Letting Them Ruin Their Own Lives

Five days before the National Finals. A celebrity tutor appeared at our school, handing out secret exam prep sheets that were supposedly only available in elite private academies.

He claimed that if we mastered these materials, we were guaranteed a spot at an Ivy League university.

Sloane Sterling, our class president, grabbed a bunch of them and slammed them onto her desk back in the classroom.

"Go get yours now!" she shouted. "These are prepared by a legendary tutor. Last year, he predicted three of the major essay prompts exactly. With these, the Ivy League is basically a done deal!"

In my past life, I had tried my absolute hardest to stop them.

But no one listened. Instead, they accused me of being a hater who didn't want to see my classmates succeed.

I eventually had to go to the principal. He kicked the man out and confiscated all the cheat sheets.

When the results finally came out, most of the class bombed the exam.

Sloane didn't even make the cut-off for a basic state college.

She had a total breakdown right there, screaming and blaming me for everything. She said I had ruined her future by taking away those papers.

My other classmates joined in, claiming I was the reason their lives were destroyed.

I was isolated by my peers and harassed by their parents. Eventually, unable to bear the weight of it all, I jumped from the school rooftop.

Now, I opened my eyes again. Sloane was standing there, clutching a stack of those same "Ultimate Exam Secret Leaks," screaming with excitement.

"Check the bulletin board! They're free! A master predicted these! Don't miss out, or you'll be flipping burgers for the rest of your lives!"

Everyone scrambled to get out the door. One girl turned back to look at me.

"Lyra, hurry up! This is the good stuff!"

I didn't respond. I just gave a tiny, cold smile.

This time, I won't interfere.

Since you all claim I ruined your lives, let's see what kind of mess you make of them without me!

Sloane Sterling stood at the front of the classroom, holding a pile of those secret sheets. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"Lyra, you're really not going to get one?" she asked, her voice loud enough for the whole room to hear. "If you want to stay in the dark and grind away at your old textbooks, fine. Just don't blame me when you don't get into college."

I crossed my arms and looked around the room, hiding the burning rage in my heart.

I forced myself to put on a worried expression for my classmates.

"You guys shouldn't just trust some random guy from outside," I said softly. "What if he's a scammer? You could be throwing your entire future away."

"I'm just asking you to think about it carefully."

The room immediately erupted in laughter.

"Oh, here we go! The true colors are showing!" someone shouted. "She's just jealous. She's scared we'll all score higher than her."

"Just because she has good grades, she thinks she can act like a saint and lecture us. She definitely has bad intentions. Our class president wouldn't lie to us!"

"I'm going to outscore her so hard. I can't wait to see the look on her face!"

Sloane smirked at me, looking triumphant.

"Hear that? The people have spoken. If you want to go down with your sinking ship, don't try to pull the rest of us down with you."

I let out a long, disappointed sigh.

I sat back down in my seat and muttered, "Fine. Do whatever you want."

As I spoke, I reached into my pocket and hit 'save' on the recording I had just made on my phone.

Then, I opened my workbook and didn't give them another glance.

In my last life, I exhausted myself trying to save them, only to be blamed for their failures.

This time, I won't give them a single chance to pin their misery on me.

Seeing that I was ignoring her, Sloane got even more aggressive.

She walked through the rows, handing out the papers. When she reached my desk, she purposely dropped one on the floor and stepped on it with her heel.

"Some people just don't know what's good for them. I'd rather see this paper shredded than give it to her!"

"When we're all at Harvard and Yale, she'll be stuck at some community college. Don't come crying to us then."

The others chimed in.

"Don't waste your breath on her, Sloane. Let her study the old way. We have the inside track now."

"Exactly. Who cares about textbooks anymore? Once the results come out, she'll be the one crying."

My pen paused for a second, then I went back to my math problems.

In my last life, I ran out of tears while being bullied and beaten by their parents.

In this life, they will be the only ones weeping.

For the rest of the study hall, there was no sound of readingDonly the frantic rustling of paper.

Everyone's head was down, staring at those "secret leaks" like they were the Holy Grail.

Sloane stood at the podium, highlighting key sections.

"These questions are guaranteed to be on the test," she commanded. "Memorize them. Word for word!"

"For the essay, just memorize these three templates. Plug them in, and you'll get a perfect score!"

"Memorize these math formulas. Don't ask questions, just use them!"

No one doubted her.

No one questioned her.

They followed her like mindless sheep.

Even when the bell rang, no one got up. They were too obsessed with their shortcuts.

Ten minutes later, the bell for the next period rang.

Our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Quinn, walked in. She noticed everyone frantically hiding the secret papers in their desks and frowned.

"Everyone, focus on your textbooks. Stick to the basics. Don't trust those random prep materials floating around outside."

"The National Finals test your comprehensive ability, not your ability to memorize a few leaked questions."

Sloane stood up immediately with a polite nod. "Of course, Mrs. Quinn. You're totally right. We'll follow your lead."

