Chapter 2

I pushed my chair back.

With the entire class watching, I walked toward the front of the room, one slow step at a time.

"You didn't write your self-criticism, did you?" Ms. Bennett gave me a cold smile. "Fine. Then explain yourself to everyone. Tell the class exactly how you cheated on the exam."

My eyes flicked toward the metal pointer in her hand before meeting her gaze again.

"I didn't cheat." I stood firm.

"Still denying it?"

Ms. Bennett suddenly raised the pointer and slammed it against the desk. A splinter of wood flew from the edge.

Someone in the classroom sucked in a sharp breath.

"You think refusing to admit it is going to make this go away?

"I've seen students like you plenty of times, Adrian! You slack off all semester, then try to take shortcuts when it matters! Did you really think you could suddenly jump into the top ten without anyone noticing?"

She stepped closer, her voice growing louder with every word. "Do you think I'm blind? Do you think the entire class is blind?"

She jabbed a finger against my shoulder once, then twice. Each shove was hard enough to make me stumble backward.

"Say something! Cat got your tongue?" she taunted.

I bit down on my lip, digging my fingernails into my palm.

"I didn't cheat," I insisted.

"Didn't cheat?"

She sneered and turned toward the rest of the class. "Everyone, listen to this."

She gestured toward me. "He says he didn't cheat!"

Ms. Bennett walked over to Ethan and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"Ethan, tell them. Did you see Adrian turn around and look at you during the exam?"

Ethan slowly stood. He lowered his head, hesitating as though he was carefully choosing his words.

"Go ahead," Ms. Bennett urged.

After a moment, Ethan raised his head and glanced at me. "Ms. Bennett, I was completely focused on my own exam."

He paused, then added, "But… I do remember feeling like someone was watching me the entire time."

"Do you hear that?" Ms. Bennett snapped. "You heard him yourself!"

She spun around and pointed straight at me. "Ethan said he felt someone watching him during the entire exam, and you're still going to deny it?"

My eyes burned with tears, but I forced them back.

"I didn't look at him. I never even looked up."

"Never looked up?" Ms. Bennett scoffed. "Then explain this."

She snatched the score sheet off the podium and slapped it down in front of me.

"23rd. That's where you ranked last time." Her finger jabbed at the page. "And this time? Ninth."

She looked up at me, her expression hardening.

"You jumped 14 places!" Her voice echoed through the classroom.

"So tell me, Adrian. How exactly did you pull that off?"

She gave a mocking laugh. "Did the answers magically appear in your head? Or did some divine intervention whisper them to you while you slept?"

Laughter broke out across the classroom.

"I'm giving you one last chance." Ms. Bennett folded her arms and looked down at me.

"Are you going to admit you cheated or not?"

I lifted my head and met her eyes. "I didn't cheat."

"Fine." Her expression hardened.

She spun around, grabbed the grade book, and drew a thick red line straight through my score.

"You cheated, and I'm failing you. That's final."

She tossed the pen onto the desk.

"And if you don't like it, you can leave. Drop out. Transfer somewhere else. I don't care."

Under the weight of all those eyes and accusations, something inside me finally snapped, but I didn't back down.

I looked her straight in the eye and said, "Fine. I'll drop out."

The classroom went completely silent.

"With a teacher like you, I don't want to stay here anyway."

The room erupted in murmurs.

No one had expected the usually quiet, withdrawn person I was to talk back to a teacher like that—let alone for me to openly say he was willing to leave the school.

Even Ethan, who had been sitting back and watching the whole spectacle unfold, straightened in his chair.

Ms. Bennett, meanwhile, was shaking with fury. She stormed toward me and pointed a finger inches from my face.

"Fine! Fine, Adrian!" Her voice trembled with rage. "Just wait."

She lowered her hand and glared at me.

"I'll give you exactly what you want!"

Then she spun around, yanked open the classroom door, and slammed it behind her as she stormed out.

Once she was gone, I returned to my seat.

Without a word, my deskmate quietly shifted his books aside, creating a clear dividing line between us.

Senior year was already suffocatingly dull. So when gossip like this came along, it didn't take long for the story to spread throughout the entire school.

During math class, whenever the teacher called on students, his eyes would sweep across the room, deliberately passing over me as if I weren't there.

When I got up to refill my water bottle, students along the aisle quickly pulled their chairs out of the way, leaving me an absurdly wide path.

No one spoke to me. No one even dared to meet my eyes.

I didn't care.

I simply returned to my desk and began packing my things. I carefully put my books and pens into their proper compartments in my backpack, one at a time.

Then the dismissal bell rang.

I slid the last book into my bag, zipped it shut, and swung it over my shoulder without rushing.

When I finally walked through the school gates, I spotted a familiar person waiting outside.