14. Forgotten code

You know that feeling when you get up in the morning knowing the day is going to suck? That's what I felt when I woke up to Ty's Mom's high-pitched voice. 

 

That jerk had called Ty, yesterday night. I was then sitting in front of my laptop, thinking about what to do with the video game. Suddenly Ty barged into the room, yelling 'Caroline!' He had his phone held near his ear and I could easily guess who was on the line.  

 

Apparently, that bastard told Ty that I keyed his car and so I should bring him $400 tomorrow if I don't want suspension. I pretended shocked and acted like I was about to cry. So, Ty soon told him, I won't do such cheap things and it might be Aaron who keyed his car. 

 

I called Aaron to tell him the things. And he said the jerk had already called him while he was driving back home. As soon as he picked the call, Asher screamed into his ear something like, 'Aaron, what the hell did you do!?' He said he really got terrified that he almost drove the car into a telephone post. 

 

Anyway, then Aaron pretended like, 'Oh my Gosh..what's wrong with you? If you are talking about the maths test, I honestly didn't know anything. You didn't teach me anything first of all. You were in the toilet.'

 

Asher got really angry and told him he is going to report him to the principal. Aaron cut him off, saying he is only happy to take the blame of keying his car. Asher then furiously ended the call.

 

And he didn't go to tutor Aaron yesterday. He probably went to fix the scratch and after that he called Ty asking for $400, saying it was me who keyed the car. But I wonder whether it actually coasted that much to fix that thin scratch. 

 

Anyway, let me admit, I'm a bit scared that the devil would actually get me a suspension. But I pinky promised Ty, I'm not the one who scratched. That's true, right? I didn't scratch. It was Aaron. 

 

I felt nervous when I parked Ty's car in the students' parking lot and unbuckled my seat belt. Ty had gone with the pale-faced devil itself in the morning since they had practice. His jerk best friend actually came at our gates at 6 Am to pick him up. I woke up hearing his honking and saw through my window, Ty hopping into his car. 

 

I inhaled a puff of air and hopped out of the car, taking my bag. My first hour is English. So I can meet Aaron there. Maybe I'll feel a bit relaxed after talking to him. 

 

I reached the class and occupied a chair in the back with the aim of sitting along with Aaron. He hasn't arrived yet. 

 

Aaron didn't arrive even after the bell rang and Mr. Davis entered the class. After fifteen minutes, I was sure he won't come. I wondered if he is absent or just skipped the first hour. 

 

Aaron didn't show up in the next hour, chemistry too. Also, I didn't see him during the break. So I confirmed he is absent. His poor Rose milk! That got wasted. If I had his key, I'd have got it. But why he took leave? Is he afraid Asher would get him a suspension for keying his car? 

 

I felt like I also should have taken leave. Strangely I was a lot nervous during the first few hours. I was feeling something really bad was about to happen. I half expected someone to come and announce 'Caroline Turner is wanted by the principal' at any moment. But that didn't happen and finally, I was relieved when the bell rang Indicating lunch break. 

 

I went to the canteen and met Ty and our gang at the usual table. But all of them were gloomy. Especially Ty was a lot sad. He looked like he was about to cry. 

 

"What's wrong?" I asked him. He didn't reply and shook his head.

"What happened to him?" I asked the others. 

 

"We had an important Biology test last hour. An objective one," Mia commenced. "There were two question papers, code A and Code B. Ty first got code B but Mr. Keating later took that question paper from him and gave him Code A. But he had already written code B on top of the OMR Sheet and forgot to correct it." 

 

"Then why don't you go and tell Mr. Keating and correct it to code A?" I asked. 

 

"Mr. Keating had told us to do it carefully and he won't do anything if we later approach him. Emily did the same thing and when she went to him, Mr. Keating just scolded her real bad and told her he would check her answer sheet only according to the code she wrote on top," Rhett replied. 

 

"Oh..shit! What to do now? It's really important?" I asked. 

