Everyone in class can hear my thoughts, but there's a catch—the "thoughts" they hear have been deliberately altered.
During the exam, while I swiftly fill out the answer sheet, the rest of the class stays put. They eagerly wait to hear the answers in my head.
[The answer for this is C, of course. These questions are exactly the same as the ones Ms. Clarke revealed to me. I'm going to be the top student again without even breaking a sweat!]
Everyone else immediately copy my answers. Ultimately, apart from me, they all end up failing the exam.
During our swimming class, my leg cramps, and I start sinking underwater. I try to scream for help, but my classmates hear something entirely different in my head.
[I'm going to act like I'm drowning and see who's the idiot who jumps in to save me. Hahaha!]
In the end, they all watch indifferently as I drown.
My eyes open again. I've gone back in time to the day of the exam.
This time, I can also hear these "thoughts" of mine that have been altered.
In the exam hall, everyone had their heads down, staring at the question booklet and answer sheet. They seemed focused, but no one was actually writing anything. They were just sitting there with their pencils frozen in their hands.
I took a quick look at the question and soon worked out the answer. Right before I filled in the answer sheet, however, I deliberately let a thought pass through my head.
[This is such an easy question. One look and it's obvious the answer is B.]
At the very next second, I heard a voice in my head.
[This may seem like an easy question, but it's a trap. A lot of people will pick B by mistake, but the correct answer is C.]
Immediately after, the sound of pencils scratching on paper filled the room. Many students were filling in their answers, and from the looks of it, they all chose C.
I kept my eyes fixed on Yvonne Goff's hand. She, the campus belle, sat diagonally in front of me. And sure enough, I saw her filling out the answer as B. After setting her pencil down, she smirked smugly.
Immediately, I lowered my head, my heart pounding.
In my previous life, this had been the very midterm exam that everyone in class, save for Yvonne and me, did terribly in. Once the results came out, my classmates began eyeing me with a strange sense of hostility.
A few days later, during a class meeting, they all voted to remove me from my position as class representative and unanimously chose Yvonne to replace me.
I hadn't understood why—until I was reborn. Now, I realized what was really going on. For some reason, my classmates could hear what were supposedly my thoughts, and Yvonne had the ability to change these thoughts to whatever she wanted.
Having discovered this, I stopped trying to answer the questions. Instead, I put my pencil down, clutched my stomach, and acted as if I were in pain.
When Ms. Clarke saw me raising my hand, she hastened over and quietly asked me what the matter was.
I weakly replied, "I don't feel well, Ms. Clarke. I think I need to go to the nurse's office. Can I defer taking the exam for a little while?"
The whole class immediately whipped their heads up and turned to look at me.
Ms. Clarke looked hesitant.
"Hmm… Is it serious? You're already halfway through the exam. Do you think you can just bear with it for a little longer? Except for special circumstances, it's usually required for students to apply for deferments in advance."
I pinched myself hard. The pain made my eyes well up and my cheeks flush.
"I really don't feel too good, Ms. Clarke. Is it really impossible for me to defer the exam?"
I'd used so much force that I couldn't help but wince mentally as well. [That hurts!]
But the next moment, something entirely different rang out in my head.
[This feels so good!]
My heart sank.
Unexpectedly, my classmates eyed me with scrutiny.
Meanwhile, after seeing the state I was in, Yvonne began to smirk maliciously. She leaned over and murmured into Ms. Clarke's ear. Although she made it seem like she was keeping her voice down, she spoke loud enough for the surrounding classmates to hear her.
All at once, they began sending me looks of derision and disgust. Even Ms. Clarke's expression was grim as she summoned me out of the exam hall.
Once we were outside, she studied me carefully again, looking as if she had something she wanted to say but couldn't find the words.
Clutching my abdomen, I said, "My period came unexpectedly, Ms. Clarke. I'm having terrible cramps right now, and since I didn't have any breakfast, my blood sugar level is a little low as well. I'm feeling rather light-headed. That's why I want to go to the nurse's office."
Since I was the class representative, Ms. Clarke knew me well enough to know that I was usually a diligent and responsible student. After hearing my explanation, she relented, but not before asking one last time, "Are you sure you can't just hold on for a bit longer? The exam ends in half an hour."
