I have one goal in life. It is not at all unusual: To marry a rich man. That is the sole reason I am attending Noblesse Prestige High, a ridiculously luxurious and unnecessarily flashy private high school. It is the school that is well-known for accepting only the very privileged or very gifted. Only the richest people in the country can send their children here. The rest of the student body consists of various prodigies or geniuses. Obviously, I don't belong in the rich crowd. Neither am I a genius. I do, however, have one thing that no other student in the school has: photographic memory. It's not really anything special or useful to me, but the school administrators wanted variety…they want to gather all the different talents that exist. I guess that's the only reason they bothered to accept me, considering how I neither have money nor status. They even offered me a full scholarship. And I decided to come because this is the place that guarantees the highest chance for me to find a rich husband.

No, I am not your typical gold digger. I'm just a realist. I know people say money can't buy everything, but without money, you can't have anything.

Love? Yeah, right, I don't need something so useless. It can't feed me. You might think it fills up your heart, but no matter how full your heart feels, your stomach is still empty.

I'm not greedy. I'm actually quite simple. I just want to ensure that I will always have a roof over my head and food in my bowl. I don't have any dreams. Those cause money and time and are of no use to me. I just want to fulfill the basic necessities of life. After all, you can't live without those.

My parents are basically useless human beings with no capability to take care of a child, and they are irresponsible on top of that. They call themselves freelancers, but the truth is that they just can't hold down a job for more than 2 weeks. They always do things on a whim and can get tired of anything faster than anyone. Ever since I can remember, I've been sent to live with various relatives, moving on to the next whenever one gets tired of me as a freeloader.

My acceptance into this school came at the perfect time, because I sensed that my most recent "sponsors" (as my parents call them) were getting tired of me, too. Since this school is in another state, it requires me to move out. This gave me the perfect chance to leave before they kick me out and it saves me what little dignity I had left. I was used to moving from state to state. The only problem is, I did not actually have a place to stay, since this isn't a boarding school and did not have dorms. I don't have money to rent a place near the school either. I have an emergency stack of money saved up from the various part-time jobs I had, but the cheaper places require a car for commute to the school. This explains why I am now hiding in the library of the school, waiting for the security guard to do a final check before leaving. Yes, the library is where I currently sleep, and I have stored some food and what little belongings I had in my hallway locker and gym locker. Hey, I gotta find a way to make it work. Good thing this school has its own uniform, so people can't tell how little clothes I actually have. As for weekends, I just continue hiding out in the school. Not like I have anywhere else to go anyway.

It has been a few weeks since I got here, and this was how I've been living. So far, no one has noticed anything. I have learned to be stealthy from years of training while on the run from my parents' debtors.

I thought that being in this school would bring me a big step closer to my goal, but I was wrong. My goal is still as far as the stars. Since I am a scholarship student, I have immediately been labeled, and the rich will not associate themselves with me. The talented prodigies look down on me as well because they think I did not deserve to be accepted because my "talent" was not comparable to theirs. The only people who would even talk to me are the geniuses, but that's probably just because geniuses tend to be eccentric and...different. I don't really care though. I don't need friends. Friends are useful, but even though they may seem nice at first, they will eventually get tired of you, too. The only problem I have with the current situation is that it leaves me no chance to get close to the rich guys. However, this is only my first semester. I am just getting started. I will not give up this easily.

The next morning, I woke up at 5am as usual, just to make sure to take a shower and get ready as well as hide all evidence before anyone comes. Good thing this school doesn't lock the library at night and has advanced facilities. It can even pass as a celebrity mansion. Yet we only have about one thousand students. It's such a waste of space and resources.

As I went on my usual morning walk through campus, I couldn't help thinking how this makes me feel like I'm stranded on an island. The campus is basically secluded and surrounded by trees, making it resemble a forest. We even have a giant lake in the middle of the campus.

I suddenly noticed something in the corner of my eye and almost tripped. THERE'S SOMEONE HERE! Wait, don't panic. I'm in my uniform, and I have my bag on me. I can just pretend I got here early and getting ready to go to class. I slowly walked closer and realized that the guy lying under the tree on the grass field was actually sleeping. Good, he didn't notice me.

For some reason, instead of escaping silent, my body decided to move even closer to get a better look. I've never seen him before…I remember every face I've seen. I know he's a student here, since he's wearing our uniform…but it somehow looked a little different from the rest of the students'. His uniform seemed to look even more expensive than even the richest kids in our school, and it was perfectly ironed with the creases at just the right spots. His shoes look freshly polished with no signs of wear at all.

I assume he's neither in the genius group nor the talent group since those people will never miss a day of school. Most of them were on scholarships, which require perfect attendance anyway. The only group that would miss school for weeks on end so casually and not suffer any consequences would be the rich kids. Which means…he's one of the rich kids.

