Foundations Of Reading Exam Novels & Stories

I spent three years studying like my life depended on it before I finally earned a government job. Then, on my first week there, I saw a familiar face. My cousin. The same cousin I’d met at that awkward family reunion back home. Somehow, he had gotten hired by the same department. A few days later, at a family dinner, he made his move. With my uncle sitting right there at the head of the table, acting every bit like the important city official he was, my cousin shoved a classified file into my hands. The pages had clearly been tampered with. Before I could say a word, he let out a sharp cry and dropped to the floor. The file spilled open across the tile. “Ethan!” he shouted, his voice trembling with fake disbelief. “That’s confidential government material! How could you steal it and show it to outsiders? Was the finder’s fee really worth selling us out?” My uncle slammed his hand on the table and stood up, his face dark with rage. He said he would not protect family at the cost of justice. He said he would fire me on the spot and report me to the higher-ups himself. That was when a string of floating comments appeared in front of my eyes. [This cousin is painfully stupid. Does he seriously not know the male lead was brought in from above as the head of the internal inspection team? He’s here to investigate him.] [And the uncle is still acting. Hilarious. The inspection team’s car is literally about to pull up outside.] I read the comments, then calmly lifted my teacup and took a slow sip. Across from me, my cousin was still trying to look loyal and outraged. I set the cup down and smiled. “You’re right about one thing. This file is confidential.” His eyes lit up. Then I added, “But you changed the wrong section.” The color drained from his face. I turned to my uncle. “And Uncle, didn’t you just say you’d put justice before family?” I pushed back my chair and stood. “Great. Then come with me to the Special Investigations Unit and explain how many people you’ve illegally helped into the department over the years.” My cousin stared at me, completely stunned. He had fought so hard to get into public service. He had no idea I was the one sent to clean it up.

My younger sister, Joey Crawford, and I have taken the exam 20 times in a row. Yet, our answer sheet shows the exact same answers every time. No matter how fast I complete the exam, Joey is able to turn in her paper one second before me. My homeroom teacher, Mr. Harris, has spoken with me three times regarding this matter. At the same time, I receive my first warning for cheating on the exams. Whenever my classmates see me, they say to me, "Hey, cheater! You got busted this time, huh?" The thing is, I've never even touched Joey's paper. How can our answers be exactly the same? During the college entrance exam, I suddenly awaken to the ability to see the live comments dangling in midair. "The female lead is the chosen one! It must feel amazing to have awakened the mind-reading ability and all!" "She relies on reading the side character's mind just to obtain all the answers. So what if the side character excels in her studies? Her role is to become the female lead's stepping stone to success!" It turns out that Joey has been stealing my answers by reading my mind this whole time. As I flip the exam papers over, I start singing the alphabet song mentally. "A-B-C-D-E-F-G…"

Jace Griffin was my childhood friend. One of us was a total slacker, and the other was a real troublemaker. The year we were at the peak of our bragging, I said that I would get second place in the exam, and he said he would get first. The results came out. I scored 20 points, and he scored 10 points. Later, I said that I was going to sleep twelve hours a day to make up for it, and he said that he could sleep a full twenty-four hours. In the end, we both spent the night at an internet cafe and stayed until morning. Then, I said that I was going to confess to someone. His eyes flickered. But his thought suddenly came into my mind, “If I accept her confession and stop her from studying, then Winnie’s spot in Harrington University will be secured!” He opened his mouth and was about to say “I do.” But I turned around smoothly and hugged a stray dog that happened to walk past. “Doggy. From now on, you’re my only one.” Jace’s handsome face twisted in anger right away. “Xena, you would rather choose a dog than me?” I rolled my eyes before smiling brightly. Choose him? What was the point of choosing him? Could he even earn me money? I already had a guaranteed admission to Harrington University. I just wanted to raise dogs. I did not have time for a loser like him.

