"I was wondering if you could help me with something," Kayleigh started.
"With what?"
"Well, you know how we might have an in-class exam on Friday?"
"Yeah."
"Or we might have to get expelled randomly?"
"Mhm."
I began to wonder what she was getting at. She clearly wanted me to do something for her or at least wanted something from me, but I couldn't guess what it was.
Did she want me to help her during the exam or maybe come up with a strategy to cheat? Come to think of it, this could be an opportunity to become friends with her.
But then I started to caution myself. Kayleigh's popularity and good looks could bring rumours. People might start thinking we're in a relationship. Until now, I haven't seen Kayleigh interact with any of the boys.
Being the first could raise eyebrows.
But do I really have a choice with her request, whatever it was?
"I was wondering," hearing her voice brought me back to reality, "could you please help me convince the class to do the exam?"
Convince the class? Why would she want me to do that?
Not that I'm opposed to it. If the whole class chose random expulsion instead of the exam, then there's nothing I could do but hope I'm not in the 25%.
"Why would you want me to do that?" I answered.
"I'm just concerned."
"About getting expelled?"
She shook her head.
"Believe it or not, the ISC is my last shot at a proper job. I can't afford to be expelled without some kind of effort."
I understood her well. Many of the students at the ISC have been labeled as cheaters in the national system. Getting a proper job or attending university is next to impossible.
If she got expelled right now, the most she'd get is a minimum wage job, and they'd make sure to underpay her.
"You'll help me, won't you?" she pleaded.
"I mean, are you that confident you can pass the exam?"
I wondered—maybe Kayleigh was good at cheating.
"Mhm. And if you help me, it'll guarantee you a pass too."
"Guarantee me a pass?"
"Yes, you want to pass this exam just as bad as me, right?"
She stepped closer.
The smell of her sweet perfume brushed my nose, and her eyes locked onto mine, begging for my agreement.
My heart raced, and a sense of frustration fell over me. Although I didn't need to, she made me feel like I needed to make a decision right then and there.
Like I said, did I really have a choice?
She grabbed my hand and said, "I know we only just met, but you can trust me, Jaden."
She knew my name?
Why me though? Why did she need me to convince the class? And most of all, how will this guarantee me a pass?
I had so many questions, but her perfume was so sweet, her words so soothing, and her hands were so soft that I lost the ability to speak for myself.
"Yeah, alright, I'll help you," I answered, scratching the back of my head, holding in my questions and any kind of protest.
"And if possible, can you keep this between us? I think it'd be best for both of us."
"Yeah, sure."
I was saying yes to everything at this point.
"Really, thanks. You're a really generous person, Jaden. I promise I'll make it up to you," Kayleigh answered, running off to her friends.
I watched as they walked down the hall, gossiping about a possible relationship between us.
Kayleigh quickly rooted out that thought, likely passing off our interaction as strictly transactional and nothing more.
I still next headed for the minimart to pick up a few things.
On the way there, I thought about how I could convince the class to do the exam. Perhaps a speech at the start of tomorrow's class? No, I don't have the guts to do that.
I mean, I could always approach everyone and calmly persuade them to do the exam. As I thought about it, I realised something—I wasn't sure what the whole class was doing.
Or wait, did Kayleigh find out from speaking to a lot of people that the class was generally going to choose being randomly expelled? It's a possibility, but I wasn't sure.
Of course, I could always ask Shaq and the others at tomorrow's meeting, but before I could think about it anymore, I arrived at the minimart.
I entered through the sliding doors and began to remind myself about spending. Only the necessities and nothing more.
The store was empty. I only saw one student in one of the aisles. The shelves were packed to the brim, and everything was assorted into their respective categories.
It seemed good brands were put into fair academic standing and higher, while less sought-after brands were in the other categories.
Some things, of course, didn't matter, like eggs or burgers, which I was buying that day. When I grabbed what I wanted from the shelves, I decided to go down to the back of the store where the fridges were to grab the burgers.
As I took what I wanted, I couldn't help but notice a boy in a black hoodie two fridges down. He was taking stuff out of the fridge and placing them straight into his black backpack.
He eventually saw me staring and glared at me.
He was wearing a face mask with the black hoodie.
Is he stealing? I wondered.
If this was the case, then the face mask and hoodie would make sense, except his face was still visible to the security cameras. Maybe he merely wanted to conceal most of his face?
Of course, at the end of the day, it wasn't my business, so I quickly shut the fridge and headed for the self-checkout.
However, as I walked up the aisle, I passed another girl who was surveying the shelves.
I wondered if she saw the boy, but the moment I passed her, she said,
"I had a mind you'd ignore him. The students of this school are beyond saving."
The voice was familiar, but it wasn't Amelia—no—it was the girl she argued with on the ferry.
I turned to reply, but she wasn't focused on me. She merely let me know I'd displayed the attitude she'd expect and dismissed me right away.
With her focus on the boy, she said,
"You can put back the stuff now. Otherwise, I'll tell the guard your back here is stealing."
The moment she said that, he stopped taking the items out of the fridge and remained there, motionless.
I couldn't make a certain guess, but I felt like something bad was going to happen.