Cheater

Caught between loyalty and honesty, will a friendship unravel?

It was me. It was me who cheated. It was me who took the slip of paper. The slip of paper with the answers on it. The slip of paper I tucked under the cover of the library book. The library book on top of the pile. The pile of library books in my desk.

I wanted to get them right. I wanted to show them. To show them I could do it. But I didn’t know how. No one showed me how.

The teacher wrote the sums on the blackboard. I wrote the sums down in my light blue notebook. The light blue notebook the teacher gave me. The light blue notebook under the pile of library books. The pile of library books in my desk. The pile of library books with the one on top. The one on top with the slip of paper under the cover. The slip of paper with the answers on it.

I watched the teacher. I watched the teacher walking. Walking up and down the rows. The rows of kids. Kids sitting a test. A test for the sums. The sums the teacher wrote on the blackboard. The sums we wrote in our light blue notebooks.

How did the other kids get it? How did they know? How did they remember?

The teacher’s gaze swept over the classroom. The teacher’s gaze missed me. Missed me in the back corner. Missed me in the back row. Missed me beside David. David who sat next to me. David who shielded me. Shielded me in the back corner. In the back row.

My hand was under the desk. When she saw me. My hand was under the desk. I looked up. Up into her eyes. Her eyes watching me. Watching me from her desk. Her desk at the font of the classroom. Her desk in the front corner. Her desk from where she could see mine.

I tucked the slip of paper. The slip of paper with the answers on it. I tucked it into the light blue notebook. The light blue notebook underneath the pile of library books. The pile of library books in by desk.

She told me to stand. In the middle of the test. She told me to stand next to my desk.

The other kids stopped. The other kids turned around. The other kids stared. Stared at me. Me standing. Me standing in the back corner. Me standing in the last row. Me standing next to my desk. Waiting.

She didn’t raise her voice. She didn’t need to. The kids were silent. Silent and staring. Staring at me. Staring at me in the back corner. Staring at me in the back row. Staring at me standing next to my desk. Waiting.

She didn’t move. She didn’t move from standing. Standing at her desk. Her desk at the front of the classroom. Her desk in the front corner. Her desk from where she stared at me. Me standing. Standing silently. Waiting.

She asked David. David who sat next to me. David who shielded me. David who no longer blocked her view. She asked David to empty my desk. My desk next to his. His desk next to mine. In the back corner. In the back row.

He took the library books out. One book at a time. One book at a time, he opened them. One book at a time, he stacked them on top of my desk next to me. One book at a time, there was nothing there. Until the light blue notebook. The light blue notebook that was under the pile of library books. The library books now stacked on my desk.

David paused. I turned. David flushed. I saw. David slid the light blue notebook out. Slowly.

The light blue notebook with the slip of paper I tucked in it. The slip of paper with the answers on it. The slip of paper hanging out of the bottom. The bottom of the light blue notebook.

I caught his eye. The teacher couldn’t see. I whispered. The teacher couldn’t hear. The teacher in the corner at the front of the classroom. The teacher standing at her desk. Watching.

I knew him. He knew me. He wouldn’t do it. He wouldn’t show them. Show them the slip of paper. The slip of paper with the answers on it. The slip of paper hanging out the bottom of the light blue notebook.

His flush deepened. He looked away. He took out the light blue notebook. The light blue notebook with the slip of paper hanging out the bottom. The slip of paper with the answers on it.

Then he pulled it out. The slip of paper with the answers on it. He pulled it out. Then he raised it up. He raised it up for all to see.