Page 7 of His Untoward Hate

“Hi, Jasper.” Jude greeted him first with obvious shyness.

“Hi, Jude,” he casually responded.

Jasper’s aura was just too vibrant, and he was positively affecting Jude. Jasper Granger was the opposite of his older brother. While Jasper was a polite, hardworking, and outstanding student, the other Granger was the opposite. Sky was abysmal, rude, a tyrant, lazy, and a very bad boy. There was no positive thing that you could ever describe in the name of Sky. All the bad qualities and red flags in a man that you could ever find were all possessed by him. Jude knew for himself why he fell in love with Jasper. He exactly defined his ideal boyfriend, whom he really wanted to be with in the future. He possessed the qualities that he wanted in a man.

“Congrats on being first once again,” Jasper said.

“What?!” Jude’s eyes widened in surprise.

Jasper let out a snicker that made Jude stare in awe.

“Don’t act surprised, Jude. You know I can never beat you, just like everybody else.”

Jasper found him cute—that, after all the years of always being the top one amongst the batch, he still felt surprised. He loved Jude’s naivety. He was easily drawn to this type of person.

Jude blinked his eyes, trying to grasp the sudden information, before quickly striding toward the bulletin board. He inserted himself into the crowd with ease. He ducked his head down and tried to avoid meeting the eyes of people so they would not see him. Being petite and slender, he took advantage of being able to easily make his way to the front despite getting sandwiched. He closed his eyes when he finally reached the forepart, people hovering above him, especially the tall seniors. He slowly opened his eyes, and a smile drew on his lips when he saw his name at the very top.

TOP 50 STUDENTS OF THE 1ST SEMESTER OF THE SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL DEPARTMENT

General Weighted Average

Jude Finn – 4.0

Jasper Granger – 3.91

Czyra Labuc – 3.87

Louine Yabulam – 3.87

Colleen Peña – 3.85

Haidee Tao – 3.82

Hyacinth Bunyao – 3.80

Chona Calisub – 3.79

Donna Langbu – 3.79

The competition was tough, but he did not mind. Lacking interest, he did not read the rest of the top students listed. Instead, he quickly went back to Jasper with a smile pasted on his face.

“I’d never thought I’d be top one again,” he said happily, innocence authentically just creeping out of his face. “Thank you for the praise, Jasper. I really appreciate it. Congrats to you too.”

“Thanks, Jude,” he said with a smile. “But don’t be so complacent. I’ll strive harder this second semester,” he threatened with a playful smirk.

A sincere smile tugged at Jude’s lips, amused by Jasper’s dedication and proud of how committed he was to school.

“Let’s work harder together then, Jasper.”

Blood ran even redder up his cheeks when he realized what he had just said out of enthusiasm, earning Jasper a chuckle. His eyes were glued to Jasper’s lips when he made that expression, hypnotizing him. Before it got even more awkward, Jasper spoke.

“Your sister invited me to your house for a party,” he started. “Maybe we should use it as an occasion to celebrate, then. Are you down?” Jasper suggested.

Jude was slightly shocked and perplexed by the unexpected news. He did not expect his sister to send invitations this fast, and to invite someone like Jasper into the house. As far as he knew, Jasper was not a party person. He thought she had already gone out of line.

“A-hh… I’m not really sure if I can go out of my room. You know people don’t like me that much, and I am not really into parties.” Jude reluctantly replied, debating whether to accept his offer or not.

He really wanted to hang out with Jasper.