The Prodigy Series

"The test is about to start," Ben g.r.o.a.n.e.d as he fished through his locker.

"Where the hell is my calculator?" he complained as he continued to search his locker.

It was the first day of the exam week and we were having our chemistry test in a few minutes.

"I found it!" he yelled into his locker in success as he drew the scientific calculator out of it before waving it over his head.

"I wonder what you need a calculator for, you barely use it," Ji-Hun said. He was leaning against his own locker as he watched Ben go through his pencil case for the millionth time. He was right, Ben barely used his calculator because he was practically one himself.

After watching Ben zip his pencil case in satisfaction, we headed to the designated classroom for our test. It looked like Me Richard was going to be our invigilator. I could spot his eyes that were rimmed in eyeliner from a distance away. He was standing outside the classroom with a clipboard and a crowd of students around him. He was probably taking the attendance.

We were soon sitting on our respective desks. Ben was playing with a pencil while he watched Miss Jones discuss with Mr. Richard at the teacher's desk up front.

I bit my bottom lip when my eyes locked with Miss Jones'. She gave me a small smile, before turning her attention back to Mr. Richard. They talked for a while before Miss Jones walked down from the podium where the teacher's desk was before leaving the classroom.

Mr. Richard came down with the sheets before he started distributing them from the right-hand side of the room. I tried to calm myself down, looking down at the white spray painted surface of the desk as I clicked my tongue in idleness. A small frown soon found its way to my face as I dwelled in my thoughts.

Where's the question paper? I thought to myself when I drew a blank on where I had last kept it. I'd even so paranoid about having it that I was more than careless about where I left it in my panic not to be seen with it.

"Are you okay Wyatt?" I heard Mr. Richard ask, bringing me out of my thoughts. I blinked, looking up to find him dropping a question paper as well as an answer sheet in front of me.

"I'm fine," I lied as my mind tried to remember where I had last left the question paper. I'd brought it to school with me. I knew that, but I didn't throw it in the bin since I was afraid that someone would find it. Was it in my locker?

I didn't notice when Mr. Richard asked the whole class to start, but the sound of people flipping paper against pin drop silence brought me out of my thoughts. I looked about, spotting Ji-Hun at the other end of the room. He was reading through the questions, biting the end of his pen as his eyes flicked over the paper. I stared on until his eyes looked up to meet mine. He raised a brow, probably reading the panicked expression on my face.

I looked away, taking a hold of my question paper too. They were the same questions. There were minor changes but they were the same questions nothing less.

We were thirty minutes into the exam when I decided to check myself for a handkerchief. I fumbled with my pockets, but nothing came up until I decide to check my back pocket. A wave of panic hit me when I didn't feel cloth but a neatly folded piece of paper. Had I put the question paper there? I tried to calm down, but as I made to take my hand out of my pocket the piece of paper followed suit. It slid under my desk, but no one apart from me seemed to notice.

As I debated whether to pick it up or not, I looked around the room. Mr. Richard was sitting at the teacher's desk with his phone in his hands, and the other students were paying too much attention to their own sheets to pay me much attention. I have the class another look over, gasping silently when my eyes met with Ji-Hun's. He was frowning at me. I watched as his gaze moved from my face to the folded piece of paper under my chair.

He knew.

I looked away from him, trying to ignore his eyes that I could feel were still staring intently at me.

Another thirty minutes passed and Mr. Richards announced that we had forty-five minutes to the end of the paper. A few minutes after his announcement the door to the classroom creaked open and Miss Jones walked in.

"Do any of you have any questions for me?" she asked, walking to the front of the class in her yellow dress suit. A student at the end of the class raised her hand, drawing Miss Jones' attention to her. Miss Jones then headed to her, answering her questions in small whispers before attending to two other people.

"Does anyone still need me to answer questions? I won't be coming back here."

"I need your help," Ji-Hun's voice rang through the room as his hand shot up in the air.

Miss Jones nodded in his direction, her three-inch heels cl.i.c.k.i.n.g on the tiled floor as she headed to him. I couldn't stop myself from looking towards Ji-Hun's desk. Miss Jones' expression had changed to a smudged one like she didn't know what to make of what Ji-Hun was telling her. I looked away when she caught me staring, I knew what was inevitably coming next.

I tried to make sure I took a breath as I heard her heels click as she approached me. I felt my heart jump in panic when she placed her hand on my answer sheet before she bent a little to whisper in my ear. "Wyatt, can you hand over the paper under your seat?"

I nodded, bending to pick the folded piece of paper. I could feel Ji-Hun's stare as I handed the paper over to her. I looked away from her, noting that Mr. Richard was looking at us as well but he looked away soon after.

I watched Miss Jones undo the sheet on my table. I watched her face change from the smudge expression to something that made my heart fall. I saw it plain on her face- She was disappointed in me.

"Wyatt," she whispered before trailing off. "When you submit your answer sheet come straight to my office," she ordered, making me nod.

"Is there a problem Miss Jones?" Mr. Richard asked, looking towards us again.

"No, there's no problem. I was just talking to Wyatt," she said as she folded the paper neatly before slipping it into her blazer pocket. She gave me a brief look, before leaving the classroom soon after.

I couldn't think straight when she left. Ji-Hun eventually stopped looking at me, but the way he'd stared at me still made me self-conscious. I wondered if I should attempt the questions. I decided against it since Miss Jones wasn't going to record it anyway.

The exam ended soon after and Mr. Richard came about to take our answer sheets before asking us to leave.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Ben asked as I changed my books at my locker. Ben hadn't looked my way during the exam, so I'm sure my expression was enough to show my uneasiness.

"I'm not doing too well," I admitted. Ben gave me a sorry look, before suggesting that I should probably take a nap in the sick bay. We didn't have another exam for the rest of the day and most people were going to spend the rest of the school hours in one of the study hall or library.

He left me on my own soon after. I sighed, resting my head on the cool surface of my locker. What did Miss Jones want to tell me? Why hadn't she turned me into the disciplinary committee?

"Don't you have to be somewhere?"

I jumped at the sound of Ji-Hun's voice. I rose my head from the locker's surface, turning to find him standing beside me with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Well?" he asked, adjusting the weight of his bag via the strap.

"I do..." I trailed, looking down at the floor. "I'm meeting Miss Jones in her office," I said, running a hand through my hair. There was no need lying to him, he'd probably already figured everything out.

"I want to ask you why you did it, but I'll wait until you've talked to Miss Jones," Ji-Hun said, shaking his head. I watched him walk past me, leaving me in the hallway by myself in my feeling of shame.

My eyes stung with unshed tears as I headed upstairs to Miss Jones' office. It was inside the chemistry lab, a small little room at the back of the lab.

"You're here," she said as I opened the door to the office. I nodded, walking into the small room. At the same time, I heard the door of the lab creak open.

"Who's there?" Miss Jones asked as I listened to the footsteps as whoever it was made their way into the lab.

"It's Ji-Hun. I was wondering if I could stay here to study?" Ji-Hun's asked.

"Make yourself at home," Miss Jones said as a small smile made its way to her lips. For a brief moment, I wondered if she'd ever smile at me like that again.

Her smile fell when she finally turned her attention to me. "Close the door behind you and take a seat," she mumbled. I followed suit, awkwardly settling down into the black cushioned chair.

"So," she started, resting her head on her palms. "Why did you do it?"