Marianne cast a sideways glance over and saw that my paper was still blank.
She immediately mocked me, saying, “Looks like I was right, Mr. Smith. Isabelle must have been cheating all along. The moment you start keeping an eye on her, she’s unable to answer her papers.”
Meeting her disdainful gaze, I picked up my pen and took a deep breath before scribbling nonsense on the paper. There was no way she could claim that I’d copied her if my answers were pure gibberish.
“There are only 15 minutes left. Please use your time wisely.”
No sooner had the words left Mr. Smith’s mouth than Marianne’s hand shot up again from beside me.
She gritted her teeth as she glared at me and shouted, “Isabelle is truly shameless, Mr. Smith! She’s copying from my paper again!”
Mr. Smith’s expression fell. He picked up our papers and compared them.
I cast a sideways glance at Marianne, confident that her scheme would fail this time. After all, my answers were completely nonsensical.
Mr. Smith slammed the papers onto my desk in a fit of rage. “Isabelle!”
A sense of foreboding crept into me, and I swiftly grabbed the two papers. Even my nonsensical answers were identical to what was on Marianne’s paper, word for word.
I was completely stunned. I’d clearly written complete gibberish. So why were my answers still the same as hers?
Mr. Smith’s face flushed red with fury. “You’re truly incorrigible, Isabelle! Go home and reflect on yourself! Don’t bother coming back to school before the SAT exam!”
I numbly packed my things and got ready to head home.
I couldn’t understand just how my nonsensical answers had still turned out to be identical to Marianne’s.
Marianne called out to me before I left the classroom. She smiled, but it chilled me to the bone.
“Looks like you got your past grades by cheating, Isabelle. What would you do for the SAT exam then? It’s the only chance for someone as dirt poor as you to change your fate. You’d be doomed if you can’t cheat off anyone then!” She walked away with that cruel smile still on her face.
Marianne was right. The SAT was my only chance at changing my fate. I would be doomed if I missed it.
That was why I couldn’t let history repeat itself.
