Before high school graduation, the class's airheaded "prom queen" volunteered to hold onto everyone's exam admission tickets for safekeeping. As the class president, I firmly refused. This annoyed my childhood friend, Carter: "You're targeting her again." I ignored him. On the day of the SATs, I personally checked everyone's IDs and tickets one by one to make sure there were no issues. But the moment the prom queen got her hands on the tickets, she turned around and cried that I had lost hers. Carter snatched my own admission ticket from my hand and tore it to shreds. Before I could even get angry, I ran until my legs gave out, managing to get a replacement ticket printed just seconds before the bus left for the testing center. But my classmates kicked me off the bus. "You lost Bella's ticket. You don't deserve to take the test." Using the study guide I had prepared for them, every single one of them got excellent scores. I had no choice but to repeat the year. I became the top scorer in the state. When the news interviewed me, Carter and my former classmates—now successful students at top universities—returned to our high school. They presented fabricated evidence that I had cheated. I couldn't defend myself. A student who had failed because of the cheating scandal poured gasoline on me and lit a match. Carter watched me burn in agony, shielding Bella behind him. Years later, after graduating from an Ivy League school, he gave Bella a multi-million dollar wedding. The whole class fought to be their groomsmen and bridesmaids. When I opened my eyes again, I didn't hesitate. I handed all the admission tickets to the clumsy prom queen. Except for mine. 1 "I just gave the protein bar you brought me to Bella. Do you have to target her like that?" Carter’s annoyed voice rang in my ears. "Bella is frail. With exams coming up, she needs the nutrition more than I do. "You call yourself fair? Then let Bella hold onto the admission tickets! Stop being such a control freak!" My hand tightened around my own ticket. In my past life, Carter had backed Bella just like this. I had fought with him, even dragging the homeroom teacher in to mediate so the tickets wouldn't fall into Bella's hands. But my classmates immediately accused me of bullying Bella, saying I wasn't fit to be class president. They isolated me. I had to beg them, one by one, to use the study guide I spent sleepless nights creating. Those very questions helped students who were barely passing get into state universities. But they didn't thank me. Instead, when the failed student doused me in gasoline, they deliberately called my parents to watch. My parents watched me burn alive. Carter shielded Bella, laughing. My parents couldn't take the shock and ran into the fire with me... "Samantha, don't be too much..." "Here." I shoved the stack of admission tickets into Bella's hands, cutting Carter off. Then I grabbed my backpack and turned to leave. I didn't want to look at these people for a second longer. I wouldn't step foot in this school again until exam day. Bella gasped, clearly surprised that I had handed the tickets over so easily. But just as I stepped out of the classroom, Carter grabbed my backpack strap and yanked me back. "Wait. Where's your ticket?" "I'm keeping it." I pushed Carter away impatiently, but he wouldn't let go. "No. We agreed everyone's tickets go to Bella for safekeeping. Yours too." "Why?" I clutched my ticket, putting distance between us. "You guys want Bella to hold yours, I won't stop you. But I don't want to. Is there a problem with me keeping my own property?" "Jesus, Sam, can you stop being jealous for five seconds?" The gym rep, Mike, stepped up and grabbed my arm. Other class officers joined in: "Yeah, Bella is our class mascot. She just wants to do something nice. Why do you have to be so difficult?" "As class president, you should trust your classmates. If we say Bella holds them, she holds them all. No exceptions!" Mike snatched my ticket from my hand and tossed it to Carter. I lunged for it, but the boys played keep-away, tossing my ticket back and forth over my head. "Come on, Prez! Jump for it!" "Haha, look at her hopping around like a dog!" "Serves you right! Always bossing us around!" I slammed my backpack onto the floor with a loud thud and stormed out the door. Carter’s smile froze. Someone whispered, "Is she crying?" Carter frowned, looking in the direction I had gone. I washed my face in the bathroom, hiding any trace of tears. It didn't matter. I looked at myself in the mirror. If the ticket was gone, it was gone. I didn't want it. There was still time to get a replacement. But when I returned to the classroom, the first thing I heard was the sound of cards shuffling. I rushed in and saw my classmates sitting in a circle, playing poker with the admission tickets. 