Chapter 4

When we arrived at the principal's office, Mr. Marron had already printed out my final review guide and spread it on his desk.

Every single line had been circled with red pen.

Mr. Marron looked at me and said sternly, "Ms. Zinch, someone reported you for knowing the questions for the final mock exam ahead of time.

"Be honest with me now. Just who exactly is that tutor you found online? Did he help you steal the exam papers or answer sheet?"

Curling my fingers into fists, I answered, "No. All those are standard question types that I painstakingly learned how to solve, one by one."

One of the physics teachers frowned.

"Even our entire team of physics teachers failed to predict it this accurately. Nicholas Lund, who has always ranked first in the entire school, still only scored 279 this time. Yet, somehow, a cheap online tutor was able to raise your score all the way to 282?"

Nicholas stood off to one side, having remained silent thus far.

Mr. Marron turned to him. "Mr. Lund, you've been learning alongside Ms. Zinch since you were young, right? So you should know how she used to fare academically. Do you think that her improvement this time is normal?"

I raised my head to glance at Nicholas. For a brief second, I even held out a glimmer of hope that he would speak up for me.

After all, he knew better than anyone how I hadn't been slacking off recently. Besides that, he should also know that I had always been ready to put in the effort when it came to my studies.

However, he was quiet for several seconds before he replied, "Her foundation isn't too bad, but there was no way she would've been able to fully solve the last two questions on the Physics paper."

My heart slowly sank to my feet, even as he added, "I'm not saying that she cheated. However, I do feel like there might be something off about her tutor."

Those words snuffed out the last bit of hope in me.

I had thought that he would choose to believe in me just this once, but he hadn't. He would rather believe something was wrong with a 20-dollar tutor than believe I could rank first on my own merits.

I asked softly, "So, in your eyes, there are only two ways I can possibly rank first in the entire school. Either it's because you did a great job teaching me, or I cheated."

Upon hearing that, Nicholas stiffened.

Hailey, who had come along with us and was now standing by the door, spoke up. "Marissa, don't think of it that way. Everyone is just worried about you. What if that tutor really is some shady character? You would be risking your college entrance exam and your future here!"

Half an hour later, my parents arrived at the school.

The first thing Mom said upon entering the principal's office was, "Marissa, how could you just find some random person on the internet to be your tutor? The college entrance exam is such an important event in your life! What if he has some ulterior motive to trick you?"

Dad's expression was stony as he slammed a hand down on the table, his eyes blazing with fury while he glared at me.

"What nonsense is this! Marissa Zinch, how dare you get involved with someone from the internet you don't even know! Give me your phone, now! I'm deleting his contact immediately!"

A loud buzzing sounded in my mind.

All those nights I stayed up late studying, leaving me with bloodshot eyes, rough calluses on my right hand, and empty boxes of pencils—apparently, all that was inconsequential compared to Nicholas' casual comment that I definitely couldn't score that high.

Mom's eyes were red as she stopped Dad before turning to grab my hand.

"Marissa, now isn't the time to throw a tantrum." Her voice was soft, yet every word seemed to crush me like a boulder. "Be good and delete that person's contact. What sort of decent teacher could someone who only asked for 20 dollars be?"

I stared at them all, finding this entire situation utterly ridiculous.

Not once had they ever stayed up with me when I burned the midnight oil, struggling to solve a question. Not once had they listened to me when I tried to suppress my sobs while asking them if I truly was stupid.

And not once had they ever told me to take it easy when I was barely holding on under the pressure.

Yet now, they actually thought they could make this decision for me.

Nicholas sighed, as if he'd just made a very important decision in his life. "Marissa, just delete him. From now on, I'll help you with your studies."

I laughed. "Oh, so now you're willing to teach me?"

His expression changed minutely, but I went on softly, "Weren't you the one who found me this tutor?"

Nicholas opened his mouth, but he couldn't seem to find the words.

Looking down at my phone, I tapped into my chat window with Shane.

"You guys want proof, right? Then I'll show it to you."

That caused Dad's expression to darken further. "You're still trying to defend that scammer?"

In the next second, a resounding smack rang out as he slapped me right across the cheek.

A trace of astonishment flashed in Nicholas' eyes. Still, he didn't step forward to defend me.

Half my face had gone numb from the blow. My fingers tightened around my phone until they turned white.

At that moment, my phone screen lit up with a message from Shane.

"I've arrived at your school's gates."