In my last life, Mrs. Margaret White, my teacher, led the bullying against me, simply because I scored better than the boy she favoured. She spread rumours in class, saying I cheated and was involved in a relationship. She would say, “Some people’s marks have suddenly shot up, but we all know how they got there.” She’d add, “Some people spend all day not studying and only know how to lead people astray!” She stoked the flames, getting the whole class to turn against me, and in the end, it drove me to depression and forced me to drop out. This time, however, I was back on the day she started spreading the rumour about me cheating. I raised my hand and said: “Miss, last time I handed in my homework, I saw you sitting on Max Turner’s lap. Is that how you improve his grades?” The mock exam results had come out, and I had moved up thirty places. I’d gone from the bottom of the class to the middle. Alice Bennett stared at my paper, “Liv, you’re smashing it!” Alice is my best friend, always encouraging me. We were inseparable in school. In my previous life, when I was depressed and dropped out, she tried her hardest to convince me to stay. After I took my own life, she nearly fainted from crying. Now that I had another chance at life, I looked at the test paper on my desk, but I wasn’t particularly happy. I knew trouble was coming my way. Mrs. White strode into the room, her stiletto heels clicking as she swayed her hips. “I’ve put the class rankings on the board. You can check after class.” “But first, I want to talk about two students, Olivia Williams and Max Turner.” Mrs. White walked over to Max’s desk. Max sat alone, near the front. She pretended to comfort him, patting him on the shoulder. “You didn’t do so well this time, Max. Olivia’s overtaken you.” Max nodded, but from where I sat, I could see him nudge Mrs. White’s lower back with his elbow. Disgusting. Alice immediately jumped to my defence, “What’s that supposed to mean, Mrs. White?” Mrs. White snorted, her expression turning condescending. “Students falling behind is fine. As the form tutor, it’s my job to focus on those who need to catch up. As long as they want to learn, it’s no problem.” “But what concerns me are those with ulterior motives.” “How someone’s grades improved so quickly, I’m not sure. I don’t want to investigate, and frankly, I’m too tired to bother. I’ll spare her the embarrassment by not naming names.” I stared at Mrs. White as she twisted the truth on the podium, and it brought me right back to the last time. Once or twice, I had outscored Max Turner. She began calling me out during assemblies, saying, “Some people’s marks have suddenly shot up, but we all know how they got there.” Then I borrowed a book from the library, and the student council president, Samuel Turner, helped me. Mrs. White saw this. She spread another rumour, “Some people never study and just spend their time seducing others!” She led the class in isolating me. In lessons, she wouldn’t ask me questions. After class, she refused to mark my homework. Even when I handed it in, she wouldn’t grade it. It got worse—she stopped giving me study materials, and when the school counted the class roll, I wasn’t included. Teenagers can be simple and cruel. When a teacher dislikes a student, how can that student have any friends? At that point, Alice was the only one who still talked to me, but Mrs. White eventually transferred her to another class. After that, I was completely alone. Rumours spread, the teacher hated me, my classmates bullied me, and eventually, I dropped out due to depression and ended my life. And all of it because I scored better than Max, the teacher’s favourite. This time, the story started the same way. So I raised my hand and said, “Miss, last time when I handed in my homework, I saw you sitting on Max Turner’s lap. Is that how you improve his grades?” Mrs. White’s face went pale. “What on earth are you talking about, girl?” “Not only do you cheat, but you’re a liar too!” I tilted my head, feigning innocence. “Miss, what are you on about?” “Weren’t you unsteady on your feet, and Max was just helping you out? You accidentally ended up on his lap, didn’t you?” Mrs. White’s face flushed from blue to white, then back again. “Yes, I wasn’t steady on my feet.” Of course, that wasn’t what had happened, but my intention was only to give her a little warning. Still, the students started buzzing. After all, we were teenagers. Mrs. White quickly shouted, “Alright, enough! Quiet down, let’s get back to class!” After the lesson, Mrs. White hurried out without even stopping to talk to Max. Once she left, my classmates swarmed around me. “Olivia, is what you said really true?” “Did Mrs. White and Max actually… you know?” “She does walk like that… I always thought she was a bit much.” I calmly packed my books away. Alice was watching me with concern. I finished tidying up and grabbed Alice’s arm, “Let’s head to the toilets.” As we walked away, I turned to the nosy crowd. “The teacher said she was just unsteady on her feet. That’s all I know, so don’t drag me into it. Mrs. White already doesn’t like me.” Then I pulled Alice along, leaving the gossip behind. When someone spreads rumours about you, the best way to fight back is to start an even bigger, juicier rumour—especially if it’s not entirely false. Mrs. White was implying that my grades came from cheating, so I hinted at something just as inappropriate. Students love gossip. Even the slightest hint of a scandal draws them in. And what’s more explosive than a cheating scandal? A teacher-student affair. I had planted the seed. If they were curious, they could find out for themselves. Let’s just hope Mrs. White keeps her secrets well hidden from these curious teenagers. On the way to the toilets, Alice Bennett seemed like she had something she wanted to say to me, but she kept hesitating. When we finally got to the toilets, she couldn’t hold it in any longer. “Liv, I’m worried Mrs. White is going to come after you.” “She won’t. Why would she, unless she has something to hide?” “But… did she really sit on Max’s lap that day…?” I quickly shushed her. “Careful! Walls have ears!” Alice looked around nervously and nodded, grabbing my hand as we hurried out of the toilets. High school is supposed to be wonderful, the time we’ll remember forever. Alice tugged me along, glancing back to urge me. “Hurry up, we’re going to be late for class!” I felt a twinge of guilt. I was using her. It wasn’t just that walls might have ears; they did have ears. I had noticed there were other girls in the next stall when I mentioned Mrs. White. I said it on purpose—I wanted her reputation ruined. I wanted her to go through exactly what I went through. Every bit of it.
