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Third Person POV
Georgie entered the classroom and immediately took a seat next to Sheldon.
"Are you done with your little adventures with all those girls?" Sheldon asked, glancing at him without much interest.
He had no intention of getting involved in whatever drama Georgie and his admirers were stirring up. Honestly, he just didn't care.
"Yeah," Georgie sighed, leaning back in his chair. "I know, right? Being adored by so many girls is exhausting!" he declared loudly, loud enough for the other students—and Miss Ingram—to hear.
"Shut up, Georgie!"
"You're just lucky!"
"No one even likes you!"
The boys started yelling at Georgie and throwing crumpled paper at him, while the girls just giggled at the chaos.
"Alright! Settle down!" Miss Ingram snapped, bringing the noisy classroom to order. "Y'all do realize there's a test coming up, don't you?" She then shot a look at Georgie. "Georgie, I know you've been busy lately, but don't expect any special treatment from me."
The rest of the class cheered at her statement.
"Tch, I'll ace every question on your test, Miss Ingram!" Georgie shot back confidently, then turned to the rest of the class. "I challenge all of you to beat my score!" he added smugly.
"What the heck are you talking about?!"
"Obviously we'll get higher scores than you!"
More shouting erupted, most students glaring at Georgie with annoyance. They all knew his grades had improved recently—but his smug face made it hard to feeling happy for him.
Their attention then turned to Sheldon, Georgie's genius little brother, who could easily outperform him.
Georgie noticed their stares, "Uh-uh, nope—Sheldon doesn't count! He's an exception!" he said, immediately getting booed.
Meanwhile, Sheldon, whose name had just been mentioned, looked around and said confidently, "It's not even necessary. I've already won. I'm just waiting to see my victory results."
"What victory?" one student asked, confused.
"Georgie's going to cheat on the math test tomorrow. I already exposed him." Sheldon said with not-interested-anymore face.
Georgie twitched at Sheldon's words and glanced at Miss Ingram, who was now staring daggers at him.
"Is that true? Are you planning to cheat on tomorrow's math test?" she asked, looking toward Sheldon. "Is he telling the truth?"
"Oh, absolutely. And Georgie already admitted it." Sheldon replied without a hint of guilt.
Miss Ingram turned her attention back to Georgie. "Did you cheat on the last test too?" she asked, waiting for his answer.
The classroom went silent. The chaos from earlier was completely gone, and all eyes were now focused on Miss Ingram and Georgie.
"Of course not..." Georgie replied, then sighed when he saw her skeptical expression. "I guess you don't believe me."
Miss Ingram let out a breath. "Hmm… Are you telling the truth?"
Before Georgie could respond, she turned to Sheldon. "I trust you'll keep an eye on your brother during the test tomorrow, right?"
Sheldon's eyes widened, and he smiled. "Oh boy, I get to be the test proctor? It's my destiny to lead the classroom!" he said proudly.
"No, no," Miss Ingram interrupted quickly. "You're only watching Georgie. I don't need another headache."
Sheldon nodded. "One step at a time. But I've already thought of the perfect slogan for my role as monitor!"
Georgie sighed and shook his head. He could already tell Sheldon had no idea what kind of mess he'd just created.
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Georgie's POV
After the bell ringing for the class ended, with Miss Ingram still sitting on her chair and I watched as Sheldon packed up his things, "You heading to the library?" I asked.
"Yes," he replied simply.
"Georgie," Miss Ingram called out in a strange tone.
I motioned for Sheldon to go on ahead and walked over to her. "Yeah? What is it, Miss Ingram?"
"Can you solve this?" she asked, handing me a piece of paper.
I looked down at the page—just one problem written there. "Why?" I asked, already feeling annoyed.
Honestly? This is really getting on my nerves.
Before she could answer, I snatched the paper and her pen. I quickly solved the problem and even wrote out a full explanation.
I wasn't mad at Miss Ingram, not really. I knew the real problem was Sheldon and his big mouth.
Sheldon, huh...
I didn't think it would come to this, and yeah—it pissed me off a little bit.
When I finished writing, I tossed the pen back to Miss Ingram. "I don't need to prove anything. But I really don't like being called a liar." I said and turned to leave.
This is so childish. I didn't want to do it, but if I hadn't, they'd all just keep assuming I was a cheater and a fraud.
Miss Ingram called my name again, but I didn't respond. I didn't care anymore. I just kept walking out of the classroom.
My original plan had been to fake-study while helping Veronica, just so Sheldon would think I was working hard. But now things were more complicated than ever.
I was walking down the hallway toward the library when I heard her voice.
"Hey, Georgie!" Veronica said, wrapping her arms around mine.
"Hey." I replied with a smile.
"What's wrong?" she asked, surprising me a little.
"Hm? What do you mean?"
"..."
She stared at me intently, "Something's up. Did Jana talk to you again?"
"No," I said quickly. But she kept squinting at me like she could see right through me, "Alright!" I gave in and told her everything.
I could tell it bothered her. She didn't like what happened, but she held back—because Sheldon is my family, and she knows how I feel about my family.
"Do you want me to talk to Sheldon?" she asked hesitantly.
I shook my head. "No. I don't want you to. I want Sheldon to figure it out on his own—to realize what he did and reflect on it himself."
After that, we headed into the library. Sheldon was already there with Tam.
"Brother, what did Miss Ingram want? Is she revoking my test monitor privileges?" Sheldon asked, raising an eyebrow.
I chuckled awkwardly and ruffled his hair, "Nah. She just gave me a question to solve."