He stirred, opened his eyes and sat up. My breath caught in my throat and I quickly hid behind a tree. He looked…inhuman. There's no way a human can look the way he does. This is probably how Adonis would look like if he existed in the present reality (note: Adonis is a mythical character known for his beauty/handsomeness).

He looked around groggily, as if wondering how he got here, then hopped up and started walking nonchalantly down the stairs. Wait…where is he going? The stairs lead to the front gates. Is he planning to leave before even attending class?!

I noticed something on the grass where he was lying. It was a cell phone. The newest, most popular, and most expensive model ever. My eyes widened. This fateful encounter just might be my chance to get closer to my goal. Since he's alone, he is more likely to pay attention to me, and when people are alone, they tend to be nicer than when they are in a group. Also…since he hasn't been in school, he most likely doesn't know who I am yet, so my label shouldn't affect his impression of me. Once I create our perfect meeting and charm him, then he might even look past my label. I have to grasp this chance before it escapes. Alright, let's do this!

I ran over, picked up his phone, then ran down the stairs after him. Wait…if I just return this to him, he might just take it and leave. That would not help me. For dramatic effect…maybe I should pretend to trip and have him catch me…the reward in the end will be worth this little sacrifice…

"Wait!" I called after him. He kept walking. What the? Is he perhaps deaf? "Wait, you dropped something!" I tried again. He finally stopped and turned around. I pretended to trip and fall off the steps towards him. I closed my eyes and smiled as I prepared to be caught by his strong arms.

However, I didn't feel a pair of arms and a strong chest. Instead, I hit the grass and rolled down the slope. What?! I spit out my mouthful of grass and looked up at him sharply. Rather than jumping to catch me, he had jumped out of the way instead. What the heck is wrong with him?! He didn't even look apologetic. He just looked at me with indifference and continued walking towards the front gates.

I took a deep breath. Okay, calm down. He doesn't know me yet, so there was no reason for him to help me. I'll just return his phone and then when he thanks me, we can get to know each other. I got up, and even though my body hurts, I still rushed after him.

"Wait! You dropped your phone!" I called after him. He turned around impatiently and glared at me. What…? I slowly held out his phone to him. He stared at it, then stared back at me, unmoved. "It's been contaminated. I don't want it anymore," he said dismissively. "What? No, it's still clean, I held it closely when I fell-" I explained, but he cut me off. "That's exactly why it's contaminated," he said coldly and walked away.

I stood there as my mind processed what he said. Then my jaw dropped. Did he just call me dirty? Even though I am living like this, I still take showers every day! How dare him?!

I ran after him, my anger making me forget my pain. "I am NOT dirty! Take your stupid phone, I don't want anything that's been in your possession either!" I retorted. He sighed, then took out a hankerchief and carefully took his phone using the hankerchief. What the heck? Is he a germaphobe? Well at least he took his phone back. I don't want anything to do with him.

I glared at him, then turned around and started walking away proudly. Next thing I know, I heard a splash. I whipped around, and sure enough, he had tossed his phone into the lake. My jaw dropped for the second time in less than 2 minutes. WHAT. THE. HELL. I could've sold that phone and gotten more than 3 whole month's worth of food supplies!

"What'd you do that for?! What has the phone ever done?!" I shouted at him. He rolled his eyes at me. "Once it's contaminated, it's garbage. I will never take it back. I was nice enough to donate my leftover to you as charity, but since you didn't accept the honor, this was the only fate left for it. If you feel so bad for it, then why don't you join it? You all belong in the same place, with the same fate anyway," he said emotionlessly, and walked away.

I felt a little dizzy. I think I might explode soon. My knees gave out and I fell on the ground. Never have I met anyone as condescending and pompous as him. Not even the rich kids that have been teasing me were even half as atrocious. His outward appearance may very well earn him the title of the handsomest man alive, but on the inside, he was the ugliest beast to ever walk the earth. I can't believe I even thought of trying to get close to him. I wanted to kick myself in the head. I clenched my fists. No, he will not humiliate me like this and walk away like nothing. I swear he will not be unscathed.

I got up and ran after him once again. "You stop right there!" I screeched. "Was I not clear-" he said, but before he can finish, there was a big splash as he fell into the lake. I had delivered a spinning kick right in his guts, sending him flying into the lake. I stood there with my hands on my hips and smirking victoriously.

"How you like it there? I think it's quite befitting of you, you arrogant brat," I said with a sneer and ran away laughing. This might've been the closest chance I have to reaching my goal, but I don't care. No matter how rich he is, there is no way I want to be anywhere near that brat. I will lose a few years of my life if I have to deal with him.