Alpha Rejected the Tomboy. Now, She’s Gone. Chapter 04
In his eyes, my ten years of unrequited love was nothing but a joke.
A searing heat spread through my chest.
I clenched my fists, held back my tears, and stared straight into Adam’s eyes.
“Is loving you for ten years really that ridiculous, Adam?”
Adam fell silent for a second, a flicker of complex emotion crossing his face.
He released my wrists, pushed me away, and warned me in a low, frigid tone.
“Jamie, I have a mate now. Stop throwing yourself at me.”
The bustling hallway fell dead quiet in an instant.
Mr. Wilson, our grade supervisor, strode over.
He glanced at the diary pages plastered across the lockers and snapped sharply, “Who did this?”
Every student answered in unison, “Jamie!”
“Jamie, the SATs are right around the corner, and you’re pulling these childish stunts? Are you trying to ruin your own future?”
He tore the pages off the lockers and tossed the crumpled stack into my arms.
“Stand in the hallway for detention! Write a five-thousand-word reflection and hand it to me tomorrow!”
Adam stood rooted to the spot, not uttering a single word in my defense.
I held the crumpled pages in my arms and stood in the empty hallway through two full prep classes.
I memorized SAT vocabulary while wiping away the tears I couldn’t hold back.
After school, I walked home with puffy, bloodshot eyes.
Adam caught up with me and held out the rest of my diary.
“I got the remaining pages back from Courtney.”
He hesitated, his tone awkward, “Jamie, about today…”
I took the diary without a second glance and tossed it straight into a roadside trash can.
“I won’t bother you anymore, Adam.”
I won’t love you again.
He froze, his face twisting with disbelief.
“Jamie, what are you talking about?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
I turned and walked into the narrow side alley.
The evening wind brushed past my ears, a final farewell to my fleeting youth.
Two days later, we sat for the final senior mock exam.
When the results came out, the entire grade fell into shock.
Courtney was no longer the top scorer.
I was.
I’d deliberately adjusted my score, beating her by exactly one point.
“No way—how did the tomboy score this high?”
“She outranked Courtney in just two weeks? That’s impossible, she must’ve cheated!”
Courtney slammed the score report down on my desk, her face furious.
“Jamie, how dare you cheat!”
“You sat right next to me during the exam. Did you copy my answers?”
I replied calmly, “I didn’t cheat.”
“You can still back out now, Courtney. You won’t lose too badly on the real SATs.”
Trembling with rage, she took her accusation straight to homeroom class.
In front of everyone, she claimed I’d plagiarized her exam paper.
Mr. Wilson eyed me doubtfully, “Jamie, did you cheat on this mock exam?”
“I didn’t, sir.”
The next second, a girl raised her hand.
“Sir, I saw her glancing at Courtney’s paper during the test!”
Another girl stood up right after.
“Me too! She definitely copied!”
“Yeah, we all saw it! Jamie cheated!”
I stood frozen in place, listening to the cascade of false testimonies.
My heart turned ice cold.
No proof, no evidence, yet the whole class condemned me.
Worst of all, the teacher believed every lie.
I was ordered out of the classroom and forced to stand under the blazing sun for detention.
That afternoon, the school sent a mass email to all students announcing my punishment.
My entire mock exam score was voided, and a formal warning was placed on my school record, valid until the end of the SATs.
The scorching sun blanched my lips and soaked my uniform in sweat. No one stopped to check on me. All I received was endless ridicule.
A bottle of water suddenly stretched out before me.
It was Adam.
“Aren’t you ashamed of yourself, Jamie? Cheating just to beat Courtney?”
“Stop playing these petty tricks, or you’ll never earn my respect.”
He turned to leave.
“Adam.”
I held his gaze, firm and unyielding. “I’m going to win for real.”
He muttered “crazy” under his breath and let his friends drag him away.
In the days that followed, I woke up every single morning and buried myself in practice questions, tuning out every taunt and laugh.
It rained in town on SAT exam day.
Right before I entered the testing center, I received a text message.
It was from the boy who’d always studied with me at the school library.
“Good luck on your SATs, Jamie. I’ll see you at the top.”
I typed back, “See you at the top.”
This time, I would give it my all.
Not for anyone else. Only for myself.
After the SATs ended, Adam came looking for me several times, but I refused to meet him.
Soon after, he spent every day hanging out with Courtney, posting their couple photos all over Instagram.
I muted his account without a second thought.
On score release day, Courtney gathered the entire pack, announcing she’d livestream my head-shaving punishment.
Courtney checked her scores first.
The numbers popped up on the screen: 1260.
The whole pack cheered loudly.
She smiled triumphantly.
“Just admit defeat, Jamie. I’ll even recommend a good barbershop for you.”
The mocking chorus rang out again.
“Courtney got a 1260! What could the tomboy possibly score to beat that?”
“Get ready to kneel and apologize—I’ve already started the livestream!”
I walked over to the school laptop and typed in my login credentials.
Adam stepped forward and pressed his hand over mine.
“Don’t check it, Jamie. Haven’t you embarrassed yourself enough?”
I brushed his hand away and clicked login without hesitation.
The next second, the classroom erupted in unprecedented, deafening screams.
