Chapter 181

Mr. Baker came in to grade the exams himself.
He started with Shirley. She only managed to answer the first part of the last two big questions, and with a few mistakes earlier, her score dropped a bit from before.
Eighty-five.
Ronald saw her score and couldn’t help but smirk, his eyes full of mockery. This was it. Now everyone could see who really had the skills.
Next up was Olivia’s test.
She nailed all the multiple-choice questions. The fill-in-the-blanks were flawless too. Ronald watched as Mr. Baker kept putting checkmarks down, and his grin got wider. He was already picturing Olivia on top again.
But then, the final question-the hardest one-was wrong. She lost every point for that problem.
Ronald’s smile faded.
With the seven points she’d already lost earlier, Olivia’s total came to eighty-three.
Shirley had eighty-five. Olivia, just eighty-three. Two points behind.
No way. Olivia was always number one. How could Shirley beat her?
Ronald’s face went pale. Eleanor noticed and felt a rush of satisfaction. She bit back a laugh and said, “Mr. Baker, how about Charlotte’s paper?”
Charlotte? Ronald’s hands tightened into fists and he could barely breathe. Shirley’s high score made sense, she’d always been strong. But Charlotte? There was no chance she could have done well.
Mr. Baker opened Charlotte’s paper and went through it with the answer key, his red pen flying from start to finish. Every answer she’d written was correct.
Except for the last two questions she’d left blank, Charlotte got everything else right.
“So, what’s her total?” Ronald leaned in, squinting at all the red checkmarks, his eyes almost hurting.
Mr. Baker did the math and said seriously, “Ninety.”
“What?” Ronald grabbed the paper and flipped through it over and over, but no matter how many times he checked, it still added up to ninety.
Charlotte, ninety. Shirley, eighty-five. Olivia, only eighty-three. This time, Charlotte was at the very top.
“Mr. Lee, I think this settles it.
Charlotte and Shirley’s scores are the real deal.” Eleanor looked down at the two excellent papers on the deak, finally able to lift her chun with pride.

“No way. Absolutely not!” Ronald’s face turned ghostly white. He just couldn’t accept
it. “How could Charlotte possibly get first place?”
As soon as he said it, Olivia, who had been waiting anxiously for the scores, shot her head up in shock.
Charlotte got first? How could that be? Charlotte… outscoring everyone?
It felt like a bolt of lightning crashed through her mind. She couldn’t think straight anymore.
Charlotte just pressed her lips together, feeling a little guilty. Maybe she’d tried too hard.
“You were the one who kept the papers, they were unsealed right here, and Mr. Baker graded them himself. Why can’t Charlotte be
and Shirley second? Or do you
think only your students can win and everyone else is just useless Eleanor spoke up her voice quick and sharp. With the top two
students now in her class, she
straightened up, pride written all
over her face.

Olivia was still reeling from the shock. Not only was she not first, she wasn’t even second.
That couldn’t be. It was bad enough to lose to Shirley, but Charlotte?
“Charlotte knows people on the review panel, doesn’t she? Maybe she got the answers ahead of time! Ronald’s eyes darted around and he finally clung to what sounded like a reasonable excuse. That had to be it. She must have had the answers.
Just as Ronald finished talking, a strong, elderly voice came from the doorway. “Vanguard High sure is lively today. I could hear the commotion all the way from outside.”