My mind went back to Yvonne, who was still inside, and I nodded my head firmly.
When I went back inside the exam hall, I could see the mix of disgust and cruel amusement in my classmates' eyes.
As my classmates eyed me expectantly, I gathered my things, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and walked out of the exam hall.
They started looking anxious, but all they could do now was lower their heads and answer the questions under Ms. Clarke's watchful gaze.
I finally let out a quiet breath of relief. Now that they could no longer hear the wrong answers from my tampered "thoughts", they couldn't possibly blame me for their results, right?
…
At noon, my boyfriend, Justin Wilde, came to the nurse's office, his expression rather unpleasant.
The moment he came in, he questioned me suspiciously, "Did you really defer the exam because your period made you feel unwell?"
Confused, I nodded in response. Thankfully, my period came yesterday.
However, Justin's expression didn't improve.
"You never get period cramps. Why did it suddenly hurt this time? Is what they're saying true? Were you really…"
I saw a mix of disbelief and anger in his eyes, making me frown.
"Who's been saying what about me?"
Justin threw his phone at me.
"Look at this post. No names were mentioned, but the person it describes sounds a lot like you!"
After reading the post, I felt a wave of anger wash over me.
The title read, "Female College Student Takes Exam With Vibrator Stuck Inside Her. Stop Embarrassing Us Students!"
According to the poster, she'd been nervously doing her midterms when, all of a sudden, she heard a strange vibrating sound. When she looked up, she saw a female student with a flushed face, and the sounds were coming from her seat.
The female student proceeded to ignore the rules and leave the exam hall early, claiming that she wanted a deferment.
I recalled seeing Yvonne whisper something to Ms. Clarke earlier. Since she couldn't use the exam results to turn the class against me, she'd resorted to a different trick, huh?
Expression frosty, I returned the phone to Justin and took mine out. I sent the post to my father, asking him to help me find out who'd made that post.
Meanwhile, Justin's expression remained ugly. "Aren't you going to explain yourself to me?"
I looked at him in disappointment. "Why do I need to explain myself? I applied for a deferment because of my period cramps. Who heard any so-called sounds from a vibrator coming from me, huh? And you saw what was in my backpack this morning. What else was there, besides my books and stationery?"
Justin had no response.
My phone buzzed, and I clicked on Dad's reply. As expected, the account that made that post belonged to Yvonne. Once I read the rest of Dad's message and saw that the account had been banned, I put my phone away again.
After seeing how dark my expression was, Justin finally took my hand and said, "Oh, alright. I'm sorry, Calista. I only got upset and doubted you because I care a lot about you. I was wrong, okay? Don't be mad anymore. It's your birthday tomorrow. Let's have a proper celebration and not fight, okay?"
At the mention of my birthday, I abruptly recalled something.
In my previous life, I'd felt blindsided and hurt that I'd been removed from my position as class representative. To cheer me up, Justin planned out an elaborate birthday party for me.
Everything went well during the day. However, when we were strolling by the lake in the evening, I thought about how touched I was by the effort he'd put in.
Then, out of nowhere, he went pale with fury and told me he wanted to break up with me.
Had that also been due to Yvonne's tampering?
…
The next evening, Justin and I went for a stroll by the lake. I scanned the surroundings and, true enough, I spotted Yvonne sitting nearby.
I deliberately allowed a thought to pass through my head. [Justin treats me so well.]
At the very next second, an entirely different sentence rang out in my head. [This dumb fool has no idea I'm keeping eight other guys on the hook as my backups.]
Justin's expression stiffened at once.
I tried again. [He put in so much effort to celebrate my birthday for me.]
[I only chose to make him my official boyfriend because he's the most spineless and submissive out of all the guys I've seduced. I bet he has no clue I also have a sugar daddy who's in his 50s. With all the money my sugar daddy gives me, I can easily get at least ten more guys to be at my beck and call.]
By now, Justin looked like he might murder someone. He flung my hand away, his eyes blazing with fury.
When I saw the look of pure rage and hurt on his face, I spoke up before he could say anything.
