"Are you kidding me? Sean Rivers is actually sleeping in class? Has he lost it?"
In the classroom of Class 2, Senior Year, at Qingjiang First High, over fifty students stared at the scrawny boy slumped over his desk in the back row, whispering among themselves.
"Nobody wakes him up, got it?"
A tall, good-looking boy stepped forward—Lucas Golden, the class monitor. He glanced at Sean with contempt, then turned to his nearby classmates and murmured smugly, "You all know we bombed yesterday’s math test. Wait till Ms. Fiona shows up—she’s gonna go nuclear."
"And this spineless loser still dares to sleep now? Ha! Just wait, he’ll take the full brunt of her rage."
That got nods and low chuckles from the class. No one stood up for Sean. With grades buried at the bottom and a reputation for being a pushover, he was everyone’s favorite punching bag. If anyone was gonna catch hell today, it’d be him.
Not everyone was laughing, though. Chloe Forrest, sitting in front, snapped a glare at Lucas, then looked back at Sean still asleep at his desk, her brows knitting into a frown.
It was supposed to be Lucas’s turn to clean the classroom today, but before afternoon classes, he’d bullied Sean into doing all the cleaning alone. No wonder the guy was out cold as soon as the lesson started.
Chloe hadn’t been there then—if she had, she wouldn’t have let it happen.
Now, she was about to speak up, wake Sean, and stop the nonsense.
But just then, someone near the door hissed, "Ms. Fiona's coming!"
Instant silence.
The class quieted in a blink. Every student sat up straight, bracing for the storm called Ms. Fiona Wheaton.
Even Chloe froze. She glanced one more time at Sean in the back, still sound asleep, and sighed silently: Sorry, Sean, I can’t help you now.
Thud! Thud! Thud...
Heavy steps echoed down the corridor. Fiona Wheaton, arms stacked with papers, stormed into the room, fury already written all over her face.
Mid-forties, seasoned and notorious in Qingjiang First High, Fiona was a strict, short-tempered teacher with a voice like thunder—and zero tolerance for nonsense. No one in class dared meet her glare.
She reached the podium, threw down the stack of test papers with a loud slap, then erupted.
"One hundred and eight! Your average math score was 108!"
"With grades like this, you think any of you are going to college? Dream on!"
"Besides Chloe Forrest, who pulled a 130, what the hell have the rest of you been doing? Sleepwalking?"
A low murmur swept across the room. Eyes flipped toward Chloe with admiration. She lowered her head with a soft smile, like a flower blooming—breathtaking enough to leave a room breathless.
Pretty, smart, rich—Chloe Forrest wasn’t called the school goddess for nothing.“What are you all staring at? If you’ve got the guts, why don't you try scoring as high as Chloe Forrest?”
Fiona Wheaton’s roar snapped everyone back to attention. She continued, voice sharp like a whip, “Yet among you punks, someone actually had the nerve to score 38. Not even a fraction of Chloe’s score!”
Damn, 38? The whole room flinched inside. Everyone had a guess who she was talking about.
In the entire senior class at Qingjiang First High, only one guy could pull off that score in math—Sean Rivers. No one else.
Fiona's next shout confirmed it, “Sean Rivers! Got anything to say for yourself?”
Pfft, like he’s gonna say anything—he’s still dead asleep! The class snorted and turned their eyes toward Sean.
Sure enough, there he was, slumped lifelessly over the desk, totally knocked out.
Fiona saw it too. Her eyes widened, practically throwing sparks. “Sean, you worthless brat! Sleeping in class? Stand up!”
That one shout hit harder than the rest, like thunder cracking overhead. But Sean didn't budge. Didn’t even twitch.
He’s done for now. The students were itching to see the fireworks—they knew how Fiona operated. And this… this was her setup for the big one.
Sure enough, she grabbed the chalkboard eraser from the lectern and hurled it.
Thud.
The eraser, trailing chalk dust behind like a stream of smoke, drew a perfect arc in the air, zeroing in on Sean’s head.
Nice throw. Kids blinked wide-eyed, hanging on the moment, just waiting for that sweet smack and Sean’s miserable yelp.
But—right as the eraser neared his head, Sean suddenly stirred.
His right hand shot up, and with a sudden punch, sent the flying eraser straight back.
BAM!
Everyone stared dumbfounded as the eraser zipped back toward Fiona, clipped her cheek, and smashed against the chalkboard behind her—chalk dust exploding like a bomb. Her entire head was instantly painted white.
The class gawked. That’s… not how it was supposed to go.
Then, just as quickly, Sean stood up, eyes gleaming like blades, scanning the room with a strange intensity before finally landing on Fiona. His lips curled ever so slightly as he spoke—cold, razor-sharp:
“Heart demon? Hmph. Come on then. Let’s see who devours who.”
Hiss——
Gasps ripped through the classroom. Some rubbed their ears, convinced they’d misheard.
Did… did he just say he was gonna take down Fiona?
Fiona stood there, frozen, chalk all over her, gaping at the boy she’d always called a failure. She couldn’t believe those words had come from him.
“Sean, what are you saying?” Chloe Forrest barked, both angry and startled. She’d been watching Sean closely the whole time. Now she jolted into action, stepping to his desk in a desperate attempt to stop him.
But before she could say another word, Sean just smiled and reached out.
In one smooth move, his hand slid under Chloe’s chin…
And gently lifted it.