He Turned My Exam Into a Joke, I Turned the Page Chapter 01

He Turned My Exam Into a Joke, I Turned the Page Chapter 01

During the final practice SAT before the real thing, my childhood best friend tampered with my Scantron answer sheet.

Everyone crowded around the answer sheet covered in crude pig doodles and burst out laughing.

“Oh my God, I’m dying. Who had it out for the school genius?”

“The genius is still number one, all right. Number one from the bottom!”

I stood off to the side, unable to laugh.

My phone kept lighting up with texts from Mom.

Mom: [Sienna, you lost the bet.]

Mom: [You didn’t come in first every single time. Now you have to go along with my plan and move overseas with me.]

I stared at the sticky note on the wall.

On it was the name of the university Luke Bennett and I had promised we would attend together: Alden University.

“Sienna.”

Luke walked over with his arm slung around Zoey Wells’s shoulders.

“You’re always first anyway. You don’t mind letting Zoey take first this once, right?”

“Besides, you could get into AU with your eyes closed.”

“Why the long face? It was just a joke. Rankings don’t even matter that much, so don’t be petty.”

I forced a smile and gave a small nod.

Then I replied to Mom’s text.

I replied: [Fine. A bet is a bet.]

***

On the way to the school office, Mom sent another message.

Mom: [Your plane ticket is booked.]

I turned off the screen.

I sat on the couch and listened to my homeroom teacher try to comfort me, but my mind had already drifted far away.

All I could think about was how hard the past three years had been.

The late nights, the endless test-prep classes, and the anxiety so bad I needed medication just to keep it under control.

I had endured all of it just so I could win that bet, stay in the States, and go to the same college as Luke.

He knew nothing about it.

Worse, the hope I had clung to had been destroyed by Luke himself, all because he wanted to make Zoey happy.

“Try not to think about it too much right now. I’ll handle this. Go back and focus on getting ready for the SAT.”

I had just reached the classroom door when I heard a burst of laughter from inside.

“I bet Sienna Parker comes back crying!”

“Hey, Luke, you grew up with her,” Mason Young said, nudging Luke. “What’s your bet?”

Luke took the Coke Zoey had been drinking and finished the rest in one gulp.

Instead of answering, he turned to Zoey.

“What about you?”

“I bet she won’t cry,” Zoey said, leaning against Luke’s shoulder. “She’s way too proud for that. At most, she’ll go home, hide under her blanket, and cry there.”

The laughter exploded like thunder, stabbing painfully through my ears.

“Then I’m betting the same as Zoey,” Luke said cheerfully.

“Tonight I’ll stop by Sienna’s house and see if she’s really hiding under her blanket crying.”

I lifted my chin, trying to force the sting back down.

But the more their words got to me, the less control I had. Tears slid down my cheeks and into the corner of my mouth.

They tasted unbearably salty.

Plenty of eyes in the hallway landed on me, full of mockery. Their stares felt like thorns and needles, forcing me to lower my head and rush into the restroom.

I stayed there for a long time.

I did not go back to the classroom until lunch.

As soon as I walked in, I saw Luke pulling a pack of pads from his backpack and stuffing it into his pocket.

He looked awkward when I caught him, so he explained, “Zoey always forgets when her period is coming, so I bought a pack to keep on me in case she needs it.”

“Sienna, I’m not going to the cafeteria with you today. I have to bring these to her.”

He hurried toward the back door.

“Just eat the sandwich and milk in the classroom. I got them for you.”

His voice disappeared down the hallway.

I turned and stared at the shrimp sandwich on my desk.

I remembered seeing that flavor in Zoey’s desk all the time.

Luke had bought it for her so often that when he bought lunch for me, he reached for the same thing out of habit. And somewhere along the way, his heart had followed that habit too.

He had even forgotten that I was allergic to shellfish.

I threw the sandwich and the milk into the trash.