Chapter 3

Tyson was stunned when he saw that I was pressing the glass shard against my neck, and a few red drops of blood had appeared on my skin.

The other classmates also stared at me in shock for a while. However, they soon began to laugh at me mockingly.

"You're such a drama queen."

"We're just asking you to save Belle with me. Must you really do this to yourself?"

"What else is there in that brain of yours besides the entrance exams, huh? So, other people's lives don't even matter to you at all? Where's your conscience?"

"It's only going to take another hour to reach the top of the mountain. We'll just save Belle and then go back down to sit for the entrance exams. There's more than enough time in the world for that."

They were all just too naive for their own good. If a rainstorm blew up, the roads were going to be dangerously slippery, and it would take more than an hour to reach the top. Also, it would be even more dangerous to descend the mountains in a storm.

And to top it all off, the roads into the city where our school was located were always full of traffic in the morning. There was no way we would be able to make it back in time for the exams.

I looked at Tyson and asked, "Are you letting me go back or not?"

Tyson came back to his senses and looked at me in disgust.

"I never thought you were this kind of person, Alicia Rosewood. Don't even call yourself my classmate anymore. You disgust me."

He was so emotionally-driven that he even spat at me in disgust.

I tried but didn't manage to duck in time. I frowned as I wiped it from my clothes.

The other classmates began throwing stones and rocks at me.

"You're such an evil, disgusting human! So what if you get into Rayward University? You're a disgrace to the human race!"

The stones and rocks cut me on the face, and I bled a little. However, I wasn't angry. I just pulled my lips in a thin line and chuckled coldly internally.

Just wait until I have entered Rayward University! We'd see who would have the last laugh then.

"I don't care if you don't want to sit for the entrance exams, but I do, and I must!"

Tyson marched up to me and shoved me hard backward in anger.

"Then, get away of here!"

He shoved me quite hard, and I immediately lost my balance and stumbled backward until I rolled off the mountain path.

I screamed in fright as my body continued rolling down the hill. Just as I thought I was about to fall off a cliff to my inherent death, I was suddenly saved when I felt my waist getting caught against a tree.

I frantically grabbed at the tree branches as my lower body dangled mid-air off the cliff.

Tyson had smashed my phone up, and I couldn't call anyone. I certainly had no way of contacting Mom or Dad to come and save me.

I looked down at my feet and saw an endless black space beneath my feet. I was so frightened that I began to shake.

Suddenly, a thunderstorm blew up.

I was drenched from head to toe. After struggling for the better half of the night, I was already exhausted to my bones, and my arms wouldn't stop shaking as I clutched at the tree branches harder. I didn't know how much longer I could last like this.

Was I going to end up dying here?

No way! I couldn't die just yet!

I gritted my teeth and forced myself to hold on.

Time ticked by slowly, and I felt myself falling into despair again. Maybe this was where I met my demise.

Suddenly, I heard someone shouting my name from above my head.

"Ally! Ally, where are you?"

It was Mom and Dad!

I was very pleasantly surprised and immediately yelled back, "Mom! Dad! I'm here!"

"That's Ally! Quick, save her! Bring her back up!"

I looked up and saw Mom and Dad above me through the sheeting rain. Dad grabbed a long rope from his backpack and threw it down at me.

I grabbed the other end of the rope as Mom and Dad used up all their strength to pull me up to safety.

Although I was covered in cuts, bruises, and scrapes, I didn't dare to rest for another second. Instead, I followed Mom and Dad and raced down the mountain as quickly as I could.

After getting into the car, I accepted the towel and school bag Mom handed to me and started telling them everything that had happened as I dried myself.

Realization dawned on Mom just then.

"No wonder! Tyson's parents, Dylan and Maggie, nearly went crazy trying to find him! Your other classmates' parents were also in a frenzy trying to locate them. They called us, wanting to ask you if you'd seen them anywhere."

In the meantime, Mom's phone began to buzz. It was a call from our teacher, Mr. Fred Nielson.

I answered the call. "Mr. Nielsen? I'm on my way to school now."

Mr. Nielsen sounded relieved with a flurry of "Okay". Then, he asked, "By the way, have you seen Tyson or the other boys?"

"Tyson brought a few classmates into the mountains to hunt for Isabelle. I think they're still there and haven't come down yet."

Mr. Nielson sounded like he was about to pass out. "The entrance exams are starting soon! How could they still think about going up the mountain in the middle of the night? This is ridiculous!"

He then quickly informed the rest of the missing classmates' parents to go and look for their children in the mountains.

I didn't bother saying anything else.

After all, Tyson and the rest of them wouldn't make it in time for the entrance exams anymore.

There would be plenty of time for them to regret their decisions later on.

Dad drove like a madman. He sped all the way into the city. Even I felt my heart leaping into my throat when I saw how bad the traffic was that morning. I was so scared of being late for the exams and getting turned away at the gate.

Luckily, I arrived just in the nick of time, with barely two minutes to spare.

It wasn't until I was finally sitting in my designated examination seat that I finally heaved a huge sigh of relief.

The morning paper went by smoothly and uneventfully.

After lunch, I was just about to try and sneak in another revision session before my next paper when I heard loud, angry voices at the school gate.

I walked over and saw plenty of people crowding around the entrance. There were many onlookers too.

Tyson and the other classmates were all covered in mud, standing in the center of the hullabaloo. They looked a sorry sight. They had all probably just managed to descend the mountain a short while ago.

They were all shouting angrily at the security guard at the gates.

"You're just a guard! What right do you have to stop us from going in? Don't you know that we're this school's top-performing students?

"We didn't mean to be late on purpose! We just went to rescue someone. Hurry up and let us in! We need to make up for a paper this morning!"