Chapter 1

Chloe

Chloe stood with Sophia among the crowd of hundreds of students. Their university had announced the scores were out and they would be posted at noon. Sophia had dragged Chloe down to the assembly hall, pushing past dozens of students dressed in their gray and black uniforms to be near the giant screen on stage. They both awaited the news of whether they'd be Elites again or not.

"I'm terrified," Sophia confessed next to Chloe. "What if I don't become an Elite again?"

She rocked back and forth on her heels, looking like she was on the brink of a mental breakdown. Chloe grew nervous herself. Even though she'd spent the last year as the first Elite, she couldn't help but worry that somehow she'd lose her spot.

"Don't worry, Sophia," Chloe said. "You've been the fourth Elite for the past year and you'll be an Elite again. You're brilliant."

"I don't know, Chloe. Anyone can take my spot. You never know."

Sophia began to pace next to Chloe. It hard to move with the assembly hall being hoarded by the entire university. Everyone eagerly awaited their scores, hoping to become one of the Elites.

"I don't want to lose the perks of being an Elite!" Sophia exclaimed. "I love having my own private building to study, hang out, exercise and more. I don't want to lose all that!"

Chloe opened her mouth to tell her she needed to be more confident, but then their dean spoke. Chloe's eyes flew to the stage where Ms. Leonard stood, her eyes bright as she scanned the crowd in front of her. Everyone had grown silent as they anticipated their scores.

"Good afternoon, everyone. It's time to announce your rankings," Mr. Leonard said. "Last year was a busy year and everyone worked incredibly hard. It was a lot of data to mine through, but we finally have our results. They will appear on this screen momentarily."

Sophia froze next to Chloe, her eyes glued to the screen ahead of them. Chloe gulped, wondering where she would be. She couldn't care less about the rankings or perks, but she needed to be first for her scholarships.

"So, here are your scores," Ms. Leonard said.

Ms. Leonard clicked a button on the remote she held and the television burst alive. Chloe's eyes flew to the first spot on the screen and grew relieved at the sight of her name. And next to her, Sophia squealed with delight. Chloe smiled, glad to see that her friend was once again in fourth place.

"We did it!" Sophia squealed. "We made it! Again. We did it Chloe!"

Chloe laughed. Sophia began to jump up and down, bursting with delight. People shot her dirty looks, but Chloe ignored them as Sophia continued to celebrate.

But then, Sophia abruptly stopped. She stared at something behind Chloe with a frown on her face and curious, Chloe turned around and grew surprised to see Nash storming up to them. His face was red with rage and Chloe blinked, surprised by how angry he looked.

"Not this again," Sophia groaned.

Nash stormed closer to them and his wavy hair blew back. His chocolate brown eyes locked on Chloe's and the fury left Chloe frowning.

"I can't believe you're the first Elite again," Nash said, stopping in front of them. He pointed his finger at Chloe as if to accuse her of a crime. "I don't get it."

"Congrats on getting the second spot again." Chloe smiled. "You deserve it."

"Are you mocking me?"

"No."

Chloe frowned as Nash boiled with rage. He glared at her, looking as if he was a firecracker about to set off.

"Well, you don't deserve to be first." Nash crossed his arms over his chest. "I'm the one who deserves it! And I'm going to prove it to you and everyone."

"And how will you do that?"

"I challenge you to a duel! A trivia duel," Nash threw his hands up in the air. "Meet me at the Elites headquarters at one and be prepared to be annihilated."

"Can't wait."

Nash narrowed his eyes. Chloe smiled back, unsure of what to do with Nash. Nash was a character she'd never faced before. He'd constantly do this - complain about her being first and try to challenge her, but he never prevailed. And maybe by now Chloe should be annoyed by his persistence, but she welcomed his presence when everything else in her life seemed to be changing.

"Be ready to lose, Chloe Summers," Nash whirled around. "I'll see you at one."

Nash stormed off and Chloe stared after him, wondering about him. They'd spent a year together as Elites, but Chloe felt like she barely knew him.

"I'll never understand what's up with Nash," Sophia said. "He's been like that for the past year."

