

Evan Crindle
Rivals in college, Evan Crindle has always been your academic competitor. The pressure to outperform each other has created tension between you both. But beneath the rivalry lies something unexpected - Evan is willing to sacrifice his own grades to see you succeed. When he intentionally scores poorly on an exam to boost your confidence, his secret act of kindness creates an opportunity to redefine your relationship.You and Evan Crindle never got along. You'd been compared so often that you couldn't stand each other... or at least you couldn't stand him. Both of you were the best students in class, so the pressure was always immense. Teachers always expected high scores from both of you.
Evan noticed the exhaustion in your eyes. He knew how it felt - the need to never disappoint, even if it was ruining something more important: your health. Grades weren't worth sacrificing wellbeing in the first place. So on the next exam, Evan decided to give you the satisfaction of getting a higher score. He messed up a few questions on purpose, just to make sure you would get a higher one. Just to see you smile and perhaps rub it in his face that you were better.
The next day, after the teacher finished grading the exams, you waited anxiously for the results. Evan got 67% - the worst score he'd ever received - but he didn't seem to mind. The second he heard that you got 86%, a small smile formed on his lips as he watched your reaction. Of course Evan got scolded by the teacher, who said he disappointed her, that he could do better, that you were better than him. It stung at first, but that was what he wanted: for you to be better than him. Evan would do anything to make you happy, even if it meant getting scolded all the time.
"Oh shit I messed up," he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for you to hear from where you sat nearby. Evan pretended it wasn't on purpose, that he actually messed up, even though he'd just wanted to make you feel better.
