All Chapters of Thirty Days to Finals, I Swapped Study Buddies: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

My tutor, who had told me to simply call him "Shane", sent me another message."Is that still too confusing? Then let me show you how to solve it from several other angles."Staring at the three different solutions he provided me, I felt a lump lodge in my throat.In the past, every time I asked my childhood friend, Nicholas Lund, how to solve a problem, he would frown and say, "I've explained a similar concept to you before, haven't I? Stop making me repeat myself all the time.When he was in a particularly terrible mood, he would even toss my pencil aside and snap, "Think on it yourself."Eventually, I didn't even dare tell him when I didn't understand his explanations. Instead, I watched his mood closely. It was as though it was wrong of me to ask even one more question.Yet, this super cheap online tutor on the other side of this chat wasn't scornful of me for being slow. He broke down the problem and explained it to me, saying it was okay if I didn't understand the questio

When the bell for the last exam rang, I felt like I had secured every point I could.As I stepped out of the classroom, I saw that Nicholas was once again standing at the end of the corridor. He glanced over at me, as though waiting for me to go over.Previously, every time we finished our exams, I would immediately go to him and check my answers against his.This time, though, I simply walked right past him.My phone buzzed with a text from Shane. "Don't check your answers with others. Eat, sleep, and wait for the results to come out."I replied, "Okay."Behind me, Nicholas' gaze remained fixed on my phone for a very long time.The results for our exams were released the next afternoon.Our homeroom teacher entered with our score sheets. Raking her eyes across the class, she announced, "The first place in this physics exam is… Marissa Zinch."The entire classroom instantly fell silent, while I stared at her in shock."282 marks out of 300. 40 marks higher than your previous

Calm washed over me when I read the message.Turning my phone to show everyone the screen, I said, "He's here."Dad, who was still fuming with anger, let out a cold laugh. "Perfect timing! I'm dying to see what sort of despicable thug would dare come to the school after tricking a high-schooler who's about to take her college entrance exam."Mom paled further and instinctively gripped my hand tightly. "Marissa, stop this nonsense."A frown marred Nicholas' brow. "Marissa, you even told him to come to the school?"I stared at him, suddenly feeling a wave of exhaustion sweep over me. "Weren't you the ones who wanted to know who he is?"Silence reigned in the office for several seconds. Then, Mr. Marron picked up his landline phone and called the guard at the security booth.Soon after, footsteps sounded outside the office.I instinctively raised my head to look over, only to see a young man dressed in a white shirt standing outside the door. He was thin and shouldered a black b

I kept my head held high as I made my way back to the classroom. From the way my cheek still burned, I knew that the handprint on it had to be really obvious. Nonetheless, I had no intention of hiding it anymore.Why should I have to keep my head bowed and pretend that nothing had happened?Shane kept pace beside me, not saying a word. Right as we neared the classroom door, he suddenly stopped. "Marissa."I turned to look at him, at which point he returned my backpack to me. "The truth will prevail. There's no need to explain yourself, as you've already done more than enough of that."I tightened my hold on my backpack strap and nodded.When I pushed open the door and entered the classroom, everyone immediately looked over at me. Some were shocked to see the bright red mark on my face, while others guiltily averted their gaze. Some even kept their heads bowed as they pretended to work on their homework, yet their pencils never moved across the paper.Ignoring them all, I head

At three in the afternoon, I headed to the bookstore by the school gates.Shane sat by the window, a glass of warm milk and a sheaf of printed paper on the table in front of him.When I sat opposite him, he pushed the glass over to me. "Does your face still hurt?"I shook my head. "No."Handing me the sheaf of papers, he explained, "Your study plan for the next 20 days."I flipped through the pages, noting that the first ten days were for solidifying the multiple-choice questions and lab work. The next seven days were for keeping my skills sharp, and the last three days were for avoiding difficult questions.An empty column sat at the end of each day, prompting me to ask, "What is this?""It's for you to write down how you did for that day.""I'm the one who will be writing it?""Yeah." He looked me straight in the eyes, his voice calm as he said, "From now on, I won't be the one commenting on whether you did okay or not that day. You'll be the judge of that yourself."I st