Started as His Girlfriend (Sequel to "Started as His Tutor")

Bottled

I nervously tap my pencil against my desk while staring at the brick wall. With one side of my lip tucked under my teeth, I tried to get rid of the suffocating feeling in my stomach that started to creep up my throat and into my nose.

Where is he? Is he badly hurt?

Selfishly, I was too occupied with my fight with Vincent to check on Greg. He didn't show up in math nor did he come to work yesterday.

"Wait out in the hall, Wendy," my English teacher suddenly says in the midst of her lecture.

Everyone looks at me, whispering. I drop the pen I was tapping, suspecting it was the reason I'm in trouble. Vincent looks at me with beady eyes, more nervous than I was. As I got up and walked past his desk, I feel him squeeze my fingers lightly to give some support.

A little later, she comes out with some stapled paper in hand. She firmly readjusts her thin, rectangular glasses, but it still hangs low on her nose. Because of this, her eyes scowl at me.

"I get that you might not take this class seriously, but don't disrupt other's learning," she berates.

"I'm sorry. I tapped my pen without realizing," I apologize. However, she shows the least bit interest of my explanation.

"I gave you a second chance on your paper, because your former teachers raved about how exceptional of a student you are. So, I'm very surprised you didn't even try to hide the fact that you plagiarized your redo."

"What? Plagiarized?"

"Admit who you copied off of, and I won't write you up this time."

"I-I-I'm confused... I never-"

"Fine. Don't. I already know who's paper you took."

She holds out two different packets. Both had the exact same font and format. Except, one had my name on it. The other had Maddy printed clearly at the top.

I gawked at the names, perplexed by such a coincidence. Indeed, the two papers were exact, down to every misspelled word or misplaced punctuation.

"Since Maddy turned in her's on time, I suspect you took this afterwards without her knowing. You noticed Maddy got the best grade out of the class, huh?" she probes.

"I did see her grade, but I never copied her. I can't explain how this happened, but you have to trust me," I begged, at a loss of what to do.

"I rarely give second chances. What makes you think I'll give you a third?" she glares.

I try to blink away the burning sensation curdling under my eyes.

"I'm marking it as an F. But next time, I'll write you up for academic dishonesty."

She takes back Maddy's paper but leaves mine behind. Her infuriation must've been unbearable, because she didn't even bother to mark the paper.

Slugging in after her, I returned to my seat and set my paper onto my desk silently. Everyone looked between me and the teacher, trying to decipher our expressions and make up a story for what happened. As far as they know, it wasn't good.

Tired of being stared at, I turn my head to the wall. I would've looked down if it wasn't for the fact that tears would've started to drop from my eyes.

"Wendy..." Vincent whispers sneakily once she had turned around to write on the board.

I don't respond, knowing my voice will be broken and croaky.

There's a light rustling of paper before Vincent says, "What's wrong? This paper's perfect."

"Because it's not my paper."