Sheldon looked more curious now. "Really? You lucky duck. What kind of question?"
Veronica and I sat down with them, "Nothing too hard." I said casually—and got a squint from Veronica.
"Oh, alright then." Sheldon said, losing interest. Which was fine by me. I didn't want to talk about it either.
"Did you really cheat?" Tam asked, eyeing me curiously. "I just can't imagine you—ugh!"
Before he could finish, Veronica kick his feet strongly and sending death glare at him.
"Why'd you hit Tam?" Sheldon asked, giving Veronica a weird look.
"Nothing," Veronica replied quickly. Tam looked down, realizing he'd crossed a line.
Well, I guess rumors spread fast—even without social media.
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Third Person POV
Well, yeah, gossip and rumors spread fast—so fast, they even reached the teachers. Even the principal!
At first, the talk was about Georgie allegedly cheating on a test. But as time passed—barely a full day!—the rumor shifted to Georgie and Sheldon getting into a fight.
"Hey, what's this I hear about your boys fighting?" Wayne asked George, who was busy writing a report in his office.
Unlike Wayne, George had no idea what was going on until Wayne brought it up.
"Wh...what?" George stood up and looked at Wayne beside him. "Fighting? No, no, you must've heard wrong." he said, brushing it off.
Wayne raised a brow. "You haven't heard? Ouch." He teased George, who frowned in response.
"WHAT HAPPENED?!" George snapped, frustrated by Wayne's teasing. After all, they were talking about his kids.
Wayne chuckled and explained what he had overheard from students in the hallway earlier.
"Georgie would never do that!" George said firmly.
Wayne raised his hands. "Hey, don't shoot the messenger. That's just what the students were saying."
"Let's go find Miss Ingram," George said, already heading out the door. Wayne followed closely behind because he want to know more of this gossips!.
"Wait for me! I want to hear the legend of The Great Georgie firsthand—alright, alright, I'll shut up!" Wayne stopped when George gave him a sharp look.
As they walked toward the teacher's lounge, they heard whispers and bits of the rumor from students along the way.
George said nothing. He just kept walking, intending to hear the truth from the teachers themselves.
After they got there, they saw not only the teachers, but principal Peterson was also there. "We were just about to call you, George." said Principal Peterson as George and Wayne stepped into the lounge.
George saw that nearly every teacher was there, and Miss Ingram gave him a guilty look.
"Alright, George. Before you get angry, I need you to stay calm and think rationally, okay?" said Principal Peterson, trying to keep the situation under control.
George snorted. "I'm not angry. I just want to know what exactly happened in Miss Ingram's class." he said, arms crossed.
Miss Ingram took a deep breath and turned to face George.
"I'm sorry, George. I assumed your son was going to cheat. In my defense, Sheldon said Georgie would, and given his past grades… well, the thought just came into my head." she explained, handing George a sheet of paper.
"I also made a mistake by testing him further, which I know he took it as an insult." she added.
George took the paper and scanned it. "So not only did you accuse my son of cheating, but you also treated him like a liar?" he said, sighing.
On the paper, there were scribbled problem-solving notes, and at the bottom, written in bold: "I am not a liar – Georgie Cooper."
"Ouch," Wayne muttered behind George, having peeked at the paper. "Yeah, this is pretty bad."
George gave him a look, and Wayne raised his hands again playfully. Wayne liked to tease, but they were all friends—and they respected George too.
"I'll talk to Georgie later." George said with a tired smile. Miss Ingram nodded and began explaining everything in more detail.
"Huff… what a mess,…" George sighed, rubbing his forehead. "He loves his brother and doesn't care what others say about him. But his own brother insulted him, too."
Mr. Givens offered his chair, and George sat down.
"He's just going to endure it… and then teach Sheldon a lesson later," George muttered. "Maybe my wife was right. I should take Georgie to a psychiatrist or something."
Principal Peterson snorted. "A psychiatrist? Pfft. What are they gonna do—talk?"
"Right?!" George agreed. "Yeah, all they only do is talk and talk."
"What are you two saying?!" Mrs. MacElroy cut in, giving them both a disapproving look. "Psychiatrists are important for mental health! George, if your son's going to be a musician, he needs someone like that."
Miss Ingram nodded. "I'm not against that idea. At least with a psychiatrist, he can express what he's feeling without fear. Or maybe he just needs a dog or a pet."
"No, I think a psychiatrist would be good for your son, George," Mr. Givens chimed in. "Even big-time musicians have their own therapists."
Wayne nodded, patting George's shoulder. "Just find a cheaper one… or a discount."
Both Peterson and George twitched at that.
"Come on… it's just talking," George said under his breath—only to be met with disapproving glares from the women.
"Here, I have a coupon for a session," Wayne said, pulling something out of his wallet. "I was gonna go myself, but turns out it's only for kids…"
Everyone turned to look at him.
"What?" Wayne asked.
"Why were you going?" Peterson asked, squinting suspiciously. Everyone else had the same question.
"Well… for the experience? Yeah, just for the experience." Wayne said with an awkward laugh. He wasn't about to tell the full truth—not in this small town.
"Alright, I'll talk to my wife about it again," George said, getting to his feet. "But let me say this: Georgie has changed. He's not the same boy you all used to know. I hope you'll start trusting him more."
He paused at the door. "Seriously. Or we're moving out of this town."
Then he walked out.
Everyone exchanged awkward smiles and looked at Wayne, who just shrugged.
"Well, I'd better go too…" he said, hurrying after George—desperate to avoid more questions about the psychiatrist coupon.