Chapter Forty-Eight - Cheater?

Emily stared at the paper, then stared harder. She was breathing harder than she should be, and yet it felt like she couldn't get enough air despite that.

It couldn't be.

Looking up, she glanced around the room. This wasn't the usual lecture hall where they sat and listened to a professor talk for a while, but was more of a traditional classroom, each student had a small desk to work from, all facing a blackboard and the teacher's desk.

The room still had a number of students in it. Some had swiped their papers and left right away, but a few were lingering to talk. Emily had been paying some attention to it, and there were several little friend groups forming within the class. Not that she was part of any of them.

Usually she was one of the students who was out of the room relatively quickly, but this paper...

It would be time for her midterms in a couple of weeks, and there was a palpable tension in the class as everyone started to get ready to cram and study for the upcoming exams. The paper had a note at the top, right next to the field for her name. Please come talk, Wesley Percyson.

That was the name of the teacher's assistant, and it was right next to her grade on the paper. A big fat zero.

Another student moved past Emily's desk and she glanced up just in time to see them catch sight of the zero and look up to her before walking on.

Emily's face felt unbearably warm all of a sudden. She snatched the paper off the desk and folded it in the middle. Standing on wobbly legs, Emily got up and quietly walked to the front of the class.

She'd been studying. She'd been doing her homework this entire time. And it wasn't easy. She felt like a single mom, taking care of four-to-six children with only a little bit of outside help. It was a miracle that she was keeping up with her studies at all, and most of that came from her sacrificing sleep and leisure time in order to have even a minute or two to do her work every day.

A zero was impossible. Maybe she wasn't studying or absorbing as much as she might have if she wasn't a villain, but to take in nothing at all? That was wrong. It had to be.

There was a small line by the teacher's assistant's desk, and Emily waited off to one side. Not quite in the line, but close enough to let people know that she wanted a chance to talk with Wesley at some point.

Finally, after a good ten minutes or so, the room was left entirely empty except for her and the TA. "H-hi," she said.

"Yes? Can I help you, miss..."

"Wright," Emily said.

There was a flash of recognition in Wesley's eyes. "Right, miss Wright. You're here about your results."

Emily nodded and placed the folded paper on the desk between them. She didn't want to unfold it and reveal that ugly zero again.

"You know, you're lucky that I gave you a zero," he said.

"What?" Emily squeaked.

"I could have you expelled outright."

Emily shook her head. "I don't understand," she said.

"Cheating isn't viewed well here. Nor is plagiarism."

She reeled back. "Ch-cheating? I didn't?"

Wesley stared at her, one eyebrow raised. "Really? Because your answers are identical to another students."

Emily shook her head. That was impossible. She had never cheated before. It wasn't even that she was entirely opposed to the idea of cheating (well, she supposed that she was) but she couldn't help imagining what would happen to her if she was caught. That thought gave her cold sweats and nightmares and now it was happening before her eyes without her even having cheated in the first place.

She swiped her paper from the table and looked it over. The answers were what she'd written, this wasn't a prank or anything. "No, no, these are my answers. I know they're right."

"Oh, they are," Wesley said. He stood up and started packing his things into a little suitcase, obviously done for the day. "That test scored the other student a nice ninety-four, which is clear above the class's average."

"But it's mine," Emily said. She felt a little faint, as if she hadn't eaten all day and was on the verge of trembling.

"Look," Wesley said as he closed his suitcase with a final snap. "Next time, don't cheat. Not so blatantly either."

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"I didn't," Emily whined.

The teacher's assistant just sighed and picked up his case. He started heading towards the door. "Sure, sure. I didn't get you expelled. Clean up your ac--"

Emily didn't remember moving, or grabbing onto Wesley's arm, but here she was, with a firm grip around the young man's forearm that stopped him in place. She blinked past the tears gathering in her eyes.

Her chest still trembled, and her hands shook, but now the panic was being burned away as if it was doused in gasoline. "No," she said. "I want you to tell me who cheated off of me."

Wesley shook his arm, as if that would be enough to get her to let go. He frowned, but did come around to answering her question. "It's the professor's niece. She's a grade-A student. I can't imagine why she would cheat, let alone on you. She has a number of friends in the class and is well-liked."

The implication--Emily noticed immediately--was that she herself wasn't well-liked in the same way, nor did she have any friends in the class. Or many outside of it.

"I didn't cheat," Emily said.

"Let go of me," Wesley said. "Maybe I'll present your paper to the professor. Would you like that? Being expelled not even a semester in?"

Emily took in a quick breath. That would be... so unfair.

It happened often, though. Not accusations of cheating, but accusations of stuff that she couldn't defend against. People walked all over those who didn't have a voice to defend themselves with, and Emily was one of those. First putting pickles in her burger when she was too shy to ask for a refund, and now this whole thing.

"Listen to me, Wesley," Emily said. She used the same tone she unleashed on her little sisters when they really needed to listen. Soft, and calm, but with an edge. Her grip tightened, anchoring her to the teacher's assistant. "You're accusing me without evidence. You made an assumption. You presumed that I was guilty and another party, who isn't here, wasn't."

"Let, let go of me," Wesley said.

Her eyes finally looked up and met Wesley's for the first time since this whole thing started. He looked increasingly uncomfortable. "Did you do it because it was convenient? Because the professor's niece can't possibly be in the wrong? Do you like her that much? Did she smile at you? Did she say the right things? You say she's well-liked and has friends. Are you saying that I don't? Because you might be right. I've been doing all of this on my own, I've been juggling problems that you can't even imagine, Wesley. I haven't had a good night's sleep in months, Wesley. I have to do my homework while kids are screaming and starting fires all around me, Wesley."

Wesley tried to tug his arm free.

She didn't let go.

"No. No, you don't get to talk, Wesley. You're going to listen to me, because you've been a very, very bad... man. You decided to ruin a perfectly good afternoon because I'm not as popular as someone else? Or was it because you're too lazy, sitting there at your tiny, pathetic desk, making judgements like you're some sort of academic god? Do you have any idea how much stress I'm under? Do you?"

"I--"

"Shut up, Wesley," Emily snapped. It wasn't the kind of language she'd use on her sisters. But Wesley wasn't a sister of hers. "I didn't cheat. I studied for that test. I put in the hours even if it wasn't easy. You made an assumption and you were wrong. I will not be penalised for someone else's actions. I will not allow you to sabotage my education just because you can't be bothered to actively investigate. I am tired of idiots with a tiny smidge of power being too lazy to do their damned jobs."

Wesley finally managed to pull his arm free from Emily's grip. She was breathing heavily, and was probably a little sweaty and dishevelled. The adrenaline still spiking through her was the only thing that stopped her from folding into a nervous little ball to be swallowed up by the floor.

Wesley seemed to find his voice. "I'll... talk to the professor?"

"Yes, that would be nice, thank you," Emily said. She cleared her throat, then scampered out of the classroom, hugging her stuff to her chest. "No, no no," she muttered to herself.

Emily slipped through the crowds outside, invisible as always, even if she was muttering to herself the entire time.

"I am not a villain," she said, even if it had felt spectacular.

***