Chapter 3

In the following practice tests, Lily successfully scored over 1550 each time as she wished.

I even deliberately scored lower than her once, letting Lily beat me by a few points.

During the exams, I kept thinking to myself: "These questions are so easy, I could probably score 1580 even if I took the test with my eyes closed. If the real SAT is this easy, getting into Harvard or Yale would be a piece of cake."

My thoughts, combined with the shock of her beating me, completely put Lily at ease. She stopped hovering over me and forcing me to study, and gradually stopped coming to school altogether.

When our homeroom teacher called to persuade her to come to school, Lily brazenly replied:

"I can score better than Ava without even studying. I'm guaranteed to get into Harvard anyway, so you should spend your time worrying about those idiots who can't even get into community college!"

In my past life, she was so afraid I'd slack off that she kept a close eye on me at school every day.

Her complete disregard for me now actually made things more convenient for my plans.

During her absence from school, Lily started dabbling in social media.

This was something that didn't happen in my memories of my past life. Or maybe it did, and I just didn't know about it.

She created an account portraying the life of a high school senior preparing for the SAT.

But instead of actual SAT prep, her videos were all about makeup, fashion, and various forms of entertainment.

With marketing funds and a professional team, plus her stunning looks, Lily quickly attracted a large following online.

Whenever anyone questioned her, she would show off her high practice test scores and declare that she was sure to be the top scorer and get into Harvard.

Some of our classmates even vouched for her online. She became an internet sensation, praised by everyone as a genius girl.

I didn't have a smartphone, so I heard all this from my classmates.

I didn't comment on any of it, just kept my head down and focused on my own studies.

Although I deliberately let Lily hear my arrogant thoughts during exams, in reality I felt very uncertain.

I had no way to block her from eavesdropping on my mind, but I firmly believed that in the face of true ability, all schemes and tricks were paper tigers.

So I studied even harder than in my past life. I arrived at school before dawn every day, and stayed late after evening self-study sessions to continue studying in the classroom.

Many classmates were motivated by me and voluntarily stayed behind to study as well. I generously tutored them and explained difficult concepts and problems.

Finally, a week before the SAT, I received a message from Ms. Thompson.

The moment Ms. Thompson nodded, I felt the weight on my shoulders instantly disappear.

I had perfect scores in math, physics and chemistry on the practice tests. Yale's admissions office opened a special admission channel for me - as long as I passed their test, I would be admitted with a full scholarship.

In both lives, Yale only opened this channel for me, not for Lily who ranked second. That's why Lily resented Yale and was determined to choose Harvard as the top scorer, to make Yale regret it.

But in my past life, my goal was Harvard, so I flatly rejected Yale's offer.

This time, I had to find a way to avoid taking the SAT.

It was too late to prepare for academic competitions. Yale's olive branch was my only and best way out.

I asked Ms. Thompson to keep it confidential, so no one else knew about this even after I received Yale's early admission notice.

Ms. Thompson still hoped I would take the SAT. Even with early admission, the prestige of being the top SAT scorer would obviously benefit both me and the school.

I apologized and explained that I would take the SAT, but definitely wouldn't get the top score.

Ms. Thompson couldn't understand why, but seeing that I refused to explain further, she didn't press the issue:

"You're a good kid. You've always known what you want. I respect your decision."

Looking at Ms. Thompson's reassuring and encouraging gaze, I felt a lump in my throat and almost burst into tears.

In both lives, Ms. Thompson was the only person besides Lily who ever showed me warmth.

My mom favored my brother, my dad was silent and aloof, and my brother only reached out to ask for my scholarship money after each exam. My family was always a source of neglect and obstacles on my academic journey.

When I lacked food and clothes, it was Ms. Thompson who always helped me.

In my past life, the news of my cheating and suicide was suppressed by Lily's family. Apart from people at school, not many in society knew about it.

Ms. Thompson never believed I would cheat or commit suicide.

Plus, Ms. Thompson had doubts about Lily's scores to begin with, so she suspected Lily had stolen my scores.

After my death, Ms. Thompson repeatedly approached my parents and Lily, trying to clear my name.

In this life, no matter what, I can't let Ms. Thompson's trust and care down again!

3

Three days before the SAT, the school gave us time off.

I didn't go home, but stayed in the school dorm. No one at home asked about me either.

I was happy to have some peace and quiet.

On the last day, I received a call from Lily:

"Ava, how's your SAT prep going?"

She used to affectionately call me "Ava-bear", but now she couldn't even be bothered to keep up appearances.

"Mm, getting into Yale won't be a problem."

"That's good. Soon we'll be at Yale and Harvard, still besties!"

She laughed arrogantly and carefreely. I put down my old flip phone and smirked coldly: Too bad, in this life, you won't get what you want.

The SAT finally arrived. I wasn't as nervous and excited as I was in my past life.

Seeing Lily in the same exam room as me, I didn't show any surprise.

I was so calm that it made Lily inexplicably anxious, her eyelids twitching.

But she was still confident, her eyes full of calculation and certainty.

Until the English test paper was handed out. I didn't even glance at the contents before putting my head down to sleep.

Lily panicked.

Determined not to let her hear even a bit of my answers, I had taken drowsy cold medicine beforehand.

I slept heavily, unaware that Lily was staring daggers at my back, as if trying to bore a hole through me with her gaze.

She sat on pins and needles, constantly looking around, and was warned by the proctor several times for tapping on her desk.

As time ticked away, she raised her hand to report me to the proctor for sleeping and disturbing her.

The proctor woke me up. I sat up straight but kept my eyes closed to rest.

Lily was at a loss for what to do and had no choice but to start answering the questions herself.

Her grades were poor to begin with, and she had been living it up lately. She couldn't even recognize many of the words in the passages.

After the English test, Lily cornered me in the dorm when I was about to take a nap. She was furious:

"Did your mom die last night or something? Were you out selling yourself?"

I widened my eyes and asked in confusion:

"Lily, what's wrong? I have a cold and took some medicine. I got drowsy so I just..."

Her face contorted in rage as she lunged at me like a madwoman:

"You bitch! If you love sleeping so much why don't you go be a hooker and sleep all you want!"

I grabbed her hand as she tried to slap me and shoved her hard, pushing her out of the dorm room.

I was used to heavy labor and much stronger than her. She fell straight to the ground.

"We still have tests this afternoon. If you keep acting crazy I'm going to call a teacher."

Before she could react, I closed the dorm room door, ignoring her pounding and yelling outside.

The dorm students had all gone home, so I didn't have to worry about her disturbing anyone else.

I attended the remaining three tests normally, and she took them as usual too.

To my surprise, she no longer looked at me and instead focused intently on answering the questions.

I glanced at a few questions and thought of the answers in my mind, but she had no reaction.

I guessed she must have done something to no longer hear my thoughts.

If I took the remaining three tests seriously, I could probably still get a decent score.

But I didn't dare risk her possibly still being able to hear my thoughts. For the last three tests, I still turned in blank papers.