C4 Who popped the gum

Soon it was time for them to turn over their exam scripts. Paige's timer went off and she immediately woke up. She looked at the boy beside her who was fast asleep and slightly shook her head.

“Alright students" said Mr Powers. “You have 10 minutes to turn in your exam scripts. Please make sure that you recheck your answers and if you wish to change any answers then you can do so with the limited time you have. Remember 10 minutes”. As he spoke that was suddenly a loud sound at the back of the class. He quickly turned to the direction the sound came from. “Who did that?” he asked angrily. Nobody said anything. “I'm going to ask you guys one last time who popped the gum?” this time Mr Powers was really angry. He hated students chewing gum in his class and today was the day of the final exam and someone dared to pop a gum right before they were to submit the scripts.

Camilla foolishly got up and said “I popped the gum sir". She seemed pretty proud when she confessed. Mr Powers looked at her from the corner of his eyes. Camila suddenly felt cold shivers run down her spine. Mr Powers walked to where Camilla stood. He looked at her from head to toe then he said “interesting that you can admit your mistake. You dared to pop a gum in my class and you still dared to say that you were the one who did it". Mr Powers already disliked Camilla but she just made matters worse for herself. He grabbed her exam scripts from the table and said “I saw you cheating earlier and I initially wanted to let it slide because I wouldn't want you to repeat 12th grade as I see you like my daughter. But you dare to do what even my daughter wouldn't do". As he spoke his eyes slowly turned red showing how angry he was. Camilla got really scared and slowly move back. She tripped on the table behind her and nearly fell down but ended up sitting on it. Mr Powers looked at her scared figure in front of him. Then he said “I'm going to report this to the school authority then you will have to re-sit the exams".

Camilla was really scared. She really hoped that through cheating she could get the scholarship that the government was offering to their school. But she could have never imagined that Mr Powers would see her even though she was really careful while using the cheats. Then she thought for a minute and ask herself “why did Mr Powers plan to hide it in the first place?. Anyways now I can't go down alone". She looked down panicking. “It would be unfair if only I lose the scholarship". She lifted her head up and saw that Mr powers was walking out of the hall with her script in his hand. Then she shouted “Hold on Mr Powers there is something that I have to say". She spoke softly while looking at her feet . Well actually...... She started to stammer. you....you see sir actually I wasn't the only one who cheated. The truth is that it was Pascale who brought the cheats to the class. She looked into his eyes as she spoke as she seemed to have found some courage from snitching on the group. “He snuck into the principal's office two nights ago" she said “and stole the exam questions that's how he got the cheats for me and it wasn't just both of us used it Chris and Brittney and Sophie, Jason and Emerald as well as Casper and Jade, Rose, Amanda, Stephanie, Amelia, Mark, David and Jude. Loki too yes all of us used the cheats".

Mr Powers couldn't help but facepalm. He looked at all the students whose names were mentioned. “ You all are a big disgrace to liberty highschool. I can't believe we've reared such kind of people". He walked to his table and sat down. He placed his hand on his chin and was thinking for minutes.

....

Camilla slowly sat down awaiting his final decision. Those who weren't involved, passed their scripts to the teacher and sat back down, while the other students threw death glares at her. She suddenly felt like sinking into her seat. Brittney threw a note at her. She opened it. “Camilla you slut! Just wait and see what I do to you after this exam". Camilla glanced at the note and wasn't scared in the slightest. She crossed her legs and continued chewing gum. At this point, Brittney's blood boiled. She wanted to get up and break Camilla's nose. But she was held back by Chris.

Mr Powers then got up. “I have made a decision" he said. “and I want you all to listen to it". He walked to the table and took the scripts of all those who cheated. Then he handed a plain white sheet to the girl behind Camilla. “write out all your names. And do it quickly". He walked back to the front of the class and said “I have decided to secretly let you guys re-sit this paper. Since I'm the exams officer I can only help you like this. The questions will be set by me, so do not expect the same questions. Go back home and prepare. Be here 10.a.m Saturday morning". He turned around to leave the class. He remembered something and stopped. He said “ oh! and one more thing. Everything that happened in this hall today, stays here. Snitching ain't gonna help no one here. Since the number of those involved is high, the principal mustn't know. Or our school would be denied the scholarship".

He left the class without looking back. He was really angry, but he tried to control it. He walked to the cafeteria and ordered iced coffee. He took out a bottle from his pocket, and put the pills in his mouth. He then took a sip of his coffee. “I hope God can forgive these kids. They're so innocent". He said to himself. He was worried about their future.

......

The students exchanged looks. Then they silently left the hall. The strange boy kept walking closely behind Paige. She was starting to get really irritated, but she didn't say anything. As they were about to walk into the cafeteria, they saw Mr Powers put the pills in his mouth. Paige was shocked for a bit. The boy came closer and whispered in her ear “baby, which pill do you think Mr Powers ate?". Paige moved away and said “I don't know. As you can see, the both of us got here at the same time and saw this. So don't ask me. I didn't give him the prescription". “and stop calling me baby" she said with a red face.

The boy smiled stupidly. “Don't worry. Mr Powers is a strong man. I'm sure he's fine. Maybe it's just a headache" he said comfortingly more to himself than to Paige. Mr Powers had been his home tutor for more than ten years. And three years ago, when he lost his dad, Mr Powers had played the role of his dad perfectly, and never let him miss his dad. So of course he cared about him. Even though he always forgets his name after being together for so long. He clearly loved him a lot.

Hey boy! Hello..... Paige kept calling out to him, but he seemed to be lost in thought. She took her index finger and poked his torso. Only then did he return to reality.

“What were you spacing out for. Huh!?" Paige asked. “It's nothing". He said. “I just remembered something. But that's not important. Let's go eat". He pulled her along and went to get lunch. They sat on the table opposite each other. Paige ate happily. She felt like she didn't have breakfast this morning. The exam was really brain draining. The boy next to her smiled as he watched her enjoy her food.

“Baby don't you want to know my name?" He asked Paige as she kept swallowing her muffins. She shifted her gaze from the plate of food to the boy in front of her. She didn't say anything. She took a sip of her juice and swallowed. Then she said: “wow! So your brain also realizes that you should introduce yourself by saying your name". “That's interesting. I thought you didn't know these things". No matter what she said, he didn't get angry. He only smiled. “Sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier. I was in a hurry and I had something to attend to before the exams". He wiped his hands with a tissue and extended his hand for a handshake. “Hello Paige I'm Uriel. You can call me Urie. Nice to meet you". Paige looked at his extended hand and was hesitant to shake hands with him. He grabbed her hand and shook forcefully.

After they finished eating, she got up and said, “I'll be leaving now. It was nice knowing you Uriel". She took her bag and walked out of the cafeteria. She wanted to get away from him. She felt like he'd have a negative effect on her. He quickly followed behind her. “Hey! Wait for me I'll come with you". Paige stopped in her tracks. “Why would you want to go with me. Did u forget the way to your house?"