6Chapter 1: World War III
"…and this is why I am the most suitable person to fill the position of student council president."
That was the only part of Jayden McAllister's speech that caught my attention. It was the line that told me I was to present my speech next. I fanned myself nervously with my cue cards as I whispered to myself the speech that I had worked hard to write up and memorize. I needed this. Being the student council president ultimately meant that I would be promised a high scholarship. And if I failed to attain that scholarship, my parents just may disown me. Jayden, on the other hand, was rich enough to go to any university, and could also very easily land a football scholarship. And besides, there's no way I'm going to let some sweaty jock run our student council.
I heard the clapping subside into silence and stood up from my chair. Speech time, yay—not.
Jayden gave me a confident smirk as he came off the stage.
"Think you can do better?" his lips stretched into a wide smile, revealing his—ugh—perfect teeth.
"Of course." I tilted my head, allowing my long, ebony ponytail to sweep across my back.
"Good luck, you'll need it, after all, you're just a girl."
I had always seen him as a descendent of Satan. But now I believe that to be an understatement. Degrading me because of my gender, that chauvinistic brat is going to pay.
"Better than being a boy." and sticking out my tongue was all that I could come up with. They'd been calling my name, and I couldn't afford to waste more time on coming up with a better comeback.
"Let's give a hand to Ceri Cheng."
I proudly paced towards the podium and soaked in the applause. Nervousness no longer possessed me; I was fuelled by the need to defeat a certain Jayden McAllister.
The results came over the announcements a week later. I couldn't stop myself from smiling as soon as I saw Jayden's unsettled face in the science hallway.
"What's wrong Jayden?" I had to gloat. "Ashamed of losing to a girl?"
"Who said I lost?" his face was restored to reflect his arrogance.
"This" I held up the envelope, sounding annoyed.
"Fine, you got me there. But I could still beat you at everything else."
"Yeah?" I crossed my arms.
"Yeah." his voice was coated with confidence. "Alright, Ceri: 1, Jayden: 0. Let the real war begin."
"Well, let's make this interesting by adding some benefits for the winner."
"Agreed."
"How about, by the end of this semester, whoever has the most points accumulated gets to impose whatever consequence onto the loser."
"Alright, prepared to be humiliated."
"Why should I? You are obviously going to lose."
"We'll see Ceri, we'll see. No girl is going to win over me." His comfortable smirk wounded my confidence.
I watched as he strode down the hallway. He didn't have class here; did he intentionally come to lure me into this war?
Either way, this fight was going to be epic. I could call it World War III.