2 The game was intense. Several tickets had fallen onto the dirty floor, but no one cared. "Bella's a genius! Exactly 54 people in class, perfect for a deck of cards!" "School banned poker, and Sam watches us like a hawk. Good thing Bella has the tickets. Let's see Sam confiscate these! Haha!" "I play this one! Who dares to beat it?" "I dare! I have Carter!" "Then I play Bella!" Tickets were slapped onto the desk. When they saw me, they frowned. "What are you looking at? You gonna manage the tickets too?" "Exams are in two days. You aren't studying?" I asked, genuinely curious. They scoffed. "What's there to be afraid of? Didn't you say you made a study guide for us?" I paused. In my last life, I stayed up all night analyzing past exams. They scoffed at my guide, and I had to beg them to use it. So they knew how important it was all along? Bella's eyes darted around. She smiled and played my ticket. "I play the Class President. Who can beat her?" "The Prez?" Everyone's attention snapped back to the game. "I play Jerry!" "Ooh! Even the class clown beats the President?" "Tsk! Sam, looks like anyone can beat you, huh?" "Wow, deep meaning there. I play Kevin!" "Josh!" Tickets piled on top of mine. The boys whose faces were played groaned. "Hey! I don't want to be on top of her! Gross!" The room erupted in laughter. Bella giggled, covering her mouth. "Oh stop it, you guys are so mean. Someone might think you're talking about a toilet." Slap! A hand struck Bella across the face. Carter had gone looking for me, hadn't found me, and came back just in time to see this. "Samantha!" He grabbed my wrist. "What are you doing!" The class immediately started shouting, accusing me of being jealous of Bella. "Carter!" I pointed at the pile of tickets on the desk. "They're using my ticket like a piece of trash to be stepped on. Am I supposed to applaud?" Looking at the thick stack pressing down on my face, even Carter couldn't miss the implication. "Carter..." Bella tugged at his sleeve, her voice soft and pitiful. "We were just joking..." But Carter looked at my red eyes and hesitated. For the first time, he didn't immediately side with Bella. "Pack it up." "Aw, Carter..." "I said pack it up!" Carter frowned. The class shut up and started gathering the tickets. He looked at me, wanting to say something, but I grabbed my bag and walked out without looking back. 3 I didn't go back to school, but Bella made sure to update me on their situation. In a karaoke room, the whole class was celebrating a "Prez-free" pre-exam party. Carter had his arm around Bella's shoulder, grinning as he interrogated the Arts rep: "Letting Bella take the tickets today, was that to show Sam who's boss? Speak!" The room erupted in cheers. In front of everyone, Carter tore my admission ticket into pieces, smiling at Bella. "Believe me now? Princess?" "Carter's the man!" "Carter and Bella, power couple!" Beer sprayed into the air. Amidst the cheers, a voice message from Bella popped up on my phone: "Oops, sorry. I was just joking. I didn't think he'd actually tear up your ticket just to prove he doesn't care about you~" I forwarded the video to Carter. He replied the next day, after his hangover cleared. "Oh, drank too much last night. Forgot to tell you. Go get a replacement." I gripped my phone. "Carter, if I hadn't messaged you, were you going to wait until the exam started to tell me?" He choked, then got annoyed. "Can you stop being so jealous?" He hung up. I used to want to take the exams mainly to go to the same college as Carter. But not anymore. I dialed my aunt's number at the Research Institute. "Auntie, I finished the code for the project. I accept the offer. I'll join the Institute early." "Oh my god, Sam! You finally agreed! What about your little boyfriend? Is he coming to the capital too?" I shook my head. "We're done." My aunt's institute had some coding problems that only I could solve. With my memories from my past life, the project was a breeze. Without the pressure of exams, I focused on packing for the capital. But the day before the exam, my classmates started spamming me. "Prez? Where's the study guide you promised?" "Exams are tomorrow!" "Are you for real? I need to sleep by ten!" They were frantic. But when I begged them to study before, they had scoffed: "Trying to get attention because Bella is the favorite now?" "Lol, your guide is for dogs." I replied in the main group chat: [No guide. You're on your own.] The group exploded. "What do you