Chapter 3

"Last semester, during midterms, the proctor was already at the door when she realized she forgot to pick up the test packets. I was the one who sprinted to the administrative office to grab them and hand them out myself."

With every word I said, the atmosphere on the bus grew heavier.

"Every time you praised this class for being so great, I was the one holding everything together behind the scenes. Every time you thought Ms. Ashby was being so 'thoughtful,' I was the one cleaning up her messes."

I stared at Ms. Ashby. The tears were still on her face, but her eyes had started darting around in panic.

"She started resenting me because of all of it. If finals weren't two months away, she would've stripped me of my class rep title a long time ago."

The bus fell completely silent. Caelum said nothing for a few seconds, then suddenly let out a laugh. "Are you done?"

He walked over, took my admission ticket, and looked up at me. "Dragging up all this old stuff is honestly pathetic. You're the class rep. Helping the teacher is literally your job.

"And what about all the other ways she goes above and beyond? How come you never mention any of that?"

He pulled his own admission ticket out of his pocket and tore off a small corner without a moment's hesitation.

"So what if it's torn? It's not a big deal." He held it up. "There. Now we're even."

The bus was quiet for about three seconds. Then, one by one, other students started moving.

"Yeah, seriously, it's not that deep."

"It's just a little tear. It's not like it won't work."

A male student sitting in front of me followed Caelum's lead and tore the corner off his own ticket. Then a second person did it, and a third.

The sound of ripping paper echoed through the bus one after another. I leaned back in my seat, stunned by how absurd it all was.

Pink paper and torn corners. They could all enjoy getting turned away at the exam hall doors for all I cared.

Right at that moment, Principal Elliot Jones boarded the bus for his routine inspection. He had barely stepped on before his eyes went wide.

"What on earth happened to your admission tickets?" He stormed up the aisle, his face livid. "Why are these admission tickets pink? And the edges are torn?"

He turned on Ms. Ashby. "Pauline!"

Ms. Ashby flinched and tucked her chin, but quickly straightened back up. "Principal Jones, don't be so harsh. I just wanted to help the students feel a little more relaxed."

"Relaxed?" Principal Jones was furious. "There are strict regulations for admission tickets. White background, black text, no modifications of any kind.

"Their tickets are the wrong color, and the security watermarks have been torn off. How exactly are they supposed to get into the exam hall?"

Ms. Ashby burst into tears on the spot, crouching down in the aisle and sobbing until she could barely breathe. "You're being mean to me again. Everything I do is for the students. I spent so long picking out the prettiest shade of pink…"

Then she suddenly looked up, her tear-filled eyes locking onto me. "She's the one who told on me, isn't she? You sent her to spy on me!"

Every pair of eyes on the bus snapped toward me at once. I sat back in my seat, expression blank, and said nothing.

Caelum was the first to stand, stepping in front of Ms. Ashby to shield her. "Principal Jones, you're going too far. Do you have any idea how much effort our teacher puts in? So what if they're pink? So what if there's a torn corner? We don't mind!"

The other students followed his lead.

"Yeah, we don't mind!"

"Who says admission tickets can't be pink?"

"We're the top class in the entire district. Who's going to stop us from taking the exam?"