I Let The Class Belle And Her Friend Cheat

Before we went for our college entrance exam, Flora Reid snuck a mini walkie-talkie into Theo Anderson’s bag. In the past, I had quickly rushed over to warn Theo about it. I reported it to the teachers too. Flora was banned from the examinations due to suspected cheating, and she was brought to the police station. Theo was very grateful toward me for saving him. Hence, he asked me to be his girlfriend. I thought the feeling had been mutual. On the day we filled out our college applications, he switched my Ivy League college to a regular community college. “You ruined Flora’s life, so I’m ruining your future. Do you really think you deserve to go to an Ivy League? “You should spend your life at a lousy community college to make it up to her!” At that moment, I finally learned that he had hated me all along. After that, I was admitted to a community college despite having flying colors for my final examination scores. My parents fell sick with rage, and they locked me in the basement. I was left starving to death. Theo proposed to Flora after she was released from prison, and they lived a happy life. When I opened my eyes again, it was the day of the exam. When Flora furiously snuck the mini walkie-talkie into Theo’s bag, I chose to not do anything. I turned around and went into the examination hall without making a sound. Behind me, the security scanner went off. Chapter 1 It was very hot in June. Someone was calling out my name. “Didn’t you say that there’s nothing between Lucy and you? What about these love letters?” Flora Reid was gripping a few letters in her hand as she barked out the questions with a sharp voice and garnered a lot of attention. Theo Anderson stood before her and looked a little helpless. “She wrote these to me. It’s not me who wrote them to her.” He turned to look at me. “Lucy, come over.” I was still trying to reconcile with the fact that I had returned to the past and remained frozen on the spot. Theo frowned and dragged me by my elbow. “Tell her. Aren’t we just neighbors?” He sounded very certain of himself. Suddenly, he looked down and chuckled. “What are these? You wrote them for me? Lucy, do you like me that much?” The classmates around us were looking over curiously. At that moment, I realized I was still holding a letter in my hand. Last night, Theo went to my house to revise. He kept mentioning his anxiety about the examinations. I wrote some letters overnight to encourage him. He just needed to do his best. I did not know that when we were about to enter the examination hall, Flora would uncover those letters from his bag. In the past, I had run over to explain myself to her with a flushed face. I did write those letters, but they were not love letters. As long as she read the letters, she would realize those were some research that I did on college applications. However, Flora was petty. She was unwilling to read those letters. On top of that, I had another letter in my hand. It made her believe that there was something between Theo and I. Hence, she snuck a mini walkie-talkie into Theo’s bag out of anger. However, times had changed. I pulled my hand back as Theo snorted smugly. I tore the letters apart and tossed the pieces into the trash can. “That’s right, we’re just neighbors. “I don’t like you that way. That was some research that I did on college applications. “I’ve shared them with many classmates before. You’re not the only one.” I sounded very calm. Everyone quietened down. Theo’s expression froze. He had not expected me to say that. He gaped and then shut his mouth. After all, I had once confessed my feelings to him. I had even said that I wanted to go to the same college as him. Flora was stunned. Then, she said agitatedly, “Didn’t you say that she keeps on pestering you? Now, she’s saying that she doesn’t like you, but you’re still spending all your days doing revisions together. “Could it be you… Theo! You told me you only liked me!” “I…” “What? Have you been lying to me all this while? There must be something between the two of you!” Students started walking into the examination hall. Everyone was filming them. Flora saw the flicker of irritation on Theo’s face and became angrier. She stomped her foot. “You don’t want to talk? Sure, suit yourself!” She turned around and left. When she walked past him, she took out a tiny gadget and stuffed it into Theo’s bag. She had been very quick. I was the only one who caught it. Chapter 2 In the past, I had immediately rushed over to warn Theo. Theo knew the importance of this examination, so he took out the mini walkie-talkie without any hesitation and threw it onto the floor. Then, he had a huge argument with Flora in public. Flora had been furious. She wanted to play the same trick on me by putting the walkie-talkie into my pencil case. However, I noticed it and informed the examiner, Albert Solace. Flora lost her chance to sit for the examination. The event had left Theo traumatized. He was touched and told me that I was the only one who treated him sincerely. I thought the happiness that I had waited for so long had finally arrived. When the results were released, I realized my college applications were swapped from the Ivy Leagues to a regular community college. I had broken down as Theo sneered. “You ruined Flora’s life, so I’m ruining your future. Do you really think you deserve to go to an Ivy League? “You should spend your life at a lousy community college to make it up to her!” After my family learned that I was