Chapter 3

I leaned close to my mom and whispered a few words into her ear. The tension immediately drained from her face. She turned to Jayla.

"Then explain this. There are over forty students in the class. Why did the defective pencil end up in my daughter's hands?"

Jayla froze. A flicker of panic flashed across her eyes, but no words came out.

Seeing her at a loss, Samuel immediately stepped in front of her.

"What else could it be? She was just unlucky. She's had bad luck her whole life. Otherwise, her dad wouldn't have died so young.

"Mrs. Harris, don't waste your time asking pointless questions. You should be finding her a prep program while there's still time. If you wait too long, there won't even be any spots left. There's no way she's getting into college this year."

Despite knowing that my mother had a heart condition and couldn't handle that kind of stress, he said those things anyway to upset her.

The color drained from my mother's face. She clutched her chest, struggling to catch her breath as her body began to tremble.

My heart lurched. I rushed over, fumbled a bottle of nitroglycerin tablets from my pocket, quickly gave one to my mom, and gently rubbed her back as she caught her breath.

"Mom, don't listen to him. Trust me. My score is going to be just fine."

Then I looked Samuel straight in the eye. "My score is none of your concern. As for that repeat program, you'd better save that advice for yourself."

Samuel laughed as though he'd just heard the biggest joke in the world. "Ellie, have you lost your mind? Me? Repeat a year? I think this has driven you insane."

The room burst into laughter.

"Seriously? Samuel's practically guaranteed to score near-perfect on the SAT. Why would he ever need to repeat a year?"

"Ellie can't accept reality. She's talking nonsense now."

Jayla immediately stepped forward, putting on a concerned expression.

"Ellie, I know you're trying to reassure your mom, but you can't lie to her. Facts are facts. Your exam came back blank. How could you possibly have a score? If you keep lying to your mom, it'll only hurt her even more."

The classmates immediately joined in.

"She turned in a blank exam. Why keep pretending?"

"Exactly. What's the point of comforting her now? Scores come out in ten minutes. The results won't lie for you."

Mr. Sanford cut off the discussion. "That's enough, Mrs. Harris. Even if your daughter turned in a blank exam, it's not the end of the world. She was only an average student to begin with. At best, she would've gotten into an ordinary state university. Now she'll just have to repeat a year."

Then he turned to Samuel with undisguised approval and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Samuel is the one with real potential. He's been at the top of the class every single time. With scores like his, he's expected to be one of the highest scorers in the state. The hopes of this entire class are riding on him. Don't let everyone down."

Samuel stood there with unmistakable pride written across his face.

The clock on the wall struck ten, and the score portal officially opened.

Everyone pulled out their phones and hurried to check their results.

Jayla was the first to load the page. A few seconds later, she covered her mouth in delight. "I got a 1530..."

The room instantly erupted.

Parents and classmates crowded around her, showering her with praise.

"Jayla, that's incredible!"

"What an amazing score!"

"No wonder she's class president. She's kind and brilliant."

Jayla smiled modestly, but her eyes kept drifting toward me. "Ellie, why haven't you checked yours yet? Go ahead and refresh the page. You can't avoid it forever. Sooner or later, you'll have to face the truth."

I gripped my phone tightly.

The page kept loading. The loading wheel just kept spinning, refusing to show my score.

My mom held my hand so tightly that her palm was slick with cold sweat.

Seeing that I still hadn't gotten my result, Jayla became even more smug.

"Is the website too slow? Want me to check it for you? Even if your score isn't good, you still have to face it. You can't keep lying to your mom forever."