Top Student's Nemesis: The Happy Dunce

I had just loaded the competition website.

Before I could turn my phone around to show them, Jamie Murphy's eyes darted to the phone in my hand. "Who are you calling? Your dad?" He lunged at me and slapped it out of my grip.

My phone went flying and hit the corner of the wall. The screen instantly went black.

My hand was still stinging. For a second, I couldn't get a single word out. I just stood there and stared at the cracked screen. Then something in me snapped loose. "What's your problem?"

Jamie sneered. "What? Got caught, and now you want to call someone for help? This is a school. Nobody's bailing you out."

I found it ridiculous.

"I was checking the scores. Didn't you say I sabotaged Hannah's headphones just to beat her to first place? I was just trying to show you the rankings and—"

"Enough!" Our teacher, Ms. Lucy Gilbert, cut me off sharply.

She pulled Hannah Cole behind her.

"Hannah has been top of the class for years, and she missed out on becoming the national champion by just three points. You were the only one who touched her headphones before the competition. You still expect us to buy your excuses?"

Hannah's eyes were red. "Ms. Gilbert, it's okay. Maybe Alice just wanted to prove herself."

What she said only made everyone around us take her side.

"Who does she think she is, trying to take first place from Hannah?"

"Exactly. Doesn't she know how poorly she's doing?"

Of course I knew.

Every time I transferred to a new school, I ended up at the bottom of the class. If everyone found out about my rankings, I'd become a laughingstock. I was terrible at school, but I kept trying anyway.

Before I could defend myself, Jamie kicked my desk hard. My books fell to the floor.

"Apologize!" he shouted.

I bent down to pick up my phone, trying to keep my temper.

"First of all, her headphones fell to the floor before the competition, and I only picked them up for her. Second, you have no proof, so I'm not admitting to something I didn't do. Third, who are you to order me to apologize?"

Jamie's expression fell.

Ms. Gilbert slammed her hand down on the desk. "Alice, go stand in the hallway! Don't come back until you're ready to admit you were wrong."

I shoved my books into my backpack. "Then I'm not coming back. I won't apologize for something I didn't do."

I walked straight out of the classroom. In the hallway, I looked down at my broken phone.

"Why should I have to stand there when someone else destroyed my phone?"

I swiped my student ID and left the school.

The security guard stared at me. "Hey, aren't you supposed to be in class?"

"Yeah."

"Then where are you going?"

"I'm skipping class," I said matter-of-factly.

The guard was speechless.

30 minutes later, the guy at the repair shop finally got my phone working again.

Dozens of messages from my family popped up at once.

Dad: "Sweetheart, are the Estrian competition results out yet?"

Adam: "Don't stress. Whatever you scored is fine."

Blake: "Even one point higher than last time is progress."

Caleb: "Even if you didn't improve, you'll still get a reward."

I stared at the screen, and the anger in me went quiet. I couldn't resist checking the competition rankings again.

When I saw the last name on the list, I stared at it for a few seconds before sending a message to the family group chat. "I just checked. I'm dead last again."