 

"5 Marks in our internals is based on this test. I'm gonna get 0," Ty replied whilst squirming uncomfortably on his seat. 

 

"Ty, you'll get 1 mark for sure. If you have luck you'll get more. There were 50 questions right? You will surely get 10 of them bubbled right," Ben said from the other side of the table. 

 

Ty sighed looking at him. "I'm sure all my answers are right. I would have gotten full marks if I just corrected the code. I had worked a lot for this." 

 

We had an almost silent, gloomy lunch. Ty didn't speak anything. He was totally dejected. But I didn't forget to remember one thing. Aaron is with Ty in Biology. He didn't even write the exam. So his five marks are already gone. Maybe he didn't study anything for the exam that he thought it was better not to attend than to fail. 

 

"It's just 5 marks, right? Leave it," I said patting on Ty's back when we walked out of the canteen after lunch. 

 

"5 marks wouldn’t be a big deal for you. But it's important to me," Ty said looking at me with dull eyes. Then he walked away. 

 

Evening, after the last hour, I was walking to the library for detention. I stopped as I reached in front of Mr. Keating's Biology classroom. I peeked inside through the window. 

 

Mr. Keating was sitting inside there, correcting the OMR sheets. I thought about going inside and talking to him about Ty's issue. But he looked really intimidating that I felt like I would just put Ty in more trouble if I go and talk to him. 

 

Suddenly Mr. Keating's phone rang inside his pocket. He fished it out and stood up from his chair, placing his pen over the papers. Then he walked towards the doors.

 

"Okay..wait there. I'll come to the office in a minute," I heard him say as I quickly hid behind a pillar. Then Mr. Keating rushed in the opposite way towards the office. 

 

I came out from behind the pillar and walked to the doors. Mr. Keating won't come back in less than five minutes. I can correct Ty's code within that time. Should I do this? I asked myself. Yes! I decided quickly and looked on either side of the corridor. There was no one. 

 

I walked into the classroom grabbing all my courage. I went and looked at the bundle of papers Mr. Keating was correcting. The first paper was half-checked and it had the name 'Taylor' on it. I gasped, for a second as I thought it was 'Tyler'. But soon I realized it was not. I hope he didn't check Ty's sheet yet. I looked at the doors once more before I started ruffling through the bundle for Ty's name.

 

Gosh! I can't believe I'm doing such a risky thing. I can get suspended or dismissed for this if I get caught. Okay, I should think positively. I won't get caught. I'll correct Ty's code and it'll be a great surprise to him when he hears he got full marks. 

 

But holy shit where's the fucking sheet? I looked at the doors once more and listened to hear any footsteps. It was thickly silent outside but my heart was playing drums inside my chest. I wasn't this nervous when I hacked my science teacher's computer last year to change my assignment scores. I averted my gaze back from the doors to the sheets and continued ruffling through the bundle. 

 

'Kinsley Audrey' 

 

'Bella Davis' 

 

'Tyler Martin' 

 

Oh yeah Got it!! And It's not checked! 

 

Like he said Ty had written code B on top. I searched on the desk for a black pen to cross it and write 'A' because he had bubbled the whole thing with black ink. But there was only a red pen on the desk. Crap! 

 

I shrugged off my bag from my shoulder and started rummaging inside it for a pen. Fuck! Blue pen came out! I'm sure I have a black pen. Where the hell is it? 

 

Finally! I got the black pen! I quickly removed the cap and crossed 'B'. Then I quickly wrote 'A'. My fingers were shivering and my heart was beating wildly against my chest as I capped the pen. Then I threw it in my pocket and started piling the bundle properly so that Mr. Keating don't get any suspicion. It seemed almost impossible with my shivering hands. 

 

Once I was done I crouched down to pick up my bag from the floor. When I bend up, someone was standing at the doors with their hands crossed over their chest. My heart stopped beating as my eyes grew wide. Then my heart started thudding at an extremely crazy pace. 

 

It wasn't Mr. Keating. It would have been better if it was him. But this was Asher. Yes! The Asher Fucking Carter!