For four years, there was only one rule: beat Noah Bennett. From freshman midterms to senior finals, every grade, award, and test score was a battleground. We were the school’s top two students, bitter rivals who couldn't stand to lose. But senior year changes everything. Forced to partner up on our final academic projects, the walls we built to protect our rankings begin to crumble. Behind the fierce competitor, I find someone who understands the pressure of perfection better than anyone else. Slowly, the academic warfare softens into friendship—and then into something much deeper. By graduation, the dust settles with the smallest margin in school history: I am valedictorian, and Noah is salutatorian. But as acceptance letters arrive from universities thousands of miles apart, we face a final exam we never studied for. When Noah makes a shocking choice about his future, we both have to learn that some things are worth more than a number one ranking.