The steady ticking of the clock filled the exam hall, a sound meant to stir anxiety in most students. For many, it was torture.
For Stephanie Porter, it was just noise. She chewed absently on the plastic end of her pen, staring at the hands of the clock as if they had conspired to move slower than usual.
Her exam booklet was almost empty, and she had no one to blame but Hayden. The thought made her spit the chewed pen cover onto the desk with disgust.
Her morning had begun with chaos. She had stormed into Sofia's room, hurling insults at her and her roommates, mocking them for looking down on a low ranked student.
She had done it loud enough to wake the entire hall. If people hadn't known her before, they knew her now. Whispers had followed her through the corridor all morning.
The fight had been ridiculous. Sofia, half-asleep and furious, had screamed back, and Stephanie, puffed up with pride, had thrown out her boldest line: she promised that if she failed the exam, she would run across the courtyard in nothing but her underwear.
Now the weight of those words pressed down on her. She dropped her forehead onto the desk with a groan.
"What have I done?" she muttered through clenched teeth. "Why can't you ever keep your mouth shut, Stephanie?"
She had walked into the exam hall that morning with all her usual bravado, but the first glance at the test had stripped it away. Shame had settled in its place. She glanced at the clock again, irritated at how each second stretched.
"The one time I want time to move quickly, it refuses," she whispered.
Failure meant more than embarrassment. It meant losing Hayden for good. Since he was two years older, he was a senior and she wasn't in his class. But being a part of the academy's Class Elite meant she'd get to be in the same class.
It had been during a project in the past that they'd connected, naturally, easily. But that connection had faded, and she had ruined things further. She wasn't sure she'd ever get back into his world again.
She had trusted him—really trusted him—for the first time. He had given her questions and answers to study. She had spent the entire night revising. But when she opened the exam, she realized every single one was wrong.
She should have known better. She had gotten him suspended, humiliated in front of the entire school. He wasn't the type to forgive that. She had ignored the signs because she wanted to believe in him.
Now she could see it clearly. Hayden was in his petty phase. And still, she found it almost charming. The idea that he had gone out of his way to sabotage her—it turned her on in the strangest way. "He's such an immature cutie," she thought, smiling despite herself.
Her eyes scanned the questions again, determine to try because of Hayden. She had managed to answer only five out of sixty, and those few had been lifted directly from Hayden's sheet the night before.