Part 2Avoiding the Trap in the Comments

"Let's work hard and get into Longford University, Lia," Thomas once said to me.

He had never been the best at expressing his feelings, so the promise we made to each other then became a symbol of our special relationship.

However, things changed, and people changed too.

In the end, Thomas was still a little different from me. He was a young man, and a very handsome young man at that.

"Tom, my home chef, made me some extra food today. You can have it," Alexandria said one day.

Before this, Thomas had already rejected the water she handed him at the basketball court and also the gift she gave him on his birthday.

But this time, Thomas glanced at me before telling her, "You should give it to someone else. I already have my own food."

"I know you have food, but how can you even call that food when it's just plain spaghetti and sauce? It doesn't look the least bit appetizing at all. But all the ingredients used in my food are premium and flown in fresh from overseas every day.

"If you won't eat it, then I'm going to throw them all away. It would be a waste, then."

Thomas didn't say anything else and took the lunchbox from her. Meanwhile, Alexandria snatched his own lunchbox away and tossed it into the trash.

He was stunned and a little frustrated. "What do you think you're doing? I still want that container."

"How long have you even been using that lunchbox? It's so gross and dirty. Don't worry about it. I'll ask my chef to make food for you every day from now onward."

She then cast me a defiant look before leaving the classroom.

Thomas came over to me to explain things.

"Lia, your mom's cooking is really good, but I still think that we shouldn't waste Alexandria's premium ingredients more…"

I remained expressionless and said softly, "It's fine. Just eat it. I'll just tell Mom not to bother preparing your lunchbox hereafter. It'll help us save a little."

Then, I went over to the trash can, picked up the lunchbox that Alexandria threw away, and brought it to the toilet to rinse it.

Thomas had probably already forgotten that if it weren't for Mom's lunchbox every day from elementary school to high school, he would have already starved to death by now because his father was an alcoholic and his mother rarely ever came home.

I guess I was a little mad after that and didn't hold myself back in the next exam, scoring a total of 1453, which was a whole 13 points higher than Alexandria, who usually placed first in class. And in our very small town of Addington, my score was already one of the highest anyone had ever scored in history.

Yet, I was a little surprised and shocked when Alexandria didn't corner me in the alley after school and beat me up. Instead, I began seeing comments all around me just three days after the mock test scores were announced.

[Is this the female lead of the story? She doesn't look that attractive anyway.]

[This is a short story with a school theme about how the female lead gets into college. There's no need to be so picky about her appearance. The main thing is how satisfying it's going to be when she finally turns things around!]

[Yeah, I remember later on in the plot that she still managed to get the National Merit Scholar title even after messing around before the actual exam.]

[Cecilia only makes one single error in the upcoming math exam. The answer should be "C", but she put it down as "B".]

While reading the comments before me, I realized that I was being described as a character in a short story. They said that I was the main female character of a high school plot, where I could get great results even if I didn't study at all. They also told me all of the answers for the upcoming tests and mocks.

During the next mock test, I realized that the answers were indeed the exact same as the ones that the comments said.

While I was still figuring out what was going on, I overheard Alexandria talking to herself. She seemed to be talking to an invisible "system", and I swore I also heard a hollow, robotic voice replying to her.

"System, you've arranged for that bitch to see all the comments you set beforehand, right?"

"Yes, Alexandria. Aside from keeping an eye on you during the actual SATs, I will be spending the rest of my time monitoring her. She copied all the answers from the comments in the past exam, just as you wished."

"That's great! She should just take a good look at herself in the mirror. How dare she try to take away what rightfully belongs to me? I'm going to make her the biggest laughingstock of the town this time!"

…

With help from the comments, I finally no longer needed to bother withholding my true potential during the exams.

Instead, I did just as Alexandria wished and stopped studying at school. I was the last to arrive in class and the first to leave every day, and many other classmates also said that they often saw me hanging out at bars, arcades, and Internet cafes.