The Mask of an Outstanding Student

Chapter 1

Right before the SATs, my best friend, Chad, totally lost it.

He was talking about jumping off the water tower every other day.

I was practically glued to his side, tutoring him, pumping him up, and my own grades were plummeting.

Then, one day, I forgot my notes and had to run back to the classroom.

And there he was, Chad, who couldn’t get the first multiple-choice question right to save his life, solving the most impossible calculus problem in, like, ten minutes.

He was showing it to Mia, his mom’s employer’s daughter.

“See? It’s not that hard, and Jessica’s results came out, so don’t be so insecure.”

1.

I stood there in the doorway, completely stunned, watching Chad explain the problem.

He was holding a pen, writing out the steps, and his handwriting was neat and steady.

It definitely wasn’t the work of someone about to have a mental breakdown.

But during the day, Chad was crying to me about how stressed he was, how he couldn’t stand watching his grades tank.

I heard my voice tremble as I spoke:

“Chad…?”

Mia was the first to turn around.

Her eyes widened when she saw me, and she tried to pull away from Chad.

“Oh, Jess, you’re here so late.”

She fidgeted with her hands, looking really awkward.

Chad just grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

“Don’t worry, she’s not gonna start anything.”

I clenched my fists, pointing at the problem.

“What is going on?”

He sighed.

“Since you already know, I guess I can’t hide it anymore.”

I stared at him, waiting for a reasonable explanation.

But what he said made my breath catch in my throat.

“Jess, you’re just too good. It puts too much pressure on Mia.”

“So you pretended to be depressed before the SATs, faked having suicidal thoughts, tricked me into spending all my time watching you, tutoring you, and you just sat back and watched me make a fool of myself so my grades would drop, right?”

Chad sighed again.

“Jess, Mia’s on a scholarship, don’t be so hard on her.”

“So me getting good grades is being hard on her?”

I took a couple of steps forward, but Chad grabbed me.

“Jess!”

Mia started crying.

“Don’t hurt Chad! It’s my fault, I just couldn’t handle how amazing you are!

Chad is only doing this for me! You can hit me instead!”

She started trying to slap herself with my hand.

“Enough!”

Chad shoved me away.

“If you have a problem, come at me, leave her alone.”

“Smack!”

I slapped him across the face.

Chad just stood there, stunned.

I gritted my teeth, tears streaming down my face.

“I was just trying to help you… and you were using me the whole time…”

He looked at my tears, then started to panic.

“No, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t realize it would hurt you this much…”

“Get out!”

I pushed his hand away, taking a step back.

“I never want to see you again!”

2.

I ran back to my dorm, sobbing.

Tomorrow was the start of the weekend, and I was the only one who asked to stay on campus.

Alone in the empty room, I clutched a gift-boxed pen, crying.

It was the last present my brother ever gave me.

“Bro… I miss you so much…”

Two years ago, my brother’s grades had also suddenly tanked before the SATs.

He ended up on top of the bleachers.

The last thing I saw was his face covered in blood, covered by a sheet.

All he left me was this pen and a journal.

The journal disappeared the next day.

I was a wreck for two months.

And Chad was there for me.

He knew how much that time damaged me, and he was afraid I would get hit by a car on the way to school, so he followed me everywhere.

But ever since Mia transferred to our school, everything changed.

He knew how much that memory hurt me, and he still used the most hurtful way to trick me!

He knew that I wouldn’t refuse.

Even though helping him made my grades drop, I didn’t quit, because I was so afraid of him becoming my brother.

And all of that, was just to make Mia feel better.

That caused my heart to worry about him every day.

I wiped away the tears and took out my practice books, and started cramming.

He wanted my grades to drop so Mia wouldn’t feel so insecure?

I’d make it impossible for Mia to even dream of catching up!

3.

The results of the practice SATs came out quickly.

Everyone was yelling as soon as they saw the results.

“Whoa! Jessica’s back!”

“Dang! Jess got first! Didn’t she drop down to almost 200th place last time?”

“Why isn’t Mia listed this time? She always gets first.”

“Can you guys shut up!”

Someone shouted.

Everyone turned around to see Mia crying on the table.

A group of girlfriends gathered around her to comfort her.

“It’s okay. It’s normal to not do well. No one gets first every time.”

“Don’t be sad. Jessica was almost in 200th place, so she probably cheated to get here.”

“Yeah, who doesn’t know about her terrible results in the past?”

Mia sobbed.

