Chapter 1

The moment I stepped across the classroom threshold, the boisterous din inside came to an abrupt halt. I stood frozen in the doorway, scanning the room, feeling thoroughly ill at ease.

I checked my reflection in the window and turned around to ask, "Is there something off about me?"

My classmate, Pete Cooper, turned toward me and shook his head.

"Nope, you're all good."

However, the instant he turned away, I clearly heard him burst into laughter.

Just then, the bell rang, and I headed over to my seat. My closest buddy, Jake Turner, walked in through the back door, chatting and laughing with a few other guys.

My tense nerves finally relaxed, and I waved at him, calling out enthusiastically, "Jake! It's been a while! I'm back!"

The smile on his face stiffened, and his brows furrowed involuntarily. He offered a dry, forced twitch of his lips, simply stating, "Good."

With that, he walked straight past me and sat down in an empty seat behind mine.

I leaned over, puzzled. "Aren't we deskmates? Why are you sitting in the back?"

Without even looking back at me, he just waved his hand impatiently and said, "Ms. Stafford changed the seating while you were gone."

I wanted to press further, but I noticed everyone around me casting quick, sidelong glances in my direction. The atmosphere was so strange it made my skin crawl.

Pete, who sat in front of me, turned around and remarked in a snide, mocking tone, "So, Darrell, you've been gone for days. Where'd you go to enjoy yourself, hmm?"

I sighed, rubbed my knee, and explained helplessly, "Don't even ask. It was my mom's birthday, and I only meant to take one day off, but I ended up falling and hurting my leg while I was out grocery shopping with her. I had to stay home to recover for a few days."

A sudden peal of laughter erupted from the group of boys in the back of the room.

"You hurt your leg? Are you sure it's not actually somewhere else instead?"

Immediately, the entire class burst into a roar of laughter. I saw Jake turn his head around, his hand clamped tightly over his mouth as he struggled to hold back his laughter.

A chill crept up my spine.

I stared fixedly at him, my voice trembling slightly. "What are you all laughing at? What's going on?"

Just then, the homeroom teacher, Ms. Emily Stafford, pushed the door open and stormed in, fuming. She cast a glance across the classroom, and the room fell instantly silent.

"What's with all the laughing during class? The SATs are right around the corner. Why aren't you focusing on your studies instead?"

Her gaze swept over everyone, finally settling coldly on me. She then continued while staring pointedly at me, "You're all different from a certain shameless individual. You need to pass the exams with your own abilities!"

No sooner had she spoken than a few more stifled laughs drifted from the corner. I whipped my head around, catching the eyes of those who quickly looked away.

At that moment, it felt as though a massive boulder was weighing down on my heart, leaving me with a suffocating tightness in my chest.

I instinctively wanted to stand up and ask what Ms. Stafford meant by that, but as soon as my knees began to bend, I had to force myself to stop because of the pain.

Taking a deep breath, I suppressed the flare of anger within me and tried to reason with myself.

"Surely she couldn't be talking about me, right? I haven't done anything to anyone, have I?"

With those thoughts, I forcibly pushed down the urge to stand up and retort, remaining quiet instead.

Just then, she pulled a thick stack of exam papers from her folder and slammed them down onto the desk.

"Alright, sit up straight, all of you!" she said, her voice icy. "We can't afford to waste any more time with the SATs approaching. This mock exam will be used to test your actual capabilities!"

The papers were passed back from the front, row by row. They soon reached Pete, who sat in front of me. Just as he turned to hand them to me, Jake suddenly shot up from his seat.

He snatched the stack of papers from Pete's hands and tossed them behind him, not even sparing me a single glance.

"Jake, wait! I haven't gotten my paper yet!" I said, speaking up in a rush. But he acted as if he hadn't heard a thing, simply sitting back down in the seat behind me.

As the minutes ticked by, the exam papers were passed around to the rest of the class. Every other student in the classroom soon had their paper spread out on their desk, but only my desk remained completely empty.

Biting my lower lip, I gathered my courage and raised my hand. "Ms. Stafford, I haven't gotten my exam paper yet."

She glanced over with clear impatience and said, "Darrell Goodwin, you're sitting right in the middle of the room, surrounded by students on all sides. How could you possibly be the only one who didn't get one?"

I opened my mouth, wanting to explain. But without giving me a chance to explain myself, she waved a hand dismissively and said, "Don't waste everyone's time anymore. Go to my office and get a copy yourself!"