Chapter 4

Thompson stood quietly, waiting. He knew his answer was correct.Veronica's face suddenly hardened. "Where did you copy this from, Thompson?" she demanded, her voice sharp with accusation. "Did you memorize this from somewhere? Is this some kind of prank?""No, ma'am," Thompson replied softly. "I just solved it.""Impossible!" Veronica's voice rose. "There is absolutely no way you could solve this problem. You're barely passing my regular eighth-grade math class.""But I did solve it," Thompson insisted, his voice growing slightly stronger. "The integration requires substitution, and then—""Enough!" Veronica snapped, cutting him off. "I don't know how you're trying to pull this off, but I won't tolerate cheating in my classroom.""I'm not cheating," Thompson protested, a rare defiance entering his voice. "That's the correct solution. If you check—""Are you telling me how to do my job?" Veronica's face flushed crimson. She snatched the marker from Thompson's hand and violently scribbled over his work, obliterating the elegant equations he'd written. Then, in one swift, shocking motion, she grabbed Thompson's solution paper from his hands and tore it in half."Principal's office. Now!" she shouted, pointing to the door. "For cheating, disrespect, and disrupting my class."As Thompson gathered his belongings under the stunned gazes of his classmates, Zack, who had been Thompson's tormentor for months, looked at him with something new in his eyes: confusion, and perhaps the first glimmer of respect."But Ms. Maxwell," a quiet voice spoke up from the back of the room. It was Aisha, a shy girl who rarely participated. "What if Thompson actually did solve it correctly?"Veronica's icy glare silenced the room. "Not another word. Thompson, out."With his head held high despite the trembling in his hands, Thompson walked toward the door. Behind him, the torn pieces of his solution fluttered to the floor—physical proof of a truth that Veronica Maxwell refused to accept.Thompson sat alone on the hard wooden bench outside Principal Williams' office, his backpack clutched tightly against his chest like a shield. The office secretary glanced at him occasionally with a mixture of pity and suspicion. This wasn't his first time waiting here, though the circumstances had never been quite like this.Inside the office, Veronica Maxwell's voice rose and fell in animated accusation. Through the frosted glass door, Thompson could see her shadow gesturing emphatically.

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