Rumours about Mrs. White began to spread throughout the school. She tried to change her appearance, dressing in plain, casual clothes and swapping her stilettos for flats. It seemed like she was attempting to repair her image. But, of course, the rumours only grew. “Mrs. White’s not wearing heels anymore. Do you reckon she’s pregnant?” “Definitely. My mum wore flats and loose clothes when she was pregnant with my brother.” “So, who do you reckon the father is?” “Do you even need to ask?” The students whispered and laughed, filling the corridors with gossip. Mrs. White clearly heard them, as she yelled for everyone to be quiet, dragging the group of whisperers outside for a telling-off. You could hear her scolding them down the whole corridor. The next day, she returned to her usual attire, as if to prove she wasn’t pregnant. But it was useless. Mrs. White no longer called Max into her office as often. Instead, she frequently summoned me. “Clean the office, Olivia.” “Take this pile of books to Mrs. Thompson’s office.” “Get me some water.” She treated me like a servant. Worse still, she always made me do these tasks during lessons. At St. Edmund’s, we had weekly quizzes for every subject, and the form tutor invigilated. Mrs. White waved my quiz results in the air as she stood at the front of the class. “Some students keep visiting the teacher’s office, but instead of improving, their grades are slipping.” Then she held up Max Turner’s paper alongside another student’s. “Look at these students who don’t spend their time in the office. As long as they want to learn, they’ll make progress.” “But some students like to pull stunts to get the teacher’s attention. And after all that attention, they still let the teacher down, even turning on them. It breaks my heart!” It was a clever move. I couldn’t attend lessons properly, which meant I couldn’t keep up. Naturally, my grades started slipping. But, of course, no one else knew that she was pulling me out of class to do her errands. Just then, Mrs. Holy Thompson, the head of discipline, walked past our classroom. Seeing me standing, she asked, “What’s going on here, Margaret?” Mrs. White let out a dramatic sigh, “Well, Olivia’s grades were improving, but now they’re dropping again. I’m worried about her.” Mrs. Thompson took a look at my quiz paper and frowned. “Olivia, this isn’t good enough.” She handed me some extra revision papers. “Come to my office after class. I’ve got a set of past papers for you. Make sure to copy them and share them with the class. It’ll be good practice for everyone.” I nodded. “Thank you, Mrs. Thompson.” Mrs. Thompson was a well-respected teacher in her fifties. Even the headmaster deferred to her. She smiled and left, leaving Mrs. White fuming. “Well, thank Olivia, everyone. Without her, where would we get these past papers?” Mrs. White’s voice was dripping with sarcasm. But the class wasn’t having any of it. They sincerely shouted, “Thanks, Olivia!” I pressed my lips together and gave a small bow. “Sorry for holding the class back.”
I thought this would be the end of it, but after school, Max Turner blocked my way. I secretly turned on the recording device in my pocket. “What do you want?” Behind him were a few of The Ashford Boys, puffing on cigarettes. Max stepped closer. “What do I want?” “You don’t know what you’ve done? You don’t know who you’ve crossed?” I shouted back that I had no idea. One of The Ashford Boys let out a low whistle. “You’ve crossed Lord Turner!” “Gutsy, aren’t you, going up against Max?” I turned to Max, “So, you’re ‘Lord Turner,’ then?” Max lit a cigarette, smirking. “Who else would it be?” Just then, the headlights of a car shone into the alley. Mrs. White stepped out. She sashayed over to Max, who quickly put his arm around her waist. The boys whistled and cheered, calling her “Mrs. White” and even “sis-in-law.” Mrs. White smirked. “Don’t call me that. You’re not my students, are you? Only Max gets to call me that.” She shot me a cold look before turning to Max. “Do what you want, just don’t kill her.” I understood her meaning clearly—anything goes, as long as I don’t end up dead. Mrs. White drove away, and Max’s group closed in. One of the boys dumped a cup of milkshake over my head, and before I could react, someone grabbed my hair, pulling me to the ground. They dragged me across the pavement, throwing my books out of my bag and stomping on them, spitting and cursing. Max gave the order, “Strip her, take some photos.” A few of them started ripping at my clothes, pulling off layer after layer until only my undergarments remained. I struggled and kicked, and they kicked me back. Suddenly, a police siren blared in the distance, and Max’s group panicked, snapping a few photos before running off. Once they were gone, I scrambled to put my clothes back on and checked my recording device. Still intact. When I looked up, I saw Samuel Turner standing at the end of the alley, watching me. In my past life, he had only helped me pick up a book in the library, but that was enough for Mrs. White to accuse me of seducing him and cheating on my exams. The rumours had destroyed my reputation. Seeing him now, I felt a mix of guilt and confusion. I had never meant to drag him into this. But right now, I must’ve looked a mess. “Did they leave?” Samuel asked quietly. I nodded, realising that he must have been the one to scare them off. He nodded towards the recording device in my hand. “Is it broken?” I shook my head. “It’s fine.” “Hand it over, then.” I stared at him, confused. He adjusted his glasses. “It’s mine. Give it back.” Samuel took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. I suddenly noticed the striking resemblance between him and Max. Especially in their eyes. “I helped you. Don’t you think you owe me something?” I had a suspicion about what he wanted, but I wasn’t sure. I decided to take a gamble. “You want to destroy Max Turner. We can work together, but I’m not giving up control.” Samuel blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing. “Whoever said you were stupid? You’re sharper than I thought.” “Alright. How do you want to work together?” “I want Mrs. White to lose everything. And as for whatever Max does along the way, I’ll record it all and hand it to you.” Samuel held out his hand. “Deal?”
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