My heart sank. I went to the office to talk to the
teacher.
<
In the days that followed, Brad and June were
always together, saying stuff to make people
hate me.
But I didn’t react. When everyone in school was insulting me, I showed them the truth: Brad cheated on me, and June knew about it. She
also tried to get people to attack me.
When June saw people looking down on her,
Brad stood up and broke up with me in front of
everyone.
He stared at me, looking both angry and hopeful. “Are you done? You’re the one who
pushed me to her. Are you sorry now?”
I laughed. “We’re done!”
Brad looked shocked. “Fine! See if I care!”
June cried. “Ginger, I’m sorry, but love is never
wrong! I want to live my life!”
I rolled my eyes. I told everyone she cheated
and blamed it on me. June fainted, and Brad
carried her away.
Time passed as I studied, fought back against
June and refreshed the comments section.
The day before the finals, I finished the last
problem and got ready to relax when Brad
found me.
He looked at me strangely. “Can you not take
the test tomorrow?”
I almost laughed. “Why?”
Brad said. “You’re always one step ahead of
June. If you take the test, she’s gonna feel
horrible!”
I said, “Not my problem.”
Brad sighed. “I know you’re still mad, but June
is different. I’m all she has. Besides, you’re the
one who moved, right?”
“Just don’t take the test tomorrow. June will be
upset and won’t be able to focus.”
I laughed and threw him out.
The next day, I went to the testing center. June
cried when she saw me.
The comments section was freaking out. [This
bitch doesn’t listen! Brad still has feelings for
her, but she’s making him ruin her life!]
I frowned. Brad’s eyes went cold as we made
eye contact.
As I was leaving after the last test, a teacher
stopped me, yelling, “You, show me the cheat
sheet!”
Everyone stared. The reporters started taking
pictures.
Someone said I’d been accused of cheating before. Everyone looked at me with disgust and started throwing stuff.
As I was being taken away, I said, “I already got
accepted to college early. Why would I cheat?”
Chapter 2
LO
5
Everyone stared at me.
June shrieked, “That’s impossible!”
Everyone turned to her. She stammered, trying
to recover. “Ginger, I know you want to be
number one, but you can’t cheat! And you can’t make up some story about getting into college early just to get out of this! Brad is your
childhood friend, and he doesn’t know anything about it. You’re lying!”
I laughed. “He’s been glued to you. How would hè know anything about me?”
I seemed calm, but I was freaking out inside.
If I hadn’t been tipped off by the comments section, and if I hadn’t prepared, the media would have torn me apart even if I was proven
innocent.
It made me sick. Brad and I had been close
forever. He was willing to do this to me for
some girl he’d known for two weeks!
I grabbed my Harvard acceptance letter from
my bag, ready to show everyone, but June
snatched it and ripped it to pieces!
“You’re still faking it? You cheated! The
teachers wouldn’t accuse you for no reason!
Are you going to let us search you? The teacher
said that, so they must have proof!”
I tensed. I had a feeling they’d planted
something on me. But when?
June saw I wasn’t saying anything and sneered,
“What? Are you scared?”
I scoffed. “Just check the security cameras.
And even if you rip it up, my information is
already in the Harvard system!”
The proctor looked annoyed and started
searching my clothes while the reporters filmed
everything.
She pulled out a note from my pocket.
A student gasped, “That’s today’s test! She cheated, and she copied the questions perfectly!”
June stepped forward. “I know your family has money, but you can’t just steal tests! Do you
think your parents can fix everything?”
The crowd got angry.
“Bitch! Why should we work hard while she gets
a free pass?!”
“She’s got to go! I bet she’s been cheating this whole time! Why else would she buy the test?!”
“She looks guilty! No wonder Brad dumped her!
Serves her right!”
Brad stood watching with a blank expression.
The comments section went wild.
[Yes! Brad is watching June. He’s about to
break her. He knows she’s perfect.]
The police arrived. “Who called us?”
“I did!”
June and I said at the same time. June glared
at me. “You have to steal everything?! She’s the
one who cheated!”
The officer walked toward me. June’s eyes lit
- up.
But instead of arresting me, the officer asked, “Did you call us?”
8
I nodded. June said, “I called! You can’t let her
go just because she’s rich!”
6
我做
The officer looked amused. “We got two calls.
But when the second call about cheating came.
in, we were already on our way.”
June argued, “There’s no way she would call the police!”
I scoffed. “What, I can’t call the police? You can
accuse me, but I can’t do anything about it?”
The other students looked uncertain.
Before June could say anything, the officer held
up a USB drive, glaring at the proctor. “Both
calls were about cheating, but they said the
opposite thing. We checked the security footage first.”
Not just the proctor and June, even Brad went
pale.
Brad rushed over. “Officer, there must be some kind of mistake. I don’t think Ginger cheated!”
He tried to grab the USB drive, but the officer pulled it away. Brad left, but he started blowing up my phone.
“What’s your deal? This is just a game! What
are you doing?”
I laughed and yelled to Brad, “A game? You
called the cops, too! Are you mad I’m still
alive?”
Brad flipped out. If June hadn’t grabbed him, he might have run.
2
8 201
–
I thought: What a loser! How did I ever fall for
him? At least I didn’t fall too hard.
The officer looked at Brad.
Then they started playing the video. I watched June, seeing her about to scream and faint to get everyone’s attention.
I punched her hard, twice. She yelled, forgetting
to faint.
Brad started to say something, “June, are you
okay?”
Everyone went silent. “June, were you faking
it?”
“Is Ginger being framed?”
“How can you even go through with stuff like
this? What a terrible human! Want to destroy
other with lies? This is low.”
“Trash couple. Just die in a hole! We don’t even
need to watch the video.”
The comments section was quiet.
[What is going on? This isn’t what I was
L
supposed to happen.]
[Yeah, not good. Maybe this book just bad and
this is where I give up and delete. Right now.]
Just after, a comment from the author popped
up in bold. [Guys, I am so so sorry! My book
glitching! Okay?! I FIX SOON!]
I almost lost it. I felt like destroying the USB
drive.