Chapter 2

I watched as he walked out the door, and I could finally breathe with relief. I picked up my pen and scribbled fast on the exam papers with superhuman speed. I cleared my mind of all the incorrect answers, and all the right answers came flooding back.

All of the multiple-choice answers and blank spaces were filled in with the right answers, and I made sure every step of the calculation was detailed as clearly as possible. I did not even miss out the formula derivation process as I scribbled it down.

Every student around me was scratching their ears and biting the tips of their pens, but I used only 30 minutes to complete the exam. I even triple-checked all my answers. When I was done, I tidied up the draft papers used for the calculations according to sequence and piled them under my exam papers.

If someone tried to find fault with me and accuse me of cheating, the complete calculation process on those draft papers would prove my innocence.

Before the bell rang, I stood up with confidence to hand in my exam papers. When I walked out of the hall, I saw Jacob leaning against the railing of the corridor, bragging to his buddies about how easy the exam was, and he was confident of scoring more than 1,500 on his SATs to get into an Ivy League school.

When Jacob saw me walking out, his eyes lit up, and he put his hand up in a peace sign, which was directed at me. His lips moved, and I could clearly see him mouth the words, "I'll be taking that spot at Kale University."

[Ahhhh! My beloved male lead is so cool when he's being cocky. I love it!]

[The second male lead looks so dumb right now. He will never beat our Jacob!]

[Go, Jacob, Go! Kale University will be sending you the acceptance letter soon!]

I smiled. Jacob probably has no idea that the answers I fed him were all wrong.

When I walked out of the exam hall, I heard a trembling voice speaking pitifully, "Dad, Jonah's out."

I looked up to see Jacob standing next to my father while my mother kept patting him on the back. Some parents and students standing around them turned to look in our direction, curious about what was about to happen.

Jacob's eyes were brimming with tears when I came over, and he spoke louder than usual. "I know that you're often caught copying my answers by the teachers, Jonah, and you're upset about it, but you didn't need to knock over the cereal Mom put out for me this morning.

"I had to take the exam on an empty stomach for two hours, and my hands were trembling when I was completing the last question. I almost passed out right there in the exam hall. Even if you're jealous of my results, you shouldn't mess with my future this way."

His words created a minor commotion around us, and I saw a few students raising their phones to take pictures of me while mumbling, "So, that's him. The one who got a permanent record in his school files for copying Jacob Scott's answers. I knew it was true. That guy is just horrible."

[Gosh, how malicious is Jonah to knock over Jacob's breakfast?]

[Someone like that doesn't deserve to go to university. He should work in the factory as a blue-collar worker!]

[It hurts to see Jacob this way. His results are still great despite starving while taking his exams. How motivational!]

My father's face fell as he pointed at my nose to yell at me, "How did I ever have a lousy son like you? How can you hurt your brother just because you're a hopeless case?"

Even my mother chimed in, "Your father's right. If this affects Jacob's result, you can forget about going to university. You should leave school and find a job right away to pay for Jacob to retake his exams next year."

I watched three of them standing together like a complete family, while I seemed to be an unnecessary outsider. Jacob knocked over that bowl of cereal in the morning on purpose, but he accused me of doing it instead. I was in a hurry to get to the exam hall and did not think about recording any evidence.

Who would believe me now if I tried to explain myself?