Chapter 152

Emily Blair slept straight through the night, waking up feeling more rested than she
had in ages.
It was Elizabeth Wilson who roused her from her dreams.
Still groggy, Emily mumbled, “Isn’t it the weekend? We don’t have classes today.”
Without missing a beat, Elizabeth pressed a pen into her hand, along with a stack of worksheets and textbooks, her voice brisk and no-nonsense.
“Don’t go back to sleep. Get up and start studying now.”
Rubbing her eyes, Emily let Elizabeth haul her upright. As she blinked awake, she found herself staring at a daunting pile of blank exercises.
“You’ve been running around with me these past few days and barely had time to study,” Elizabeth said, already flipping through the pages. “The monthly exams are next week. You need to get ready.”
Emily took a deep breath, her voice still rough from sleep. “Alright, I get it.”
What surprised her was that, for several days after, Andrew Lane didn’t show up at school or try to see her.
Maybe after she deleted and blocked him, Andrew’s pride wouldn’t let him come looking for her.
Emily felt a weight lift off her shoulders.
Good. Now she could focus on prepping for the upcoming exam—and the all- important finals.
The day the monthly exam results were posted, the sky was heavy and gray, with rain hammering against the windows so hard it almost looked like night, despite it being midday. The downpour drummed erratically on the glass.
Emily sat quietly at her desk, working through practice problems, the world outside fading away.
Suddenly, a boy burst into the classroom, his voice practically vibrating with excitement.
“Guys! I got the results! You will never guess who took first place!”
Elizabeth glanced up from her notes, curiosity piqued, as the boy waved his score sheet in the air, his eyes searching the room until they landed on—
Emily.
Everyone turned to stare.
Feeling the weight of so many eyes, Emily slowly looked up, confused, meeting their astonished, almost disbelieving gazes.
“Um… are you all seeing things?” she asked, awkwardly.
The boy holding the results couldn’t contain himself. “Emily Blair took first place! She’s top of the whole year!”
“She scored twenty points higher than the top student from the honors class!”
The room erupted in cheers and laughter. “No way! That’s incredible!”
Elizabeth jumped to her feet, snatched the results, then turned to Emily, her eyes shining. “Emily, you really are number one!”
Emily could hardly believe it herself.
She’d always been a decent student, sure, but never anywhere near the top—she hadn’t even cracked the top ten before. Yet somehow, this time, she’d come out on top.
Her mind was still reeling as she took the results from Elizabeth, when a sudden knock sounded at the classroom door.
Knock, knock, knock-
Everyone turned.
A girl stood in the doorway, face pinched and sour. Her tone was cold and clipped. “The dean wants to see Emily Blair. They’re all waiting for you in the office. Go on, now.”
Emily tucked the results away, her voice calm. “What’s this about?”
She recognized the girl-one of the students from the honors class, and one of Amelia Lane’s loyal followers. Emily remembered seeing her tailing after Amelia plenty of times.
The girl gave a mocking little smirk. “You know what you did. They’re investigating. You’d better have a good explanation.”
Emily had a pretty good idea what this was about.
Around her, classmates frowned in confusion. “What is she talking about? I don’t get
it.”
Elizabeth looked worried. “Maybe you shouldn’t go, Emily.”
Emily handed the results back to her friend, stuffed her hands in her pockets, and shook her head. “It’s fine. I’ll be back soon.”
When Emily reached the dean’s office, she wasn’t even inside yet before she heard muffled sobbing and several teachers trying to comfort someone.
“It’s alright, you did really well. Don’t cry-you can always try again next time.”
“But I worked so hard! I was supposed to be first. How could Emily Blair cheat and steal it from me?”
“Now, now,” one of the teachers said hesitantly, “there’s no proof Emily cheated.”
“Proof? Just look at her past grades! Has Emily Blair ever ranked first before? She’s never even made it into the top ten. Now, suddenly, she’s beaten the second-place score by more than twenty points? There’s no way she could have gotten that result honestly.”
It was Amelia Lane’s voice, dripping with sarcasm. Emily almost laughed. Standing at the office door, she raised her hand and knocked, polite as ever.