Chapter 4: Not HappeningLet Them Get Caught

That massive venue would no longer be an exam hall, but a personal hell they had opened up for themselves. They crawled out of it unscathed in my previous life thanks to my warning, but they no longer had a naive goodie-two-shoes to save them this time.

Erin was pale as a ghost, her eyes wide as she watched them bounce away. She turned to look at me with eyes filled with hopelessness. "They're brilliant students. How did this happen, Josephine?"

I shook my head and offered her a comforting pat on the shoulder.

The school offered the honors class a lot of privileges. We could have our meals earlier than the other classes, and our food and accommodation were the best among them.

The entire school's respect and admiration for them eventually got into their heads, making them believe that scores were everything. Alas, they had completely forgotten that the first thing about being a student was to learn to be an upstanding citizen.

The senior honors class didn't care about things they'd deemed frivolous. Since they refused to listen to advice, then perhaps a painful lesson ought to be in order.

…

The next day came.

Before the exam, I checked my stationery case for anything that was against the rules and regulations. Once I was sure there weren't any, I calmly went past the first inspection point and entered the hall.

My eyes met Michael's the moment I did. He was in the first row. The karaoke session lasted all night, so he and the other classmates looked exhausted. It seemed that he still remembered that he had Queenie's notes to help him cheat, so he gave me a challenging look.

We grew up together, so I knew just what was going on in his head. He thought everyone could score better than me now that I couldn't snitch to the proctor. This was my second life, and playing childish games with him was not on my agenda.

I moved my gaze elsewhere and took my seat. The exam for the first subject would be beginning soon, so the proctors efficiently distributed the papers.

Someone was pleasantly surprised, and they whispered, "They're the same! I love you, Queenie."

Everyone had confident smiles painted across their lips. It seemed that they were already envisioning a future where they would be a whole class of top scorers.

To their surprise, the proctor cleared his throat and announced, "Students, please place your stationery case on the corner of your desk. We'll need to check them."

The air itself seemed to freeze, and only dead silence remained. Michael glared at me without thinking as he mouthed, 'You're dead!'

Sadly, he didn't have time for me. The proctor was already picking up his case. So, he quickly pressed his case back down on the table and questioned sharply, "Why the sudden inspection? Do you not trust us? We're from the honors class!"

Queenie quickly chimed in, "Yeah! What if you hurt our confidence? That's worth more than your paycheck!"

The other classmates didn't want to be caught either, so they swiftly joined in on the cacophony of noises. They were protesting so much that it was as if the proctor was evil incarnate. The proctor merely looked at them, bemused.

"I don't care who you are, and I'm definitely not paid to care. My job is to keep things fair in the exam hall! If it pleases you to know, we had an internal meeting a week ago, and we've decided that there'll be a thorough inspection this year. This is protocol!"

Then, the proctor looked around, suspicion filling his eyes. "Sit down! We'll be checking your cases now!"

The students who brought Queenie's notes in couldn't hide their nervousness, and their faces went white with panic.

The proctor saw through their badly veiled calm immediately, and an icy expression filled his face. So, he spoke to his colleague. "Tell the other proctors and the cops that I suspect that there's a case of group cheating here."