Cheating during Examination

By HLin

My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to find a solution to the question. The question seemed to be mocking me, challenging me to answer it. My eyes were staring hard at the question but my mind was a complete blank. I narrowed my eyes and tried to concentrate on the question but I just couldn't find the answer. Beads of perspiration formed on my forehead as I racked my brain to recall all the solutions for the complicated sums. "This must be the most complicated sum in the exam paper," I reassured myself. "I wonder if the other pupils could do it," I muttered to myself and then scanned around the classroom. Everyone was scribbling furiously on their exam papers, oblivious to the whirling of the fan and the faint but audible ticking of the clock. My heart sank. It seemed that I was the only one in the class who did not know how to do this sum. I regretted drifting off to my dreamland during Mr Johnson's monotonous Mathematics lecture. Mathematics was my Achilles' heels, so I did not like it a lot. I heaved a sigh of resignation and was going to continue to do my work when somebody caught my attention.

A few rounds in front, Kate was looking around frantically as if she had done something wrong and did not want others to know. My eyes dropped to my exam papers. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Kate sliding her delicate hands into her pockets after she was sure that no one was watching her. My eyes were now fixed on her. She fished out a piece of note. Realisation hit me like a twenty-pound sledgehammer. Kate was cheating! How could it be? Popular Kate cheating? That was simply out of the question! I withdrew my gaze from her as I kept telling myself that my eyes were just playing a trick on me. I turned back to Kate who was scribbling furiously on her exam papers while referring to the piece of note nestled on her lap. I was in a dilemma. Should I tell the invigilator or not? If I did not, Kate would continue doing the wrong thing but if I did, then Kate would slaughter me. No! I must not go against my conscience.

With that thought, I raised my hands high up in the air. The invigilator, Mdm Tan, gave me a stern look but I knew I could not turn back now. Mdm Tan was notorious for being the fiercest teacher in school. The sight of her would send pupils running in the opposite direction. Her lips were so red that the new primary one pupils thought she was in the evil queen in a fairytale. Every pupil in the school was afraid of her when they did something wrong in front of her because her thunderous voice could travel several metres when she scolded them. Mdm Tan's heels clicked loudly in the dead silence as she walked towards me, her back ramrod straight.

Just as she came near to my table, I related what I had seen to her."Are you sure?" Mdm Tan asked me doubtfully. I nodded my head. Then, she strode across the classroom and reached Kate's table. "Jane, tell me that little secret which you should share with me," Mdm Tan spoke to Kate, her voice dangerously soft. I lowered my head and watched Mdm Tan and Kate out of the corner of my eyes, afraid to think of what might happen next. Kate handed the piece of note to Mdm Tan with shaky hands. Immediately, Mdm Tan snatched away Kate's exam paper. Everyone gasped when they saw Mdm Tan tearing Kate's exam papers into half. "Get back to your work!" She commanded, and instantly, all thirty-eight pupils quickly went back to do their work.

I took a peep at Kate, who was staring at me, a ferocious flame dancing in her eyes. If looks could kill, I would have withered there and then."Time's up!" Mdm Tan shouted and snatched everyone's exam papers. I reluctantly handed in my exam paper as it was only two-third done. "Ring....." The recess bell rang. I tried to avoid Kate and her friends who were the "superstars" in our school. Every boy drools when they see them and every girl admires them except for me.However, Lady Luck did not seem to be on my side. "Stop there, you ugly stupid Jane!" the girls screeched. I bit my lips as I turned around to face them. "Hello," I tried to be friendly with them but they started to rain punches on me. Soon, I laid spread-eagled on the floor and my spectacles was grabbed and flung away. I groped around, trying to feel for my spectacles."Want your spectacles?" Kate's voice was coated with mockery as she spoke to me. "Dream on!" Although my vision was now blurred, I could still make out a figure stepping on my spectacles. The glass cracked and Kate's friend broke the spectacles into pieces.

Anger began to build up in me. Didn't they have any respect for me? With that thought, I bit Kate's thigh and she let out a shriek, "Get away!" She shoved me and I fell backwards. I lunged again at Kate. It was such a bad move. I even had to suffer the dire consequences of it. Kate and her friends began to kick my body and my head. Soon, bruises covered all parts of my body. "Guys, let's go, I think she has learnt her lesson," Kate told her friends and they left, leaving me alone. Suddenly, the world began to whirl around me as the last thin thread of consciousness slipped away and I was swept into unconsciousness.

I rubbed my eyes. Everything swam when I opened my eyes fully. Where was I? In heaven? It was very soft there! "Hey Jane,how are you feeling now," our school's 'nurse' asked me. "I'm fine, thank you," I replied. "Jane, Kate and her friends were expelled from the school because of what they had done to you," the nurse said. I froze. Expelled? It took me a moment to digest what I was hearing. "No way!" I said. "I want them back! Although they had been nasty to me, I think they can be very pleasant people!" I drowned out the protests from the nurse. "Nurse, wait for me for a while. I'm going to the principal's office," I told her and sprinted to the principal's office. I explained to the principal why the errant girls should not be expelled from the school and after a few minutes, the principal finally relented after he made the girls promised that they would turn over a new leaf. I believed that Kate and her friends would change, and they did. From the day onwards, Kate and her friends return to school. We became the best of friends and helped one another in times of needs.