Evelina was at it again.
She quickly jumped in, “Sir, I just knew she wouldn’t cheat. Let’s not jump to conclusions, okay? If you nullify her grades, it might seem like upholding fairness, but it’ll really hurt her.” After some thought, the teacher said, “Lemira’s rank will be put on hold for now, pending further investigation. If the cheating turns out to be true, appropriate action will be taken.” Once the teacher left, the classroom erupted into noise.
One of Evelina’s sidekicks sneered, “I just knew her sudden improvement had to be cheating.”
A smug look crossed Evelina’s face as she quickly texted Alaric.
[Alaric, what do we do? Lemmy cheated to win your bet, and now she might get a disciplinary note. I’m so worried about Lemmy!]
Lemira simply opened her book and started reviewing. She didn’t care about her rank being nullified.
Evelina might influence the teacher, but she couldn’t influence the university entrance exam scores!
Yet, she felt a pang of discomfort. After all, she had made plans with Orion that if she ranked in the top 100, they’d play video games together.
But she hadn’t been to the infirmary lately, and Orion hadn’t replied to any of her messages.
Feeling a bit down, Lemira thought she had finally made a friend, but perhaps she was just overthinking it.
As the morning classes ended, shrieks of excitement came from outside the classroom.
Lemira looked up to see Alaric had arrived. What was he doing here?
“Evelina, your brother is so hot.”
Proudly, Evelina accepted a cupcake from Alaric, “Alaric, Lemmy’s right here. Maybe you should talk to her. If she apologizes and admits to the cheating, maybe she won’t get disciplined.” Alaric glanced at Lemira in the classroom. But Lemira didn’t look up, quietly focused on her textbook.
She knew why Alaric was here without guessing; Evelina couldn’t wait to see her humiliated. But she didn’t care about her rank being nullified. And she definitely wouldn’t admit to cheating! Standing at the classroom door, Evelina feigned concern, “Lemmy, Alaric’s here. Don’t worry.”
Lemira pretended not to hear, ignoring Alaric outside.
Alaric’s expression soured, his slight worry quickly fading away. What was there to worry about Lemira for?
He coldly said, “I’ll go see the teacher in the office first.” And with that, Alaric turned and left.
Only then did Evelina approach Lemira with the cupcake, “Lemmy, Alaric only brought one cupcake for me. He probably just forgot about you. I’ll share it with you.” Lemira could see right through Evelina’s bragging. She was used to it by now; every time her brother visited, he brought gifts only for Evelina. She never got anything. She once complained to Lucian, who told her she was being naughty and didn’t deserve gifts.
But now, she couldn’t care less about these so-called gifts.
Lemira’s phone rang, and she saw it was Orion. She quickly stepped into the hallway, taking a deep breath before answering, “Hello, Orion.”
“How did the grades go?”
Lemira felt a lump in her throat, “I was ranked in the top 100, but it looks like my score might be nullified.”
Orion’s laid-back tone instantly turned serious as he heard this, “What happened?”