling you what it is. From there, it is all up to you. I won't be able to help or tell you any more".

Malakai and Delilah looked at each other.

"You think it will be difficult?" Delilah whispered.

Malakai responded by shaking his head.

The teacher continued, "This challenge is quite simple. I'm only explaining it once, so listen carefully".

The students sat up, some pulling out notebooks to write stuff down.

"This challenge is about exams".

Malakai looked at Delilah and whispered, "I take it back. It might be hard".

"You will take five exams. One each day next week. Maths, English, Chemistry, Biology and Physics. You will have one hour, and the mark is out of a hundred. It won't be anything complex, it will mostly be basic and common knowledge if you revise".

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The students looked at each other as they expected more; they wanted more.

"However, there's a catch. You will be randomly paired up with someone in this class and work together. What I mean by that is half of your hundred marks will be down to your partner as they will take half of your exam".

Confused faces started popping up; the students weren't following.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked.

"I said you will have one hour to do the exam, correct? Originally, the exam would be two hours, but you will have one hour as you will do half of the exam while your partner does the other. You will be randomly allocated one half of the paper".

"Are we taking the exam simultaneously as our partner?" David asked whilst raising his hand.

"Yes, you will be right here in the classroom. So, imagine you have one exam. You have the first half of the exam, and Lucas has the second half of the exam. It will then be marked, and whatever combined mark you get will determine how many points you get".

"That's interesting", Benjamin said to William.

"Yeah, but imagine you get paired up with an idiot", William replied.

"So, your partner?" Benjamin slipped in.

"What do you mean?" William asked, not getting the joke.

"Nothing", Benjamin smiled.

"So we can get 500 points max?" A student asked.

"Yes, if you and your partner get a hundred marks on all five tests".

The students were getting excited. They wanted to find out who they were going to be with.

"Why can't we pick who we pair up with?" Lucas asked.

"That wouldn't be fair. It has to be done randomly". She then pulled out a box from under her desk. "Everyone's name is in this box. Each of you will come up here and pick a name. The names are folded up so you can't cheat". She shook the box, "Who wants to pick a name first?"

No one volunteered; no one wanted to be first.

"Okay then, I will pick". She scanned the room until, "My favourite student, come choose who you're going to be with", she sarcastically said, looking at Malakai.

Malakai grinned, "I'm your favourite student, Ms Green?" he said in a sarcastic tone, playing along with her.

"Don't get your hopes up", she replied quickly.

Malakai stood up and walked to the front. He reached the front desk with the box on the table before him. He looked at Ms Green and asked, "What happens if I pick myself? Can I do both parts of the exam?" he asked, knowing the answer was no.

"Malakai. Use your head and quickly pick a name", she replied in a fed-up tone.

"Sorry Miss", he quickly apologised, putting his hand in the box and mixing around the pieces of paper. He picked out a piece of paper and unfolded it. He looked at the name and smirked. "Maria", he announced. He turned around to look in her direction and saw her smiling happily.

"Okay, well done. You successfully picked up a piece of paper. Now go back to your seat". Ms Green said to Malakai, belittling him.

"Miss, you really hurt my feelings, you know that", Malakai said, holding his chest.

"You look fine to me" " she replied, smiling, liking his joke.

Malakai smiled and returned to his seat, noticing the sly looks he got from some boys in the class.

"The material you were taught last week will come up, and the material you will be taught this week may come up. The times of your exams will show up on your timetable later his week", Ms Green informed the students. Ms Green called on another student to choose a name while Malakai took a seat.

"What are the chances?" Delilah asked.

"Like one in thirty", Malakai joked.

"Ha, funny", Delilah replied in a bored tone. "You think this is fate?".

"Fate? What fate? Me being partners with Maria? Why would it be fate?" Malakai was confused.

Delilah shook her head, looked forward and mumbled,

"Clueless".

In Class 1-A.

"You weren't lying about the challenge, Alexander", Frank said.

Alexander was looking out the window again. "Aren't you worried that someone else controls half of the points you get?"

Alexander sighed, "It shouldn't be that bad. We are in the highest class. The maximum I expect someone to drop is ten marks on each exam. 200 out of 250 should be manageable for everyone here", he said. Alexander turned away from the window to face forward. "Hundred per cent would be ideal".

Isabella got her piece of paper and returned to her seat. She heard most of the conversation as she kept an ear out. She stood by her desk, looked at Alexander and unfolded her paper showing the name written on it,

"I think we can get a hundred per cent".