Chapter 3

Elias froze for a second, his expression darkening. "Fine. Do whatever you want."

Jasmine clenched her fingers, her eyes turning red. "Larissa, I never thought things would end up like this. I..."

"It has nothing to do with you." Elias slipped an arm around Jasmine's shoulders. "She's just jealous of you. This has nothing to do with you. Come on."

Jasmine followed Elias off the bus, but not before turning back to give me a mocking look.

[Okay, I actually feel a little sorry for the other girl now.]

[It's her own fault! She was trying to expose our girl!]

[Exactly! Our girl was only trying to set up a comeback. Why did she have to stick her nose into it? No wonder the male lead goes after her later. She ruins our girl's plans and humiliates her in front of everyone. You think the male lead is just going to let that slide?]

[Am I the only one who thinks the other girl has been miserable from the very beginning?

[Back in middle school, her stepfather almost sexually abused her. The male lead rescued her, so she thought he was her savior. Instead, he became the trap that eventually cost her her life. Instead, he became the trap that eventually cost her her life.]

[Are you kidding me? The male lead saved some pathetic girl on a whim and entertained himself for a while. So what? Did she really expect him to take responsibility for her for the rest of his life? If she could not understand her place and got crushed because of it, she had it coming.]

The comments flew past my eyes.

I took my half of the exam admission slip and returned to my seat, but my hands would not stop shaking.

That was when I finally sobered up.

The comments were right.

I had already had a hard enough life. Why should I keep worrying about everyone else?

For the first time, all I felt was relief.

Thank goodness, I had seen the comments.

Thank goodness, I had received my acceptance from Cromwell University.

As for them? They were no longer my problem.

"Seriously, where are they?"

"Did anyone find one?"

"No. I checked under the seats, the overhead compartments, and the trash cans again. Nothing."

"Jasmine, give us another clue! We're almost out of time."

Jasmine stomped her foot. "They're right under your feet! Come on, keep looking! You found Larissa's in the trash, didn't you?"

Elias glanced at his watch. "What's everyone freaking out about? They'll give us a 15-minute grace period even if we're late. We just have to make it there before the cutoff. Take your time."

That was what he said, but nobody could sit still anymore. The bus fell quiet, with the only sound being the soft rustling of everyone searching for their admission slips.

Five minutes before the exam was scheduled to begin, Mr. Rogers finally arrived at the bus.

"The exam is about to start! What are all of you still doing here?" He was sweating and breathing hard as he stood by the bus door.

"Mr. Rogers, we're playing a game. We're looking for our exam admission slips." Jasmine blinked up at him with wide, innocent eyes.

"Are you all out of your mind?" Andrew's voice shot up. "Do you have any idea what time it is? Whoever hid them, hand them over right now."

Jasmine flinched and took a small step back.

Elias immediately moved in front of her. "Mr. Rogers, why are you yelling? We all agreed to play. You're scaring Jasmine."

"Exactly." Ryan looked annoyed. "We know what we're doing. You don't need to come in here and scare us."

"Come on. Stop wasting our time."

Mr. Rogers pointed at them, too angry to speak for a moment. Then, he turned to me. "Larissa, what happened? Why didn't you stop them? I couldn't even reach you on your phone."

I said nothing. I simply stared at the exam admission slip in my hand.

Mr. Rogers followed my gaze. When he saw the torn half of the paper, he froze. "This... Who did this?"

Only then did I slowly look up. "Mr. Rogers, please don't ask."

He crouched down and stared at the torn slip. Then he looked around at the entire class. Nobody answered.

"We'll deal with the slip after the exam. Right now, everyone goes into the exam room."

Nobody moved.

"Mr. Rogers, she chose to play the game herself," Ryan said.

"Exactly. Now she's acting like the victim."

"You always take her side."

Mr. Rogers took a deep breath. His voice came out hoarse. "Enough. Just take the exam first, okay?"

Nobody said a word.

Mr. Rogers took my arm and helped me off the bus. "Come on. We'll get you a replacement exam slip first."