to
me with a look of
Utter disgust.”
myself, after
all.”
Liam, who had been looking at Tina with relief, turned
It wasn’t long before the exam began, leaving him with no
competition, Tina stirred up trouble again.
confront me. Yet, barely halfway through the
Tina, who had been looking so smug, suddenly raised her hand. Then, under the accused me of cheating.
1
Th
hful gaze of everyone present, she
The
Liam reached under my desk and found the note before the chief proctor, Mr. Smith, even showed up. He clamped onto my still–injured arm and violently yanked me, snarking, “You’re cheating again! Get out
of here this instant!”
I couldn’t help but feel my heart plunge into despair as I heard the piercing of dragging desks and chairs, coupled with
Tina’s laughter and the murmurs of those around me.
1
Yet, just as I teetered on the brink of despair, Zachary interjected, “I was sitting directly behind Kiara the entire time, and I didn’t notice her open anything at all, Mr. Johnson. It’s also worth noting that we underwent a search prior to entering the venue.”
Zachary’s defense silenced the murmurs around us. Tina, scowling, ripped the scrap paper to shreds. In the end, all she could do was say, “I mean, Kiara might have hidden the cheat sheet earlier. You probably wouldn’t even be aware of it, Zachary,”
Zachary ignored Tina completely. He merely adjusted his glasses and said, “If I’m not mistaken, Kiara hasn’t been at her former school for quite some time now, having transferred to our school later.
“How could she have somehow predicted her exact seat half a month in advance and stash a cheat sheet under her desk? And frankly, I doubt two cheat sheets would make much of a difference in a competitive exam.”
It seemed that Liam had also realized what Zachary was saying, yet his hatred for me drove him to continue pulling me toward the door.
Just then, Mr. Smith showed up. Having listened to Zachary’s account, he issued us new exam sheets, encouraging us to maintain our focus on the assessment. He then accompanied Liam to review the surveillance footage.
I managed to complete the entire exam without a hitch.
1/2
Chapter 9
+25 BONUS
I had just finished answering the last question while Tina was still sitting up front, biting her nails, her expression frantic.
I realized that her anxiety stemmed from the fear of being exposed by the surveillance footage, but everything was already past the point of no return.
**
