"Brier?"
My ears were ringing and my heart was beating loudly when I heard her voice. She really is pissed off right now. One wrong move, then I might get my parents called.
You might be wondering why I felt nervous right now. Well, the problem is I can just tell the whole story now, for I understand this assignment really well.
If I do that, then I will be safe. However, if I do that, then I'll be breaking the brotherhood code.
I stood up and looked at my friends. Everyone is sweating a bucket. Given the situation, they know they fucked up.
If I lied and joined them in this mess, then I'll surely be targeted in the dance practice by Madam Louise later in the afternoon.
I started to run. It feels like time slows down, and in just 5 seconds I managed to think of several scenarios. Then suddenly I felt a tug on my shirt.
Jom is looking at me.
"Hey. Brier, just admit you cheated so that we won't be punished severely," he whispered.
My thoughts blanked out.
My worries faded.
My heartbeat calmed down.
I cheated?
Me?
We cheated?
If only you guys didn't copy my work, I wouldn't be in this mess.
If only you did your assignment, then I wouldn't be in this situation.
If only you changed some words, then we wouldn't be caught. How the fuck did that make me a cheater?
This guy really is hopeless. Now I felt stupid about worrying about the so-called brotherhood code.
I looked at him and smiled.
I looked at the class and started reciting the work.
"The story of Icarus and Daedalus tells of a father and son imprisoned on the island of Crete. Daedalus, a brilliant inventor, creates wings made of feathers and wax so they can escape.---"
Then after the first part, I started to speak verbatim because I wasn't able to write things down.
I know the story, so it is so basic that I can retell the whole story while making coffee.
"With that being said, who is really at fault? Icarus, who ignores his father's advice about the wings, or Daedalus, who makes those wings?"
Then I added some stuff that I always asked my students back when I was still a teacher.
The answer depends on people.
After I finished the recitation, I looked at Madam Louise and she just nodded her head. Then I looked at my friends and they were clearly confused about how I did it. Then I just put my hands down and put it at the back of my classmate in front and gave them a middle finger.
"Nice work, Brier. I shouldn't have doubted you." The mood of Madam Louise started to perk up.
My classmates then started to recite one by one. No one was caught cheating except for our group. They had a funny look on their faces.
The worst experience when caught cheating is not when you are punished. Rather, it is when you are caught but have to wait what kind of punishment you will face.
It feels like you are constipated. Your brain works for a long time thinking about the worst punishment you'll face. It makes you tired and makes you reflect on what you have done.
Time passed, and then everyone finally finished reciting. Madam Louise was about to end the class for recitation as this caused too much time.
"Congratulations everyone, you are great. Except for the others who will follow me to the faculty later," she said as she looked at my friends. You can see them shaking and their heads hanging low.
"To finish this lesson, I'll use the question of Brier last time: who do you think is at fault, Icarus or Daedalus?" she asked, then looked at me.
"Raise your hands if it is Daedalus." No one raised their hand, including me. Daedalus was depicted in the story as an intelligent and a loving father. However, if you look closely, he is overconfident and irresponsible.
"Ow, none? How about Icarus?" This time most of them raised their hands. Except me and my other group members. However, we have different reasons. I didn't want to answer this question because I was the creator of it. My group members didn't answer because they couldn't hear a thing, only their heartbeat.
"Brier?" She was really curious about my side.
"People say Icarus is at fault for flying too high. But if you think about it… he was just following what he saw. Daedalus taught him how to fly but not how to handle freedom."
After telling all that, she just smiled and ended the class.
"You boys at the back, follow me to the faculty."
When they stood up, you can see how pale they were, especially Jom, who is currently looking like he ate a bug.
I couldn't help but laugh at them.
"Hahaha, you guys, good luck!" I said. They deserved it, they didn't listen to me. I mocked them as they left the classroom. They couldn't argue with me because they had a problem that they needed to fix.
"Hahhahaha," I laughed.
—---------
30 minutes later.
"Hahahahah," the laughter continued.
"Idiot. You shouldn't step on a lion's tail." However, the difference is that I am not the one who is laughing.
I am currently doing squats in the back of the class. You might be wondering why I am being punished.
The answer is that these stupid friends of mine pointed at me as the leader of the cheating case.
I was about to argue that I am innocent. However, with the numerical advantage with them, I can only admit that I let them copy my work.
"You let them copy. No matter the reason you are the source of this problem.-----"
Madam Louise was reprimanding me, these idiots had the balls to laugh at me.
"Laughing at us? You should laugh with us. We are all together in this," Jom stated heroically while holding his laughter.
I regretted letting this fool copy my work.
The punishment that we received is to finish our 2 subjects doing squats. Madam Louise belongs to the older generation of teachers that does corporal punishment. It was supposedly banned in any school in the country, however some still believe lessons can be learned by punishing them.
"Fuck you! I won't let you guys copy my work ever again." The veins in my head started to bulge as I got irritated by them.
After 2 subjects finished, we were finally allowed to sit. My legs are killing me. It was supposedly our break time for 30 minutes, but we are not in a condition to walk to the canteen.
Seeing the classroom empty, only the 10 of us were present, so they just took a nap while I looked at the window to cleanse my thoughts. I saw Kyle and Joseph talking outside and having fun. Kyle is already out of the hospital and got back to school.
"Glad he is healthy."
Then I saw Carlo playing with other classmates. We are still in our 1st year of high school, so most of us still do play outside. However, Carlo simply is different from all of us, for he has a large pool of energy.
I am having fun watching the kids play outside. The bitterness that I felt a while ago vanished.
Then someone walked in front of me. She is really beautiful, elegant, and sharp-looking. Many people's eyes were glued to her.
However, seeing this bitch my mood crashed down instantly.