mean! You said you'd do it!" "I haven't studied at all waiting for this! You did this on purpose!" "Fine, fine! We apologize for liking Bella more. Just send the guide!" I couldn't help but laugh. "Who said my guide was for dogs? Since you don't trust me, why didn't you study? "Idiots who can't take responsibility for themselves deserve to fail!" I had never been this blunt. The class lost their minds. Just as I was about to turn off my phone, Bella sent a zip file to the group. [Even though I'm not as smart as the Prez, I organized some practice questions. Hope it helps~] I opened it. Every single question perfectly avoided the actual exam topics. But the class was ecstatic. [Bella is the best! Keeping our tickets AND helping us study. Unlike a certain useless president.] [Lol, besides being jealous, what can she do?] A notification popped up— I had been kicked from the group chat. I wasn't angry at all. They probably hadn't noticed yet. During their little party, several admission tickets had slipped out of Bella's bag and into the trash can. 4 On the day of the exam, I went to the school gate to soak in the atmosphere. From a distance, I saw Bella surrounded by a crowd. "What's going on? Did you leave them in another bag? They can't be lost!" Bella's eyes were red as she frantically dug through her backpack. "Impossible... I checked last night, everyone's was there..." I knew she was lying. Tickets fell into the trash the night they got drunk. How could she have checked? The students looked nervous, glancing at the exam hall while trying to be patient. "It's okay, look again. We have thirty minutes..." But ten minutes passed. The bag was turned inside out. No tickets. "You didn't actually lose them, right?" Mike, the gym rep, snapped first. He rushed forward and grabbed the bag, shaking it out. "Holy sh*t! You lost them?!" "No way!" The class swarmed her, searching her pockets, her jacket. "Bella, you said you'd keep them safe! Where are they! You lost 54 tickets!" "I... I..." Bella hugged herself, looking pitiful. But she wasn't the class mascot anymore. "Find them now or we're dragging you to the police station!" Some girls collapsed on the ground crying. "How could this happen! We should have let Sam keep them! She's responsible!" Carter stepped forward, looking conflicted. "Bella, think hard. If they're at home, there's still time." But the police had already checked her house ten minutes ago. Nothing. "Bitch!" Mike tore her bag in half. "I stayed up all night studying that guide! Now you tell me I can't take the test?!" Parents were losing it too. "What is going on! Aren't you the class president? I thought you were reliable!" When they found out Bella was just "helping," the parents had a meltdown. "You idiots! Your president is so responsible! Why give them to her?!" Bella was surrounded. Just as the mob was about to turn violent, she pointed a finger at me. "I remember! It was Sam! She didn't trust me yesterday, so she forced me to give her the tickets!" Everyone turned to look at me. I looked at the parents. "I think you all know my character." The parents hesitated. They knew how diligent I usually was. Seeing them waver, Bella tugged on Carter's sleeve. "Carter... you know, right? Sam took them..." Carter stiffened. He looked at me, hesitating. "Carter..." My voice was raspy. He hardened his gaze. "Yes. I saw her take the tickets last night!" The parents snapped. They rushed me, patted me down. One slap landed hard on my face. "Scum! Where is my son's ticket!" "And my daughter's!" I ignored the pain and pulled out my phone. "I didn't take them! Bella lost them and framed me!" Bella started wailing. "Sam, how can you lie like that! I might make mistakes, but I would never joke with everyone's future! You're the one who promised a study guide and then bailed. Now you're framing me!" Mike was furious. He slapped the phone out of my hand. "She definitely lost them! She bailed on the guide, and Bella sent us the real questions. "Why would Bella help us study if she wanted to sabotage us? It has to be Sam!" Students and parents swarmed me, pulling my hair, tearing my clothes. "Bitch! Where are the tickets! Tell us or I'll strip you right here!" "If my son can't take the test, you're going to the hospital!" They were so angry the police couldn't hold them back. I looked at Carter. He instinctively shielded Bella, frowning at me. "Stop it! Just give them the tickets!" My mouth tasted like blood. I used all my strength to grab my cracked phone from the ground and hold it up. "Who lost them? Watch the video and see!" Bella's face went white.
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