going to a regular community college despite having flying colors, they were deeply embarrassed. My parents locked me up in the basement, and they only fed me once every few days. I was trapped in the dark for a very long time. I did not even have the strength to cry from hunger. My voice was reduced to mere whispers of pleas. One day, I heard my mother talking. “Flora’s released from prison. She’s having an engagement party with Theo today.” I stared at the ceiling with my mouth open, but I could not even make a sound. Then, I died. As I died, my last thought was to keep my head out of anyone’s business. The queue slowly nudged forward. I saw Theo chatting with other classmates. He claimed that he was confident about his math while he kept glancing at Flora, who was still angry. He was probably thinking of ways to comfort her after the examinations. I looked down and walked into the examination hall. Behind me, I heard a loud beeping sound coming from the security scanner. All the students were shocked, and Theo was stunned. “What…” Albert immediately took away his bag and found the small black gadget. “What’s your name? Theo? What is this?” Theo’s face became pale. His voice was shaking. “I… I don’t know! This isn’t mine!” “If it isn’t yours, why is it in your bag? Are you trying to cheat?” “No! I’m not!” Theo was anxious. His voice got louder. “Someone set me up! Someone must’ve planted it there!” Some classmates gathered at the window and gossiped quietly. “Maybe he’s lying. Perhaps he really planned to cheat, but since he’s caught, he’s trying to lie his way out.” “But Theo always has good results. I don’t think he needs to cheat.” I quietly took out my student ID and wiped away the sweat from my palms. In the past, I sacrificed thirty minutes of the examination’s precious time to report Flora for her act. Even though I still scored well, I had always found it a shame that I never got to see my best ever possibilities. I ignored Theo as he was brought away and shut my eyes to rest my mind a little. After the examinations started, I took a few deep breaths to calm myself down and stop my fingers from trembling. Then, I started to answer the questions. The clock was ticking. When I was about to flick the page, a police officer appeared at the doorway. Then, Albert walked toward me. “Lucy, please come with me.” Everyone looked at me. I gulped and got up. I followed her out of the examination hall. The police officer brought me to an office. The door cracked open and I saw Theo standing there with his face flushed. “I really didn’t plan to cheat! It’s Lucy who put this in my bag!” When he saw me, his eyes lit up. “It’s her! “She’s pursued me for three years! I didn’t agree to be her boyfriend, so she wants to ruin me!” Chapter 3 Albert and the principal, Jonathan Humphrey, stared at me sternly. The police officer, Sam Deacon, asked, “Lucy, does this belong to you?” I looked at Theo. Theo’s eyes were red, and he looked at me pleadingly. He was confident that I would help him. We had grown up together. Whenever he ran into any problem, I would help him. He would always look at me with the same expression. He was still expecting me to save him at such an important examination. I pursed my lips and shook my head. “No.” Theo gasped and roared at me. “You’re lying! You’re jealous of Flora and me. It’s clearly you! “Besides… I grabbed your elbow just now. I bet you stuffed that gadget into my bag at that time!” I looked at Officer Deacon. “You can retrieve the surveillance footage at the entrance. I did not touch his bag at all.” Officer Deacon immediately did that. Theo did not expect surveillance cameras to be around. He stared anxiously at the screen. When it was clear that I was not the culprit, he simply looked dejected. “No… It should be Lucy…” I ignored him. I asked Officer Deacon, “Can I return to the hall now?” Officer Deacon nodded. I was brought back to the examination hall. Even though not much time was left, I managed to complete all the questions on time. Outside the window, I saw Theo being taken away by Officer Deacon. In the past, Flora was the one who had been taken away. I wondered how Flora would feel when she saw this. However, it had nothing to do with me. After the morning exam ended, since my home is close to the school, I went home to rest. When I walked in, I saw Theo’s parents sitting on the couch at my place. When his mother, Liz Anderson saw me, she immediately stood up with teary eyes. “Lucy, I’m asking you for a favor. “The thing in Theo’s bag… Since the surveillance footage only shows the area right in front of the school, there’s still a chance to salvage it. “Could you please tell the police that you secretly snuck that into his bag while you were on the way to school? “I’ll give you two hundred thousand dollars. That’s more than enough money for you.” I looked down and frowned. In the past, I had helped Theo to escape from his fate. Far from being grateful toward me, they had actually praised Theo when he changed my college application. “Didn’t she do as expected? Why would you need to be grateful for life? “Stay far away from her. Don’t ruin your engagement with Flora.” The Anderson family believed that it was a given that I had to sacrifice myself to help Theo. “I’m not doing that.” I freed my arm from her. Theo’s father, Peter Anderson slammed the table and stood up. “How dare you? Why aren’t you listening to the adults? So what if you get into a good college?” “I’m building my own future, and I won’t be selling off my