Chapter 1

My name was all over the trending topics chart when the college entrance exam results were released.

Several tags that were related to me appeared on the chart such as, "#TopScholarReportedForCheating", "#SarahLordeScored145PointsForEnglorian", and "#FairOrCheat".

There was a video pinned to the top of the trending tags.

A student from Franille High School, Heather Cliffton, had uploaded the video. She was the second-highest scoring scholar in the entire province. She was wearing her uniform in the video. Her eyes were swollen and bloodshot, and her voice trembled when she spoke.

"My name is Heather Cliffton. I got the second-highest score for the college entrance exams in the province this year. I didn't want to talk about this at first, but I just couldn't hold myself back anymore.

"To my knowledge, the current provincial top scholar, Sarah Lorde, has never scored more than 145 points on her Englorian tests. She has only scored between 135 and 145 points during her entire time in high school.

"However, her college entrance exam score is two points higher than mine. I don't believe her. A student who only scores an average of 135 points on her Englorian tests couldn't possibly qualify for a top university like Gladewell University.

"I conducted my own investigation and discovered that she scored 390 points for her Englorian test. Would you believe her if she told you that her score suddenly jumped from 145 points to 390 points?

"I'm not jealous of her. I simply think that the students who stay up till 2:00 am to study don't deserve to lose to a cheater. Thus, here I am, giving up the safety of anonymity to report Sarah Lorde for cheating on the Englorian section of the college entrance exams."

Heather had attached several photos as evidence in the comments section of the video.

The photos included my Englorian test scores from high school, which ranged between 135 and 145 points.

There was also an audio recording.

When I tapped play, I heard my seatmate, Louis Henderson's voice.

"I'm Sarah Lorde's seatmate. I can testify that Sarah always peeked at my answers during our Englorian tests. My Englorian isn't very good, but she's willing to copy my answers, which proves that she doesn't know a thing about the subject."

Louis sounded incredibly timid in the recording. In fact, he sounded rather embarrassed, as though he had forced himself to record the statement anyway.

Chaos erupted in the comments section.

"Oh, my God. Her Englorian test score shot up from 145 to 390 points? That's impossible. She couldn't possibly get such a high score even if the answers were printed on her test papers."

"I can't believe that someone like her is the provincial top scholar. Why did I spend all that time practicing mock questions till 1:00 am then?"

"Why haven't the people in charge of the college entrance exams done anything to correct this injustice? Did they feed their conscience to the wolves?"

"Which school is Sarah from? We should teach her a lesson!"

My name, school, and address were dug up and leaked in less than two hours.

Dad's phone was flooded with messages.

"Your entire family deserves to die horrible deaths because your daughter cheated."

"Get out of our town!"

"My suggestion is for your entire family to get off yourselves."

Mom's blood pressure shot up to 180 when she saw the third message, and she toppled backward.

My fingertips felt icy when I held her.

Dad swallowed two antihypertensive pills, but his hands continued to shake. He switched his phone off, but the harassers kept calling our landline instead.

I didn't cry.

I saw a new announcement when I navigated to the Department of Education's website.

"The Department of Education has officially opened a case to investigate the issue of Ms. Sarah Lorde's contested college entrance exam results. Her eligibility to apply to Gladewell University has also been temporarily revoked. A follow-up announcement will be made after investigations have concluded."

Revoked.

I felt like I had been doused with a bucket of freezing water when I read that word. I took a deep breath, preparing to record my own video to explain the situation.

Just then, Heather uploaded a new post on her social media account.

"Some people are saying that Sarah might have gotten the answers beforehand instead of cheating during the exam. Here's my suggestion—why don't we get her to take an Englorian test on the spot? Would she dare accept the challenge? I'll grovel at her feet for forgiveness if she passes."

She had also attached a photo of a college entrance exam–level Englorian test to her message.

The other commenters enthusiastically agreed with Heather's idea.

"That's a great idea! We should get her to take the test on the spot! Let's see if she can actually walk the walk."

"Is Sarah brave enough to accept Heather's challenge? I bet she won't do it."

"You're basically asking her to sign her own death sentence by having her take an Englorian test when her average score is only around 135 points."

I stared at Heather's post for a long time before I burst into laughter.

I wasn't laughing out of bitterness. On the contrary, I just thought that the entire situation was utterly ridiculous.

A person who only scored 135 points on their regular Englorian tests would certainly fail the college entrance exams.

However, the truth was that I didn't take any Englorian tests for my college entrance exams.