Chapter 4

"Zane, cut the act. You don't have the guts to go for the money, so you can't stand watching the rest of us get it. That's what this is about, right?

"You're nothing but a coward. You'll spend your whole life working for someone else, cramming onto the subway, living in some rental dump!

"We've got a signed agreement, screen recordings and evidence. Sage can't weasel out of it. As for you? You've got nothing. All you've got is your pathetic little pride."

The more Tristan talked, the more worked up he got. His fists clenched tighter with every word, and passersby were starting to stare.

"You think showing up to the exam means you've won? So what if you get in? After you graduate, you'll still end up working for somebody who never went to college. Who do you think you are?"

Megan chimed in from beside him. "Exactly! Tristan's right! You just can't stand to see anyone doing well! You're nothing but a jealous freak!"

The crowd began to stir. Some of them pushed forward, others held up their phones to record, and someone shouted, "Stop wasting time on him. Just drag him out of here."

I glanced at my watch. It was 8:40 am, 20 minutes until they opened the doors.

"Move."

I stared them down, gritted my teeth, and shoved Tristan hard enough to send him crashing to the ground. He was a scrawny pretty boy, and he let out a panicked yelp the moment he hit the pavement. Megan and the classmates around him immediately scattered to help him up.

I seized the opening and sprinted toward the exam hall with everything I had.

"Zane! Get back here!" Megan came charging after me, reaching out to grab me.

Her fingers had not even touched my shoulder when two uniformed officers stepped in from either side and caught her by the arms.

"What do you think you're doing?" one of them barked. "Causing a scene outside the exam hall? Do you want to spend a few nights in a cell?"

Megan struggled against them, her face flushed bright red. "He's my boyfriend! This is a personal matter. You've got no right to get involved!"

"Boyfriend?" The officer looked at her, unmoved. "Your boyfriend just said you're not his girlfriend."

Megan's mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out.

Tristan rushed over in a panic, his carefully styled hair falling apart. "Officer, we're classmates. We were just messing around. Seriously, that's all it was!"

The officer was not buying it. "Messing around with senior year's final exam? Do you have any idea where you are right now?

"Messing around? Over 30 of you, blocking the entrance, stopping someone from going in to take the test. You consider that messing around?"

Tristan stood there, a young man fully grown, with red-rimmed eyes and his voice breaking. "We really didn't mean any harm. We just... we just wanted to talk him out of it..."

"Talk me out of what?"

I turned back and looked at him with a smile. "Talk me into leaving with you? Talk me into maxing out my parents' cards too? Talk me into skipping the exam?

"Relax, Tristan. I'm not that stupid."

I handed over my exam pass and walked through the crowd toward the exam hall entrance with the officers escorting me on either side.

Just then, Megan's voice erupted behind me in a raw, desperate scream.

"Zane! I'm calling off the engagement! You're going to regret this!"

I stopped and turned my head slightly.

"Megan," I said. My voice was not loud, but it carried well enough for her to hear. "The only thing I regret is ever knowing any of you."

I walked inside without looking back.

In the last moment before phones had to be turned in, my screen lit up with a message from Tristan in the group chat.

"Oh well. The guy wasn't meant for money. The 50 million dollars is all ours now. Some people are just destined to be broke their whole lives."

I smiled and powered off my phone.

At 9:00 am on the dot, the bell rang, and I got to work.

They had not managed to keep me from the first exam, and they did not bother me for any of the ones after. My performance was rock solid, and I estimated my final score at near-perfect.

Once everything was over and done with, I finally picked up my phone and scrolled back through the class group chat.

Their spending had only gotten more reckless.

"Check out my new Audi A6!"

"I picked up a used BMW X5. The 50 million dollars is landing in three days anyway, so who cares!" The photo attached was a shot of the BMW's steering wheel.

"Thank you, Sage. We made it. Thank you, Tristan, for showing us the way to the top."

I scrolled through the past three days in a matter of seconds. All they had done was spend money.

The last few messages were from today.

"It's almost been 72 hours. Sage's payout should be coming through any minute, right?"

"Relax. Before midnight tonight, it'll be there. If it doesn't show up, I'll eat my shoe."

It had indeed been three days since they skipped the first exam.

"I'm just sitting here waiting for the cash. I had my family mortgage the house and take out an 800,000-dollar loan, and I spent every last cent. My parents ripped me a new one, but once the money hits, I'm making them get on their knees and apologize."

"The second that money comes through, I'm buying my parents a brand-new three-bedroom apartment and getting my little brother a Porsche Panamera!"

That night, all of them waited up until midnight on the dot.

"So, uh... my payout hasn't come through yet. Has anyone gotten theirs?" Tyler was the first to message the group, and his voice was shaking.

The chat went silent for three seconds.

Then it exploded.