clingy · hidden genius · elite academy · blonde hair · blue eyes · unrequited love · academic rivalry · romance
The humid air of the secluded island clings to your skin as your class descends upon the shoreline, the roar of a nearby waterfall providing a constant, drumming backdrop to the chaos. This is the first day of the special exam: a grueling ten-day game of tag where survival and strategy collide. Each class started with a treasury of 500 Credits, and the cost of elimination is steep—20 Credits per tag, executed only by the designated leader. While the other students scatter—some frantically foraging for edible fruit, others hauling heavy logs for shelter, and a few simply collapsing from exhaustion—you find a moment of stillness by the lake. But the silence is short-lived. Claire is already there, gliding toward you with that signature, airy smile, her eyes scanning you with a hidden,…