Chapter 4 Our Last Ten Minutes

We rushed out of the building and hurried to the intersection.

All we needed was a taxi, for the exam center was only five minutes away. If we left right now, we could still make it.

I stood at the curb, waving frantically, and almost immediately spotted an empty taxi coming toward us. "There! Get in!"

The taxi pulled over, and I yanked open the back door.

However, Leo didn't move. "I'm not getting in."

I froze and stared at him. "What?"

Leo rolled his shoulders with a grimace, acting like he was the one who'd been put through hell. "You carried me all the way here, bouncing around like an idiot. My whole body feels like it's been beaten up, and I'm freaking thirsty."

Then, he pointed across the street to a viral beverage shop on the corner. "I need an iced lemon tea. If I don't cool down, I might pass out from heatstroke in the taxi. And if that happens, who's gonna get your precious SAT slips to the exam center?"

My stomach dropped when I saw the line.

It stretched halfway down the block, with at least twenty people waiting.

By the time Leo got his drink, we wouldn't be able to enter the exam center.

One of the guys beside me finally snapped, "Leo, you've got to be kidding me! You're seriously going to stand in that line right now?"

Leo's face darkened instantly. "What's your problem?"

He slammed the taxi door shut. "Keep whining, and I'm done helping any of you."

With that, he turned and started toward the beverage shop.

Something inside me finally snapped.

"Leo!" I charged after him and grabbed his arm, my fingers digging into his skin. "We only have ten minutes left!"

My voice was strained and raw.

"Ten minutes before they close the doors! If you stand in that line now, none of us are making it inside!"

By then, I was practically screaming in his face.

Leo ripped his arm out of my grip.

Before I could react, his fist slammed straight into my face.

My vision went white. The punch snapped my head sideways and sent me stumbling back as warm blood trickled from the corner of my mouth.

"Would you quit rushing me?" Leo jabbed a finger in my face. "Kai, stop hiding behind the whole class and acting like some hero."

He continued, "You broke losers treat the SATs like it's your one chance to escape your pathetic lives. Meanwhile, I don't care about this stupid test. If I fail, my dad can drop a few hundred grand and send me to some private university in Averia."

He looked between the three of us with a smug smile. "You guys don't have that option. You get one shot, and if you screw it up, you stay exactly where you belong."

Then, he scoffed. "So what if we're a few minutes late? Are there any lives at risk? I'm thirsty. That's all there is to it. If you say one more word, I'll rip every admission slip in half and dump them down the drain."

The two guys behind me were shaking with fury. One of them stepped forward, ready to go after Leo, but I quickly held out an arm to stop him.

We couldn't touch him.

The admission slips were still hidden under his shirt, and after everything he'd already done, I knew he wasn't bluffing.

Push him too far, and he really would destroy them.

For everyone else's sake, I wiped the blood from the corner of my mouth and swallowed every bit of anger and humiliation burning inside me.

"Fine," I rasped. "Go get your drink."