Framed for an Exam I Never Took

"Jade, what are you spacing out for? Hurry up and hand over your ID so we can check in." My best friend Lily Carter's voice snapped me back to reality. I shuddered.

I was standing in the lobby of a hotel. Behind the front desk, a clock on the wall showed the date 6th of June.

Lily nudged me. "Hello? Your ID!"

The slight jolt finally made me realize that I had been reborn.

In my last life, the exam center was far from home. Afraid of traffic delays on the college entrance exam day, Lily and I had booked a hotel less than a hundred yards from the venue the night before.

After my last paper, the moment I walked out of the exam hall, I was arrested for cheating. And the person who had supplied the answers had been hiding in the very hotel room I'd stayed in.

"Jade, why are you being so slow today? The receptionist is waiting!" Lily complained, reaching straight into my bag to grab my ID.

I grabbed her wrist. "I'm not staying!"

Lily frowned. "Jade, what's wrong with you? Do you know how hard it was to get this room? No. You have to stay!"

I stared at Lily, somewhat puzzled. She had always been gentle and soft-spoken when she talked to others. Why was she speaking so forcefully that day?

I forced a smile. "Lily, you know I'm picky about where I sleep. If I stay at a hotel, I might be awake all night. That'll mess up my exam tomorrow. I thought about it, and I'd rather go home. I'll just wake up earlier tomorrow. I'm really sorry."

Lily covered her mouth and laughed. "I was just kidding. You took that seriously? But think it through. Hotel rooms are really hard to book before the exam. If you cancel now and change your mind later, there might not be a room left."

I nodded, firm in my decision to head back.

"Take a cab back yourself then. I'll head to my room to study first."

I watched her disappear into the elevator, then waved for a cab. I got in the car and said, "Driver, take me to the nearby cybercafe."

In my past life, everything had happened too fast, like fireworks bursting and vanishing instantly.

How had cheating devices ended up on me? Where had the evidence provided by the culprit come from? Who had wanted to ruin me? And why? The questions swirled in my head like fog.

Maybe I'd never know the truth. But at the very least, I could avoid the disaster.

That meant I couldn't take the college entrance exam, so I couldn't go home. I needed to take shelter somewhere open 24 hours a day and with surveillance cameras. A cybercafe was perfect.

Soon, the driver dropped me off at the cybercafe. I paid for two full days of internet access and picked a seat. Then, I binge-watched reality shows and dramas nonstop.

When I got hungry, I ate instant noodles. When I was sleepy, I dozed off for a bit. But every time I fell asleep, memories from my past life rushed back, jolting me awake again.

This went on, over and over, until 5:00 pm on the third day.

I had just closed my eyes when a browser notification popped up. "College Entrance Exam Alert: A student in Southport City has been caught cheating during today's college entrance exam. The suspect has fled the exam center. Police are actively searching."

I had a bad feeling.

Just as I was about to click on the news article, the computer screen went black.

The entire cybercafe erupted in complaints. "Hey! What's going on? My screen went black!"