future for just two hundred thousand dollars!” My father put out his cigarette and yelled at me. “So what if you admit to doing that? It’s not like it’ll have a huge consequence! “With your ability, you won’t be able to get into a good college anyway. Now, there’s two hundred thousand dollars on the line! Why are you acting this immature? “How many times do I have to tell you that your younger brother is planning to go into a private high school!” No huge consequence? In the past, after I saved Theo, I had lost my life. “Mom, Dad, I will be able to get into a good college and give you double the amount they’re offering now. “But I won’t be taking the blame this time.” I turned around and went into my bedroom. I flipped my revision book open and put on my headphones so I did not have to listen to their curses. Very soon, it would all be over. In the afternoon, Flora stopped me at the school entrance. “Lucy, why didn’t you help Theo?” I frowned. She glanced around as she was afraid others would overhear our conversation. “It’s not a big deal to take the blame for him. Now, he’s a suspect, and he’ll miss out on the chance to take the examinations. If worst comes to worst, he would go to jail! He won’t even get a fresh start!” “I’m not the one who caused this,” I calmly answered. She sounded anxious. “How could you be so selfish? If he’s jailed, his future is ruined! “It’s just a matter of taking the fall for him. Don’t you like him? Can’t you sacrifice your future for him?” Chapter 4 I sneered to myself. She was trying to make it sound so noble. She claimed that I was selfish while acting as though she was concerned about Theo. However, she was the one who had snuck the walkie-talkie into Theo’s bag. If Theo was punished, her crime would eventually be uncovered. She had to be worried about her own future. “I’ve already said that I don’t like him.” I cocked an eyebrow. “But it seems like you like him a lot. Why don’t you sacrifice yourself for him?” Flora’s face turned pale. She bit her lower lip tightly as she glared at me. Before I could say anything else, a group of reporters suddenly surrounded me. Officer Deacon walked over, followed by Theo, who looked furious. “She begged to have revisions together yesterday. I bet she snuck that into my bag then! She wanted to frame me!” The reporters’ cameras were aimed at me. “Lucy, did you really sneak the walkie-talkie into Theo’s bag?” “According to the examination regulations, it’s against the rules to bring in walkie-talkies.” “Why did you do that? Are you jealous? What were you thinking?” “I heard that you did this out of jealousy and heart break. Is that true?” Even though I did not say anything, they had already jumped to conclusions for me. Officer Deacon walked toward me. “Lucy, cheating is not a laughing matter. Please come back with us to the station for us to take some statements from you.” “Right now?” I looked at my watch. “I’m going into the examination hall in half an hour.” Officer Deacon did not say anything, but I understood it. If I were to go to the police station, I would not be able to attend the examinations. Theo was glaring at me from the side. His gaze was different from what it was in the morning. He did not look confident that I would take the blame. Instead, his gaze was vicious. “We can’t let her go. She used the surveillance footage as an excuse to escape in the morning. We don’t have a surveillance camera at home! “She caused me to miss my examinations. If you let her go through with hers, it’d be unfair to me!” There was a commotion before the school gate. Some students were getting restless. “It’s them again… My thought process was interrupted in the morning because of them. They’re continuing this nonsense now?” “What a waste of our time. Can you guys just take her away? Don’t crowd the school.” Flora took the opportunity to hide her face and retreated. Theo leaned over. He whispered softly so I was the only one who could hear it. “Lucy, you’ve forced me to do this. Why did you desert me? “Even though I don’t know who’s behind this, as long as I insist that it’s you, the police would need to look into you. Could you afford to lose your precious examination time? “Flora’s family will be able to save me. Worse comes to worst, they can just send me overseas to have a fresh start. “What about you? You don’t have a contingency.” I could not help but grip the corner of my shirt. My palms were sweaty. Flora wanted to escape, and Theo wanted me to be the scapegoat. The cameras kept flashing, and more people gathered around us. A guy yelled loudly, “Don’t crowd up the school entrance. The examination is about to start!” Officer Deacon took another step forward. “Lucy, please cooperate with us. Let’s not interrupt the other students.” Theo thought he had everything down pat. He turned to look at Flora. They were staring at each other lovingly through the crowd. There were excited smiles on their faces. I clenched my teeth and said softly, “I know who planted that walkie-talkie.” Everyone fell quiet. Theo’s expression changed. “Don’t try to drag this out! It’s you!” The students were growing impatient. “That’s right, so what if you say you know it?” “It’s your words against theirs.” “Don’t waste your time. Take her away! We still need to sit for our examinations!” Officer Deacon frowned. “Lucy, you can’t end the investigation with a single statement.” “I have proof.” My voice was soft, but every single word was clearly heard. “I’ve captured the whole process. It’s in my photo gallery.”