Chapter 3

Melissa spent half of her night time studying the map of her high school. Taking note of every corner, she fell asleep almost at midnight. She decided to steal the question papers tomorrow so that she could show her father next week how she had obtained the highest mark.

Following up the next morning, her alarm buzzed earlier than an hour as she needed to head off for her school before others could show up.

Melissa jumped off her bed when the ear-piercing ringtone pierced through her ears. Taking a glimpse of her table clock, she scooted down before making her way inside the washroom in haste.

She needed to reach out to the school before Mr.Hale showed up!

Melissa came down with her school uniform. A little bun hung from the top of her head and her urgent movements amused her mom. Hayley spoke by placing down the pots on the dining table,

" Wow! Melissa! What made you wake up so early in the morning? We still have one hour left before school starts."

Melissa didn't plop down on the chair as usual she did. Picking up a fresh apple, she Replied take a large bite of it,

" Mom! I have taken extra tuition today. You don't have to send me today. I can manage myself."

She spoke and ran for the doorway only to hear her mom's frustrated growl,

" But Melissa..You are still so young..Can you.."

She halted in her track to roll her eyes and scoffed back at her mom,

" Mom, I am nineteen and not a kid anymore."

Before Hayley could utter any more words, Melissa had disappeared behind the white glass door. Hayley sighed helplessly at her whirlwind daughter. She solemnly hoped that she would be a little mature soon. She didn't like the way Marcel behaved rudely with her yesterday.

Melissa took the bus to reach the high school. Coming down from the bus, she discovered the campus in front of her high school was empty. Relief flooded through her expression as she hurried her pace towards the professor's room.

Passing the rooms of another professor, Melissa took note of everything. Except for Mr.Smith who was engrossed in signing papers, the other professors didn't arrive at the school yet.

She bit down her lips a little nervously. Mentally encouraged herself telling that Mr.Hale would come naturally fifteen minutes earlier than the lesson starts.

He wouldn't come earlier, would he?

Dismissing all the negative thoughts, Melissa resumed her way towards his office room once again. Sneaking a look at her surroundings like a little puppy, she slipped inside his office and stopped after closing the door behind her.

Locking the door wasn't the best choice. If someone suddenly intended to come inside, they would be naturally suspicious over this locked door when Mr.Hale was nowhere around.

Leaving the doorway, Melissa nervously skipped out of her shoes to reduce the potential sound of her footsteps. She placed the shoes away in a remarkable place from where no one could find her shoes.

Wandering her eyes around the room, she could detect that every piece of furniture was perfectly stationed without any staff sprawling around like a mess. Drake was a perfectionist and he maintained this habit even in his workplace.

Letting out a long sigh of relief, Melissa walked over to the desk first starting from the drawer to check on the papers. After scattering through the staff a few times, she didn't find anything.

Strange! Where did he hide his papers?

Thinking about the shelf that he had in the back, Melissa left the desk hopelessly and went over to search inside the shelf in case he had put them there.

Getting frustrated over such a tense situation, Melissa's brain worked slowly and her hands clumsily scattered through the sheets as she flipped through the pages to find the exact date of their upcoming exam.

Scoffing at her professor mentally, she hurried her movement and finally found the untouched neat papers in the back. A smile came on her lips as she pulled out the papers and folded two in her grip. One was for her and the other was for Stefan, the only boy best friend that she got in Cambridge.

She placed down the other papers hurriedly and picked up her face to get out of this room as soon as possible. Just as she made her way out from the back of the shelf, the door from his office room creaked open unexpectedly.

A horrified gasp came out from her lips as she staggered one step back and cornered herself beside the giant bookshelf that could barely block the view of her flat body.

Her hands started to shake violently. Out of her fear and anxiety, the pages all dropped down on the floor and caused a little sputtering noise. She pressed her palms to cover her gasps and pants. She was getting awfully frightened.

Footsteps began to approach her way slowly. The racing of her heart turned so incredibly fast that she could hear her own heart beating at the moment.

Her frightened eyes caught the glimpse of a shadow standing at the doorstep without entering or going back. Her eyes were squeezed shut fearfully and her back pressed against the wall more tightly, wishing that those walls could swallow her whole.

If she got caught red-handed today, no one.. absolutely no one would be able to save her from getting expelled.