School Beauty Accuses Our Class of Cheating Chapter 05
The bus doors were shut, and the windows were sealed. All 36 of us were trapped inside the bus, baking in the early summer heat. At last, someone could not take it anymore and shot to their feet with fury written all over their face.
“Pearl, don’t you think you’ve taken this joke way too far? The exam has already started! What the hell are we supposed to do now?”
Pearl twisted the hem of her shirt nervously as she stammered, “I-I just wanted everyone to relax a little…”
Before she could finish, tears were already streaming down her face.
Landon immediately stood up and pulled her into his arms. “That’s enough. We all agreed to this beforehand. How is this Pearl’s fault?”
His gaze swept across the bus before settling on me.
“If anyone’s to blame, it’s Vivian. You’re the class president. Weren’t you supposed to keep everyone in line and make sure we stayed on schedule? If you’d reminded us sooner, would things have gotten this bad?”
Claire nodded in agreement. “Exactly! What kind of class president are you? Whenever Pearl jokes around, you’re always making a big deal out of it. But when we actually needed you to step up, you didn’t say a damn thing. This is all your fault!”
“I think she did this on purpose!” Diana sneered viciously, “We’ve always taken Pearl’s side, so she’s using this chance to ruin all of us!”
For a moment, accusation after accusation came crashing down on me.
As I listened to their endless complaints, I could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of irony. No matter what choice I made, somehow, it always ended up being my fault.
Pearl sniffled, wiped away her tears and spoke in a soft tone, “Everyone, don’t panic. Students are allowed to enter the exam hall within 15 minutes after the exam starts. We’re the top honors class. The school will make an exception for us. Haven’t they always done that?”
The students froze for a moment before nodding enthusiastically.
“She’s right. The city’s college admissions statistics depend on our class.”
“Remember that competition we were late for? They still let us participate.”
“Good grades speak for themselves. What’s there to be afraid of?!”
The tense atmosphere on the bus immediately relaxed.
I could not help but laugh at how ridiculous they were when I saw the confidence returned to their faces. They believed they were untouchable and that as long as they had top grades, the rules would bend for them.
The bus doors swung open once again, and a large group of people boarded. The lead officer’s face was dark with anger as he slammed his hand against the back of a seat.
“There were people on the rooftop across the street, but they were part of the official electronic signal
inspection team assigned to the exam site. They were no signal transmitters.
“We’ve also verified all of your records. Every piece of information matches. There are no exam substitutes, no hired test takers. What exactly are you students trying to pull?”
Everyone secretly glanced at Pearl.
Her face had gone pale as she shakily stood up. “Officer, I already told you it was just a joke. Everyone was nervous before the exam, so I thought I’d lighten the mood. Now that everything’s been cleared up, we can go take our exam, right?”
The rest of the class hurriedly chimed in.
“Yeah, it was just a joke!”
The expressions of the inspection team’s members darkened even further.
After a long silence, one of the older officials waved his hand. “Everyone else, get to the exam hall immediately. As for Pearl, you’re being detained for creating a public disturbance and obstructing official duties. You’ll remain here for questioning.”
The smile on Pearl’s face froze. For the first time, genuine panic appeared in her eyes. “W-What? I was just joking! Why can’t I take the exam?”
She turned desperately toward her classmates. “I’d like to take the exam with everyone else! We promised we’d stick together no matter what… Claire, Diana…”
The students looked at her awkwardly. Claire immediately avoided the hand Pearl reached out to her. “You know how much my mom expects from me, Pearl. I can’t afford to fail and repeat my senior year…”
Diana did not even look at her before turning toward the bus door.
Pearl’s face flushed bright red as sweat began rolling down her forehead. Suddenly, her body went limp and she collapsed.
“Pearl!” Landon caught her in his arms.
She leaned weakly against his chest, choked back a sob, and whispered, “It’s okay, Landon. Don’t worry about me. Go and take your exam…
“I probably won’t be able to take it today anyway. I’ve had a fever since yesterday. I think I caught it from that bar where I performed a few days ago. There was a highly contagious strain of influenza reported there…”
“What did you just say?” The inspection team immediately took several steps backward.
At the same time, every walkie-talkie on the bus crackled to life.
“Command Center! A student on the exam bus has reported a possible infection with a highly contagious strain of influenza. Requesting the epidemic prevention team to respond immediately!”
Within moments, medical personnel dressed in white protective suits completely surrounded the bus.
Twenty minutes had already passed since the exam began. The entire class had officially lost their chance to take the first subject.
Everyone’s faces turned as white as paper. Some of the more emotional girls had already begun sobbing.
I was the only one remaining quietly seated, as though none of this had anything to do with me.
Landon exploded in anger when he saw the indifferent look on my face. “Vivian, what the hell are you acting so calm for? It’s not like you’ll get to take the exam either!”
Before I could respond, Ms. Zane, who had been slumped in the front seat the entire time, suddenly stood up. Her fingers were trembling with rage. “How dare you compare yourself to her? Vivian doesn’t even need to take the exam!”
