Chapter 1

I had just gotten to 'C, D, E, F, G' of the alphabet song when I saw the expression on Jacob Scott's face freeze. He had been used to copying my answers without qualms, but this time, his pen paused in mid-air. He kept glancing in my direction, all red-faced. I could not help but burst out with a muffled laugh.

Jacob panicked, and he stomped hard under the table, causing a loud bang in the silent exam hall.

"That student in the front row, please pay attention to examination hall etiquette," the invigilator said in a low voice while sweeping a glance at him.

Jacob turned red in the face and glared at me, looking like he wanted me dead.

Since the live chat overlay said I was an obstacle in his way, I would go ahead and create a path for him that led to nowhere. I hummed as I stared at my exam papers and started my plan.

The answer to the second question was B, but I purposely thought, "This was the question I got wrong in the mock exam. C must be the correct answer. I can't be careless about it this time."

When I completed the calculations for the fifth question, the answer was D, but I made a point to think about it dramatically, "My calculation must be wrong. A seems like the logical answer. Alright, I'll go with A."

This continued for all the subsequent questions, where I skewed the wrong answers into the correct ones by repeating the incorrect formula and calculations in my head over and over, worried that he did not get any of it.

When I looked at Jacob's back from the corner of my eye, I caught him looking up once in a while to glance at me before lowering his head to copy the answers in my mind quickly, without even using any of the draft papers.

When the invigilator walked past him and glanced at how quickly he was answering, an approving look appeared on his face, and when he walked past my table to see my almost empty papers, he sighed softly and walked away while shaking his head.

I knew why he was feeling disappointed. I had always come in first when I was a sophomore and during the first semester of my junior year. The teachers were always sure that I would end up in an Ivy League university, but since Jacob was transferred to my class, my results dropped drastically, and I was even accused of cheating on the exams.

Everyone thought I was going through a rebellious stage and picked up a bad attitude. During the last parent-teacher meeting, my father brought a bouquet of sunflowers specially for Jacob, but did not even glance at me.

I did not look up as I continued to feed Jacob the wrong answers steadily.

It was only one hour into the exam when I heard the sound of a pen cap being closed. Jacob swung his wrist around and was the first to stand up as every student in the exam hall looked at him in surprise. He picked up his exam papers and handed them in to the invigilator sitting at the front.

Jacob made it a point to pass by my desk before handing in his papers, and he looked down to glance at my empty sheet, smiling gleefully.

When the invigilator took his exam papers from him, he flipped through them and praised Jacob with a smile, "You completed the papers quite fast. It just proves that you're mentally prepared for such situations. I'm sure your results will be great."

Jacob thanked with a wide smile and left the exam hall with a light step.