Everyone in class can hear my thoughts, but there's a catch—the "thoughts" they hear have been deliberately altered. During the exam, while I swiftly fill out the answer sheet, the rest of the class stays put. They eagerly wait to hear the answers in my head. [The answer for this is C, of course. These questions are exactly the same as the ones Ms. Clarke revealed to me. I'm going to be the top student again without even breaking a sweat!] Everyone else immediately copy my answers. Ultimately, apart from me, they all end up failing the exam. During our swimming class, my leg cramps, and I start sinking underwater. I try to scream for help, but my classmates hear something entirely different in my head. [I'm going to act like I'm drowning and see who's the idiot who jumps in to save me. Hahaha!] In the end, they all watch indifferently as I drown. My eyes open again. I've gone back in time to the day of the exam. This time, I can also hear these "thoughts" of mine that have been altered.

When down on her luck Abigail is approached outside her job, she has no idea that she has been located by her long lost father, who happens to be a billionaire. She decides to move into her father’s large home and finds herself targeted by her nasty stepmother and scheming half-sister. Abigail tries to adjusts to her new life of wealth and privilege, and then she meets Mark, the handsome gardener that’s hiding a massive secret. Will Abigail find a place where she belongs in new this world of glittering parties and cut throat business deals, or will she have to return to her old life, maybe with a new love?The Lost Heiress and the Secret Billionaire is created by Hannah Tatum Reading, an eGlobal Creative Publishing author.

I was halfway through a sad cafeteria lunch when a livestream popped up: [Ring toss—whoever lands it gets the dog.] Onscreen, Alverton University's rich-boy squad cracked up, betting on who'd "own" me. Adrian Locke, the student council golden boy, flicked his ring. It landed dead center on my nameplate. "One month. Let's see which owner the little bitch wags her tail for." I closed the stream. Right then, a text from my dad lit up my phone: [Sweetheart, have you chosen your fiancé candidate?] I smirked, snapped a screenshot of the stream, and sent it. [Evaluation complete. All four disqualified.]

I can't believe that my online boyfriend is actually my boss, Yoel Gilmore, who refutes me at all times during my work hours! So, I purposefully complain on the chat app, saying that my "boss" wants me to burn the midnight oil just to get a proposal done immediately. Almost immediately, I see my company's group chat updating with a new message that says, "A one-day extension has been given." Afterward, I claim that I "want to quit my job because the food at the cafeteria sucks". On the very same day, the company makes a decision to increase the cafeteria meals' portions without hiking up the price. I'm also given an increase in bonus. In the end, I say I want to break up with him because I can't hug him in real life. But I end up getting taken to the CEO's office, where I hear him telling me in a choked-up tone, "I'll let you hug and kiss me. Can we please not break up?"

[Damn it! She's obviously a scheming wretch. She's trying to seduce the male lead while the female lead is away. She's so eager to be the mistress, and she even called him Sir? Just go to hell already.] [Did you forget? There's no way the male lead would fall for such low-level tricks. He only cares about his precious niece. The male lead and the female lead's fathers were best friends. They're not blood-related. Those two are destined to marry each other!] [Hey, don't forget that the male lead also loves cats. Haha! He's an ailurophile.]

After transmigrating into a horror game, I realize I can hear ghosts' inner thoughts. "Oh, look, a human! I need to give her a pet!" "Why can't I touch her? Move! I gotta touch her!" "Humans! She's so tame that she's even letting us pet her!" My inner thoughts scream, "Damn it. Now I feel like a monkey in the zoo."

When Eliza takes a position as a healer in the Red Timber Wolves Pack, she has no idea that she is close to the man who once stole her heart. James, the devoted Alpha, is shocked to see Eliza, the simple country woman who broke his heart three years be-fore. James still loves her, and is shocked to discover that Eliza does not remember him, their engagement…or their passionate love affair.***James thought of jealousy at the persona he had created in her mind . . . A wolf that now commanded Elizabeth’s loyalty even after years of absence.A wolf that, apparently, no longer looked like him.James felt a rush of irrational jealousy for his past self, his self that could act without consequence, that could love his mate without fear.James stopped Elizabeth’s path, turned her to him and pulled her into his arms, kissing her deeply.Her Forgotten Mate is created by Hannah Tatum Reading, an EGlobal Creative Publishing signed author.