“You guys can stop talking. Jess wouldn’t do that.”

“Mia, you’re so nice!”

Someone said angrily.

“She’s been bullying you a lot. You still protect her!”

Some of the students looked confused.

“What’s she talking about?”

The girlfriends got excited.

“Don’t you guys know? Mia’s mom is Jessica’s family maid, and Jessica bullies her every day. She doesn’t let Mia get better grades than her. If she does, Mia’s mom gets paid less!”

The person touched Mia’s head as they spoke.

“She only tells us her pain.

Since the SATs are coming, Mia wanted to try and show what her true abilities were, so she performed as well as she could. Jess scolded her mom for that.

She had to tutor Jess, and that’s why she didn’t do well.”

The students understood.

“So Jess’s good grades came from Mia helping her?”

“Yeah, Mia wanted to try her own abilities a few times, so she didn’t tutor Jess. Those terrible grades were the real Jessica!”

“Boom!”

I kicked the door open, and everyone stopped talking.

4.

Mia opened her eyes wide.

“Jess…”

“Boom!”

I slapped a stack of practice paper on the table.

I looked down at her.

“Are you done acting?”

She blinked.

I threw the paper in the air, and pages fell everywhere.

Every page had the steps to solve the questions, and every page had two people’s handwriting.

Someone realized something.

“That… Isn’t that Mia and Chad’s writing?”

“So Chad’s tutoring Mia?”

“Dude, Chad’s so good. Why are his grades so bad lately?”

“I think he was depressed.”

I laughed and looked at Chad.

“It feels good to fake being depressed, right Chad? Does it feel good that I wasted my own time tutoring you?”

The students looked at Chad.

“He was faking it?”

“Look at this math. It doesn’t look like someone who’s depressed.”

“Oh… Chad sold us out? How much did Mia pay you to betray your best friend?”

“I think he did it for love…”

Laughter was heard throughout the room.

“You… You guys are crazy!”

Chad stood up and hit the table.

Mia started crying harder.

I laughed.

“If you don’t like me, then beat me in the SATs.

If you’re going to use tricks, then that’s fine. All I feel is disgust!”

I bent down and looked Mia in the eyes.

“I’m going to keep pressuring you, and if you don’t like it, then get good.”

I left and slammed the door.

5.

After the event, I stopped caring about Mia’s feeling’s, and started taking my scores back.

Every time, I ended up passing her.

Even when Chad tutored her, she would only get to second place.

She finally gave up fighting, and she became depressed.

6.

Rumors started to spread.

They said that I made Mia depressed.

Her friends started spreading rumors and fake pictures of me bullying her.

There were pictures of Mia’s self-harm.

There were pictures of Mia’s room compared to mine.

She even wrote about all of the times I verbally abused her.

She also added a picture of her doctor saying that she had depression.

I knew it was all fake, but people started to believe it.

She was good at writing, and a lot of people understood her pain.

[I was also depressed. It’s not a good feeling, and it’s so unfair that the author bullies her because she doesn’t have money!]

[Jessica from 7th grade? I’m going to get her after school!]

[The SATs are coming, and I hope Mia isn’t affected. You’ll be able to shine in the future!]

The teacher had to talk to me.

“I know there was a misunderstanding, but Mia is sensitive. The SATs are important. Don’t make her life worse.”

I said, “I’m just getting my grade back.”

The teacher looked disappointed.

“Jess, I’m begging you. Let’s just pretend for now, ok? I’ll be grateful.”

I sighed and said, “Ok.”

7.

During the rest of the practice tests, I got below her score, and Mia started smiling again.

She was no longer depressed.

I also got below her in the test, and the teacher praised her during a meeting.

“A lot of students may struggle, but they don’t give up on themselves. That’s what a student should do to win.”

Mia smiled proudly and looked at me.

The teacher looked at his glasses.

“A lot of students are not as good as Mia, and some of them have stopped trying.

You can look at the results. It looks like someone’s grades are getting worse! Their results are terrible. They aren’t as good as Mia!”

He didn’t say names, but everyone looked at me.

There were looks of doubt and teasing.

Mia flipped her hair and said, “The SATs are mostly about your mental state, and if you don’t try, you won’t get better.”

The students responded.

“Yeah, Jessica’s not that good. I thought she was good!”

“I bet she cheated to get first place.”

“I think she did cheat.”

“Be quiet!”

The teacher hit the table.

“Everyone is going to write an essay and think about why you can’t get better results! Especially you!”

He looked at me.