Annotated Rivals
READING AGE 16+
Chloe Park has her entire life mapped out in color-coded highlighters, and step one is graduating valedictorian of her high-stakes urban high school. The only thing standing in her way? Julian Vance—the infuriatingly relaxed prodigy who pulls top scores without breaking a sweat and takes every opportunity to test her patience.For four years, their academic war has been waged through passive-aggressive remarks and brutal grade comparisons. But when a rare reference textbook forces them to share a single copy for an AP project, their battleground shifts to the margins of the pages. What starts as a war of snarky sticky notes and sharp critiques soon reveals a surprising truth: Julian is the only person who actually understands the crushing weight of expectation Chloe carries every day.When a mutual rival attempts to undermine Chloe, Julian steps in to defend her—proving that no one gets to take her down except him. Forced to work together to transform an abandoned urban rooftop into a community garden, long nights high above the city force them to strip away their competitive armor.As the battle for top rank reaches its boiling point, Chloe and Julian must decide if beating each other is worth losing the only person who truly sees them.
Unfold
Wednesday morning arrived with a clear sky and the crisp, relentless cold of mid-November. By 7:30 AM, Table Four in the back corner of the library was already occupied.
Chloe sat with her shoulders straight, her color-coded highlighters aligned in a perfect row beside her laptop. But her focus was completely shattered. Every time the heav……
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