"I don't mind." Chloe shrugged. "It's fun being challenged by him."

Sophia sighed. "As long as you're happy, I don't mind. But don't ever let it get to you."

"Of course I won't."

And with the thought of versing Nash in trivia, Chloe had something to look forward to. And with all her friends being Elites again, she grew excited for the year to come.

*****

Sophia and Chloe walked through the hallways of the Elites building. It was a large building dedicated to the five Elites, which were a group of five students who were ranked the top five students at the university of Sakuya. And because they were skilled in intelligence, athleticism and more, they were gifted with their own building that included its own personal studying room, game room, gym, garden and more.

Chloe and Sophia walked to the game room and they soon entered it. Immediately, Chloe's eyes landed on Caiden who lounged on the red couch in the center of the room. The buttons of his white uniform shirt were undone, exposing a white tank top, and he had a book in his hand. Sophia's eyes lingered on him, and Chloe's eyes shot to Nash who sat on the other couch next to Caiden's. He was also reading a book, but his eyebrows were furrowed as he muttered to himself. Elijah was also there, off to the side on the computer, playing some sort of chess game with his friends online.

Once they reached them, Caiden sprung up. He smiled at them, his eyes on Sophia.

"Well, hello ladies," Caiden said. "Looks like the squad is back. You, Chloe, Nash, Elijah and me are all Elites again. I barely made it, but here I am."

Sophia laughed lightly and Caiden smiled warmly. Elijah glanced at them and waved from where he sat at the computer, his black hair a mess.

"Yup the squad is back," Sophia said. "And Nash is back at it trying to challenge Chloe. Guess what Nash, Chloe doesn't need to study to beat you."

Nash pulled his eyes away from his book to scowl at Sophia. She giggled and Chloe shook her head.

"Well, I'm ready," Nash said, dropping the book onto the couch. "Are you?"

"I was born ready," Chloe teased.

Nash rolled his eyes and looked to Caiden. Caiden pulled out his phone and scrolled through it.

"Upon Nash's request, I'll be administrating this trivia quiz," Caiden said. "Ready guys?"

"Yes," Nash said.

"Yup."

"Okay, so I'm going to ask five questions," Caiden said. "Whoever answers the question correctly first gets a point. Got it."

"Wait, only five questions?" Nash's eyes flew wide. "We need more."

"Trust me, five is more than enough."

Nash scowled and Caiden grinned at Nash. Most of their classmates feared Nash due to his short temper, but not Caiden. In fact, Caiden tried his best rile Nash up whenever he could.

"So, first question. What is the body's largest organ?" Caiden asked.

"The skin," Chloe answered.

"Correct!"

Nash huffed. Chloe glanced at him, noticing the look of determination in his eyes.

"Next question. What percentage of our bodies is made up of water?" Caiden asked.

"Around sixty percent," Chloe answered.

"Correct!"

"Can we stop doing body questions," Nash snapped. "Seriously, I've never taken Biology."

"Fine." Caiden rolled his eyes. "The next question is, what's the name of the world's largest river?"

"The Nile River," Chloe answered.

"Correct."

Nash tensed. Chloe had three questions awarded to her. She glanced at him and smiled, but he wouldn't meet her eyes.

"Do you still want to continue?" Caiden asked Nash. "Seeing that... Chloe already won."

"I rather not," Nash sprung up. "This shit is rigged. I'm out."

Nash stormed off and Chloe stared after him. He'd always been like this. Ready to explode at any moment as if he was one fuse away from detonation.

"What's his problem?" Sophia mumbled.

"Don't mind him," Caiden said. "Nash is just grumpy today given that he's second again. He'll be better tomorrow."

"I don't mind," Chloe said, meaning it.

"I'm glad you're cool with it. Honestly, Nash is just confused."

Chloe frowned. What did Caiden mean? Her eyebrows furrowed as she held Caiden's gaze and he gave her a lazy smile. "What is he confused about?"

"Don't worry, you'll understand one day."

Chloe grew more confused, but Caiden just wore his smile, as if he knew some sort of secret about Nash. Sophia exchanged a look with Chloe, looking just as confused as she felt. But no one said anything else.