"Thank you for putting in all that effort to celebrate my birthday for me, Justin. But I don't think we're right for each other. Let's break up."
Justin's words got stuck in his throat. He looked like he'd just swallowed a fly. Immediately, he flew into a rage.
"You want to break up with me? How dare you say you want to break up with me when I haven't even said it yet, you shameless, two-timing bitch!"
His words made me frown. In my previous life, he didn't even bother getting the facts straight before breaking up with me. He'd even watched indifferently as I drowned. Unsurprisingly, now that I was the one who asked for a breakup first, he had no qualms about hurling these insults at me.
I pulled out my phone, which was already in recording mode.
"Justin, I advise you to watch what you say. This counts as verbal abuse."
He scoffed. "What's the matter? You've got the nerve to do it, but you can't stand getting exposed? You're a shameless cheater!"
I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.
"Watch your mouth! I'm going to make it clear to you now—throughout my entire relationship with you, I never flirted or had anything going on with any other guy. I was completely devoted to you."
After saying that, I whipped around and went straight back to my dorm.
…
Over the next few days, every time I walked into the classroom, I could feel my classmates' eyes flickering toward me. The rumors about me grew more and more outrageous, and everyone kept their distance.
Soon, it was time for our swimming class.
In my previous life, I had drowned during this very class. This time, I asked the swimming instructor, Mr. Lane, for permission to skip it. However, he told me it was the last class of the semester, and if I didn't get in the water, I would get a failing grade.
I had no choice but to message my childhood friend, Shane Jamison. I beseeched him to come over and accompany me until the end of the swimming class.
Before class, I repeatedly reminded Shane that if he saw me stay underwater for more than 30 seconds, he had to jump in and save me immediately.
He nodded with resigned helplessness. As we waited on the side for class to start, I even made him swear that he would save me.
Just then, Yvonne and Justin came over, seemingly engaged in a cheerful conversation. But when they saw me, they immediately shot me looks of disgust.
I snorted inwardly.
Finally, it was time for class, and Mr. Lane summoned all of us to gather by the pool. After leading us in a round of warm-ups, he told everyone to swim five laps each before he stepped out to take a phone call.
Some of my classmates immediately moved far away from me.
"Justin, can you get Calista Norton to use a separate pool instead? I don't want to enter the pool after she dirties it!"
Justin nodded as if it made perfect sense. "You're right. Who knows what kind of diseases she has? Mr. Lane will be back soon, so here's my idea. We'll all go first, and she can swim by herself at the very end."
One by one, the others got into the water. Once they'd done their laps, I was about to get into the water when I saw someone dumping a copious amount of chlorine into the pool.
Yvonne watched on the side with a gloating expression. "We don't have to worry about her dirtying the water anymore!"
Someone else chimed in to agree with her. "That's right. We need to use as much chlorine as we can to disinfect someone with a mind and body as filthy as hers!"
Ignoring them, I quickly headed toward the far end of the pool—only to find that someone was also dumping chlorine into the water on that side.
In my agitation, my calf started cramping, just like it had in my previous life.
"Shane, save me!" I immediately shouted in alarm.
[Hahaha! I'll just pretend to drown and see who jumps in to save me. After all, I'm even good enough to join the synchronized swimming team. Only an idiot would think I need saving! This is also my chance to see if Justin still loves me and whether he'll try to save me.]
All of my classmates, who were standing on the side of the pool, heard the thoughts that were never mine to begin with and began scowling in disdain.
Justin turned purple in the face and glared daggers at me as well. "What the hell? She's still trying to mess with us!"
I couldn't see Shane anywhere. The harsh smell of chlorine made me dizzy and nauseous. With my body running out of oxygen, my consciousness slowly started to fade.
Right before I blacked out, I finally heard the sound of someone jumping into the water.
…
When I woke up, I saw Shane's anxious face hovering above mine.
"What on earth is going on? All I did was turn away for a minute to take a phone call! Why did you nearly end up drowning in the pool? Have your classmates been bullying you?" he cried out.
I coughed violently, my chest heaving.
Mr. Lane finally hurried over as well. "Are you alright there?"
My eyes fell on my classmates. None of them looked even the least bit guilty.