It’s Our Rights
Sheldon and Elise came to class at almost the same time the next day. Sheldon came over the moment
she sat down, and he stared at her mysteriously. “Why do you have dark circles, boss? Did you burn the
midnight oil?
Elise froze up a little, and she blushed. She then turned away and said awkwardly, “I’m fine. Just didn’t
have enough sleep.”
“Why? Is something wrong with your bed or pillow? I bring my own bed and pillow to the dorm. It helps
with sleep. Want me to get Jamie to send another set over?” he asked naively.
“Um, it’s alright.” Elise smiled and ended the topic.
Sheldon went back to his seat in case she thought he was annoying.
Sophie was infuriated when she saw that. This b*tch just goes for any man she wants, huh? Does she
not have anyone else to go after? She just has to pick all the guys I like. I know Sheldon first, but she
took him away in just a single night. They were so close. They must have slept together. Are these men
dumb? Can’t they see that she’s a slut? I bet she covers herself up too well. She acts innocent, and men
love that. I must find a way to expose her for her true self. Sheldon and the other guys in the class can’t
fall for her tricks.
Just then, Martin came in with the test papers and knocked on the blackboard with his pointer. “Time for
class. I’ll be announcing your marks for yesterday’s test now. Make a line outside the classroom
according to your marks. Once I’m done, you may come in and choose your seat.”
Sophie was delighted. Now I can one up her.
Martin held the sheet of results and looked at Elise and Sheldon before he announced, “Zacharias, 106.
Josephine, 102. Sophie, 95.” He paused for a moment and said, “You would have scored higher if you
had been a little bit more careful.”
It was a simple message, but it was obvious that he cared about Sophie.
Sophie stood up arrogantly. “Yes, thank you, Mr. Kamp. I’ll be more careful next time.” She went outside
after that. Number three was worse than what she had expected, but since the top two were guys, that
meant Elise must have lost.
Eventually, Martin came to the end. “In last place, Jessica, 82. Those whose name I have not
announced, go to the end of the line and queue up as you please.”
There were only Elliot, Sheldon, and Elise left in the classroom. The reason for not announcing their
marks was because it was too abysmal, and the teacher didn’t want to humiliate the students. Elliot and
Sheldon knew that, so they stood up and were about to go out.
“Mr. Kamp, why don’t we have our results?” Elise stood up and asked.
Martin paused for a moment. He adjusted his glasses and looked at her coldly. “I’m trying to make things
easy for you, so don’t push your luck. You didn’t do your tests seriously. I didn’t even want to waste my
time going through it.”
Elise knew what he was getting at. Martin didn’t lie, for he didn’t go through their papers, nor did he mark
them. Before this, she only thought Martin was a bit too stubborn and archaic, but now she realized he
might not be fit to be a teacher. “I think I have the right to know my results,” she argued.
Elliot looked awkward, and he gave Elise a look. He knew how abysmal his results were, and since they
were in the same class, he didn’t mind where he was seated.
“Yes, that’s our right.” Sheldon remembered his brother’s teachings and went with whatever Elise wanted
to do.
Elliot smacked his head, but he took his friends’ side. He smirked. “Sir, marking our papers is your job.
You can’t have skipped our papers and tried to cover up your laziness, right?”
“Are you questioning my professionalism?” Martin wouldn’t admit to that, so he took the moral high
ground. “If it weren’t for me trying to keep your dignity intact, did you think I would need to skip out on
marking your papers? It’s simple arithmetic. But since you requested, I might as well fulfill it. Now line up
outside the classroom. I’ll get your papers and mark them as carefully as I can.”
Elliot was discouraged. Well, sh*t. I could have gotten a couple of pity marks, but now I lost it all. Sheldon
and Elise didn’t mind. They went outside nonchalantly, leaving him alone and dejected.
Martin took out the lowermost papers and marked them from the start. Sheldon was the first. He only
wrote his name on the paper and nothing else. Martin gritted his teeth and gave him a zero. Up next was
Elliot’s, and he chose C for all the multiple-choice questions. Obviously, he was taking blind shots, and
according to unwritten rules, he could award him some marks or none at all. Of course he chose the
latter, since he was a failure of a teacher. He got all questions on the cloze part wrong, and he didn’t
write any equations down for the math questions. In the end, he also got a zero. Two zeros. Best friends
until the very end.
Elise was the last. He remembered that she left the multiple-choice questions blank and only filled them
in at random in the last few moments. However, she was smart, and she didn’t pick all the same
answers, so Martin had to mark them all. Much to his surprise, she got all five questions correct, but she
got everything wrong on the cloze test.
Martin gritted his teeth. She’s just lucky.
He reached the math section. He thought Elise only copied it to deal with the test, but when he marked it,
he realized that she got everything correct, including the extra question at the end. Even he had to spend
some time getting the correct answer for that.
Martin composed himself, but he spaced out a little.
So she memorized the way to get the correct answer for these kinds of questions. She’s the top student
of the arts stream, so of course she’s prepared. He reluctantly marked every single question and added
them up in the end. After he convinced himself that it was fine, he stood up and came to the classroom’s
entrance with the papers in hand. He prepared himself mentally, then he said reluctantly, “Sheldon, zero.
Elliot, zero. Elise…” He paused for a moment when he came to her. He looked at Elise, who was at the
end of the line, and he sighed. “Ninety-six.”
One mark higher than Sophie.
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