chapter 2
Chloe and I never went to school together.
Dad drove her every morning, and I rode my bike alone, which meant she always arrived first.
The next day, when I walked into the classroom, a group of girls had already gathered around her desk.
“That’s insane. Avery looks so quiet, but she’s actually like that?”
“Seriously. She’s jealous of her own sister.”
“And she locked herself in her room just because her parents praised Chloe? That’s ungrateful.”
“Chloe, you’re so nice to her. She really doesn’t deserve it.”
The second I stepped inside, the voices dropped.
“Keep it down,” someone hissed. “She’s here.”
I didn’t like drama, but I wasn’t afraid of it either. I walked straight over.
“If you have something to say, say it to my face.”
Chloe instantly put on that pitiful expression she wore so well, like I was the one bullying her.
“It’s nothing, Avery. We were just talking. Don’t take it personally.”
A girl with short hair beside her stood up immediately.
“Why are you acting so aggressive? Are you really that jealous that your sister scored better than you?”
“Yeah,” another girl chimed in. “You should apologize.”
I looked at them one by one.
“You’re accusing me of being jealous? Fine. Show me proof. Otherwise, you’re just spreading lies.”
That finally got Chloe to speak.
“Avery, I know you don’t believe my score was real. So let’s make a bet. If I outscore you again on the next exam, then that proves this is my true ability.”
I agreed without hesitation.
I didn’t believe for one second that Chloe could keep pulling high scores forever.
Mock exam rankings mattered. Recommendations mattered. Scholarship paths mattered. Every exam from here on out could affect the rest of my life.
So after I sat down, I started studying like my future depended on it.
Because it did.
By the time the next big exam came around, I had reviewed more thoroughly than ever before. I walked into that classroom completely certain that I would take first place back.
Seats during major exams were assigned by previous ranking, so Chloe sat directly in front of me.
For most of the test, everything went smoothly.
Then, five minutes before the final section ended, Chloe suddenly shoved her chair forward and threw herself against her desk.
She jumped to her feet and spun around.
“Avery! What are you doing?”
I stared at her, confused, then lowered my head and kept filling out my answer sheet.
The proctor hurried over. “What happened?”
Chloe’s eyes filled with instant tears.
“She kept whispering to ask for the answer to the last multiple-choice question. I wouldn’t tell her, so she started kicking my chair.”
“That’s not true,” I said, standing up so fast my desk rattled. “I never said a word.”
But the proctor had already taken my test paper away.
My pulse turned frantic. “I didn’t do anything. Check the cameras.”
The bell rang right then.
Both of us were escorted to the surveillance room.
Only for the staff member there to say, almost apologetically, “The camera in that testing room malfunctioned today.”
Of course it had.
Chloe immediately changed her tone again.
“It’s okay, really. My sister was probably just joking around. There’s no need to make a big deal out of it.”
The proctor was a young teacher with a strong sense of fairness. He frowned.
“No. This is a major exam, not a classroom quiz. Testing discipline matters.”
He took us both to our homeroom teacher’s office.
After hearing the situation, Mr. Bennett looked at me with disappointed eyes that made my stomach drop.
Mr. Bennett had always treated me well. I thought he knew what kind of person I was.
I was wrong.
“Avery,” he said, “I’ve heard from several students lately that you’ve been upset with your sister ever since the last mock exam. Tell me honestly. Did you cheat?”
The question hit harder than I expected.
For a moment, I felt like someone had punched me in the chest.
I clenched my hands at my sides.
“First, I knew how to solve that question. I didn’t need to ask anyone. Second, I’ll say it again. If Chloe says I cheated, then she needs proof.”
The proctor stayed silent, thinking.
Then Chloe spoke again in that soft, reasonable voice.
“I actually have an idea. When the answer sheets are graded, we can compare the last multiple-choice question. If I got it right and Avery didn’t, maybe that will help explain what happened. Avery, does that sound fair?”
I opened my mouth to agree.
Then I remembered.
My bubble sheet.
Because the proctor had taken my test early, I hadn’t had time to fill in the answer for that last question.
The hesitation on my face lasted maybe a second.
It was enough.
The proctor seized on it immediately.
“See? She’s nervous.”
I felt anger rise so fast I almost couldn’t speak. “If you hadn’t taken my paper early, I would have filled it in.”
Mr. Bennett looked at me with open disappointment.
“Don’t make excuses, Avery. I didn’t expect this from you.”
I stood there explaining myself again and again, but because of that one tiny pause, every word sounded guilty.
Every word sounded defensive.
In the end, I was told to go back to class and wait for the results.
But when I sat in my usual seat, I couldn’t focus on a single page in front of me.
My throat felt tight. My chest felt hot. My whole head buzzed with humiliation and rage.
When the results came out, I went to the bulletin board early.
First place: Chloe Lawson. 710.
I stared at the number until my vision tilted.
Again.
Again she had scored exactly ten points higher than me.
I didn’t even hear her walk up beside me.
“Stop fighting it,” she murmured. “You’ll never beat me.”
I said nothing. I just turned and walked back to the classroom like someone moving underwater.
Mr. Bennett followed a few minutes later with our answer sheets in hand.
“This,” he said, tapping the blank bubble on my paper, “is what you claimed you knew?”
Then he held up Chloe’s. “And she got it right.”
I knew anything I said would sound pointless now, so I stayed silent.
“Avery,” he said heavily, “I always thought you were intelligent and honest. I never expected you to cheat out of jealousy. And then refuse to admit it. This is a serious matter. You’ll be disciplined.”
Because of Chloe, I received an official warning only two months before the real exam.
That warning cost me my recommendation track.
My teacher lost faith in me. My classmates whispered behind my back. And my parents, of course, treated it like final confirmation that I was the problem all along.
That night, Chloe came into my room.
“Do you believe me now?” she asked. “No matter how hard you work, you’ll never score higher than I do.”
I looked up sharply. “What do you mean?”
She smiled.
“I mean exactly what I said. No matter how much you struggle, I will always score ten points above you. So stop getting ideas. Just study hard and aim for second place. If you’d taken the recommendation route, that would’ve ruined everything. At least this way I can be first and you can still be second. You hate me, I know, but surely you don’t want all your years of studying to go to waste.”
Then she left.
I sat at my desk the whole night, replaying her words.
Always ten points higher.
I had noticed the pattern in the last few exams, but I had brushed it aside as coincidence.
Now I knew it wasn’t.
And if Chloe sounded that sure, that meant she believed it would happen on the real exam too.
Which begged one terrifying question.
Why had she worked so hard to stop me from getting recommended early and skipping the national exam?
Unless…
Unless she needed me to be there.
Unless her score wasn’t really her own at all.
Unless every time she tested, she was building her score on top of mine.
And if that were true…
Then what would happen if I didn’t sit for the exam?
What would happen if I scored so high there was nowhere left for her to go?
For the first time in weeks, I smiled.
Because suddenly, I had an idea.
A dangerous one.
But maybe the only one that could save me.