Chapter 1

Class had long since ended. Mandy and I were the only ones left in the class.

The ones who were supposed to clean up today were long gone, and the desks were still a mess. Mandy sat at her table, her head buried in her arms.

The math test we had received back today lay on the table in front of her, the red crosses on it large and striking. She did not weep loudly, but I could hear her hitched breathing in the silence of the room.

I stood at the back door of the classroom, my right hand sweating as I clung tightly to a blue notebook.

I had stayed up until three in the morning last night to finish this. I filled it with all the formulas, common questions, and her recent mistakes, including everything I could think of. I had even faked my handwriting so it did not look like mine.

I stood there, took a deep breath, and then walked up to her.

She raised her head in a panic when she heard my footsteps, rubbing her tears away with her sleeve. Her lashes were still laced with tears, and her nose was red.

She was clearly surprised to see me. Her hand stopped in mid-air, halfway through wiping her tears. She then sniffled, her voice thick and nasally. “Zach? Why are you still here? Don’t you have your part-time job today?”

My mind went black when she stared at me with those red-rimmed eyes. I quickly turned my head aside and pretended to look at the blackboard, slamming the blue notebook onto her desk.

I was so nervous that my voice came out tense and cold. “The notebook got mixed up. This one’s for you.”

Mandy was utterly perplexed. She stared at the notebook, devoid of even a name on its cover, and looked at me in confusion.

“What do you mean, mixed up? This isn’t the standardized notebook we all got… And it’s completely blank. How could it be mixed up?”

“Whatever. I found it in my bag, and I’m giving it to you. If you don’t want it, just toss it. Don’t pester me about it.”

After snapping at her for some reason, I ran away from the room like my pants were on fire, determined not to give her any time to decline or probe me further.

My jacket flapped in the wind as I practically flew down the stairs. My heart threatened to leap out of my throat.

“Hey, Zach! Wait, whose is this….?”

Mandy’s voice echoed through the hall, but I did not dare to turn back, rushing down three flights of stairs in one go. I only dared to touch my burning face after I turned the corner on the first floor, catching my breath against a heavy wooden door.

My heart pounded in my chest. I could not help but smash my fist into the wall, cursing myself. “Zach Rimmer, you coward! Handing over a notebook shouldn’t feel like pulling off a robbery. What are you so afraid of?”