The moment she sat down, she signaled the others. They all tucked the papers away, hiding their smirks.

Some students whispered under their breath.

"What does Mrs. Quinn know? She doesn't have the inside connections."

"Exactly. Sloane said the predictions were perfect last year. We'd be idiots to listen to the teacher now."

They all exchanged looks of agreement.

The second Mrs. Quinn turned her back to write on the board, they pulled the papers back out. No one was listening to the lecture.

Over the next few days, Mrs. Quinn tried to warn them every time she caught a glimpse of the papers.

They would pretend to agree, then go right back to it.

The textbooks were tossed into the corners of their desks, gathering dust.

Sloane had become a goddess in the classroom.

If you didn't follow her, you were an outcast.

And I was the biggest outcast of all.

During the break, she led a group of girls to surround my desk.

"Some people are just bookworms," she mocked. "No matter how hard she works, she'll never be as successful as us. We barely have to try."

Another girl laughed.

"Right? When the scores come out, she's going to realize how pathetic she looks."

I looked up, my eyes cold as ice.

Sloane flinched for a second but then puffed out her chest.

"What are you looking at? Think I'm wrong? You want to make a bet?"

"Whoever gets the lower score on the Finals has to crawl three laps around the football field. You game, or are you too scared?"

I said calmly, "I'm not interested."

She laughed even harder.

"See? She's terrified! She knows our papers are the real deal. She knows she's going to lose!"

"She's so scared of being humiliated that she won't even take the bet. What a loser!"

The whole class erupted in mockery.

I didn't care. I looked back down and kept working.

I had seen those papers in my previous life. They were full of obscure, niche topics that teachers always say will never be on the exam.

In my last life, because I stopped them, they were forced to study the actual curriculum.

Even if some didn't do great, they all passed. They all had a future.

This time, I'm letting them follow Sloane off the cliff.

I suspect the failure rate is going to be record-breaking.

That afternoon, the man claiming to be a master tutor returned.

This time, he brought even thicker booklets. The covers were embossed with gold lettersDNational Finals: The Ultimate Inside Edition.

I was wondering how a stranger could just walk into a school building like this, but the man just smiled.

"Listen up, students. This is the real treasure."

"Eighty percent of these questions are the actual exam questions. If you memorize this, you're just transcribing on exam day."

"Because you all seem so dedicated, I'll give you a discount. Three thousand dollars for the full set. First come, first served!"

The classroom went silent for a moment when they heard the price.

A few students from lower-income families turned pale and sank into their seats.

Sloane stepped forward immediately.

"What are you afraid of? This is an investment!"

"Three thousand dollars for a million-dollar future. Is it worth it?"

"If you're stingy now, you'll regret it for the rest of your life when you're stuck in some dead-end job!"

The hesitant students immediately made up their minds. They ran out to call their parents for the money.

The poorest students hesitated for a while before borrowing the man's phone to call home.

"Mom! If you don't have the money, go take out a payday loan! I don't care! This is my future! Once I get into a top school, I'll be rich. What's three thousand dollars compared to that?"

Soon, the man's phone was buzzing with payment notifications. He couldn't stop grinning.

Sloane turned to me, her voice dripping with contempt.

"Lyra, you buying?"

"Oh, I forgot. You probably can't afford it."

"Poor people are meant to stick to their dusty textbooks, I guess."

The people around her joined the bullying.

"She's just stubborn. Her parents probably don't even care about her future."

"Don't bother, Sloane. You can't help someone who's determined to fail."

I ignored their insults. But looking at the struggling students, a small part of me still felt a flicker of pity.

I tried one last time, my voice soft.

"Don't buy it. It's impossible for the actual exam to leak like this."

The words were barely out of my mouth before the poor students exploded.

"Lyra, what is wrong with you?"

"We finally have a chance to escape our lives, and you're trying to sabotage us?"

"You're pure evil. Having you as a classmate for three years is a disgrace!"

Their eyes were filled with nothing but pure hatred.

Sloane sneered. "See? I told you she was rotten."

"She can't stand to see anyone else succeed. She wants to keep us all down."

I closed my eyes and felt my heart go completely cold.

When I opened them again, there was nothing but indifference.

"Whatever," I said.

Those three words cut my last tie to them.

From now on, whether you live or die has nothing to do with me.

The day before the Finals, Mrs. Quinn brought in a stack of review sheets.

"Class, these are the final focus points. Do them seriously. If you have questions, I'll explain them one by one."

She handed them out.

But when she went to collect them later, her face turned pale.

Almost every paper was blank.

The essays were empty. The multiple-choice questions were just random guesses.

She slammed the papers on the podium, her voice trembling.

"Look at this! Is this how you prepare?"

"The exam is tomorrow! You aren't even looking at the curriculum because you're obsessed with those fake papers!"

"I've taught for fifteen years, and I have never seen students sabotage themselves like this!"