جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 8

Shawn stood at the front of the classroom with a stack of papers in his hands, tapping them against the desk until the edges lined up."These are self-study request forms. Once you sign this, you don't have to show up for classes anymore. You just roll up on test day and take the SAT."Duncan Cooper was the first to rush forward, grabbing a sheet and signing his name without a second thought. "Whatever Shawn says, I do. Anyone who doesn't sign this is an idiot."Liam Keller hesitated for a couple of seconds before following suit.With people leading the charge, the rest of the class swarmed the front of the room, fighting to fill out the paperwork."I'm signing this right now so I can go home and play video games. See you guys at Quinby University!"Eventually, only one sheet remained.Shawn looked over at me as I sat in my seat, holding out the final form. "Jeremy, why aren't you signing?"I stared back at him blankly, making no move to take the paper. The rejection left Shawn

I looked away from the door and straightened the papers they'd knocked out of order on my desk.From that day on, I spent my mornings and afternoons at the revision sessions, then went over every question I'd missed once I got home.The instructors were thorough. They didn't just explain the answers. They broke down how the questions were constructed, what concepts the test makers were actually conveying, and all the different ways those same concepts could show up on the exam.After every practice test, the knowledge in my mind became sharper.Problems that used to take me several rounds of checking before I trusted my answer now made sense almost as soon as I looked at them.During a break one afternoon, I pulled out my phone and went on Instagram.My feed was filled with celebratory posts.Shawn had uploaded a carousel from a karaoke bar. In one of the pictures, he had his arm wrapped around Tessa's waist as they toasted a pair of shots, both of them grinning at the camera.

The situation was far from over just because I had left the chat.When I turned on the TV the next morning, the local news channel was broadcasting a live report.The rooftop of the Department of Education building was packed with people. Down in the plaza below, a long line of ambulances and police cars sat with their lights flashing. As the camera zoomed in, I instantly recognized the faces staring down from the ledge.All 38 of my classmates were there. Not a single person was missing. They stood precariously close to the edge of the roof, holding up cardboard signs scrawled with thick, angry red letters."Let us retake the SAT, or we jump!"A reporter stood outside the building, speaking anxiously into the microphone."We're live outside the Department of Education, where approximately one hour ago, 38 students whose SAT scores were invalidated climbed onto the roof and demanded the right to retake the exam. Their parents have also gathered below, and emotions are running ext

The hallway was packed with neighbors, all of them whispering and pointing fingers as the students were marched out."Those kids are absolute monsters. They came here with gasoline. Someone could've been killed."As Shawn was forced into a police car, he turned toward me with pure hatred in his eyes.Tessa sat hunched in the back seat of another cruiser, trembling from head to toe as she repeated the same words over and over."It wasn't me… It wasn't my fault…"They'd tried to kill me the same way they had in my previous life.This time, however, I'd been ready for them.Whatever happened next was the consequence of their own choices.During his initial interrogation, Shawn tried to play tough. He kept insisting that he only brought the gasoline to scare me and never had any intention of actually lighting a match.But the security footage captured every single detail in high definition, leaving him no room to twist the narrative.In a separate interrogation room, Tessa was pr