He Thought I Was Dumb

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My boyfriend was our high schools designated slacker.

Its okay, Id told him, trying to soften the blow of his failing grades. Im not great at this either. But if we study hard, we can get into the local community college together.

On the day the results of our third mock SAT came out, I stared at the roster and let out a breathless, excited scream. Our names were right next to each other. With those scores, our dream of going to the same community college was practically a guarantee.

I practically ran down the hallway to find him, eager to share the news, but stopped short just outside the boy's locker room when I heard his voice filtering through the cracked door.

"Zack, man, dont tell me youre actually serious about this," one of his friends was saying. "Your actual scores aren't even that bad. Are you really going to throw away a four-year university just to go to a community college? Are you seriously willing to tank your future for that idiot?"

I looked through the gap. Zack was idly spinning the study guide Id spent weeks meticulously writing out for him, a dismissive, bored smirk playing on his lips.

"Are you kidding?" Zack sneered. "Im easily tracking for a decent state school. Why would I ever actually settle for community college?"

"Then why have you been lying to her this whole time?"

Zacks voice carried a smugness Id never heard from him before, smooth and dripping with condescension. "If I didnt hold back my scores and play dumb, how would I make her believe we have a future? How else am I going to convince her to go out with me the night after graduation?"

He laughed, a dry, grating sound. "This is girl number ten for me. Gotta make it a perfect ten-out-of-ten streak."

"But Zack, aren't you going to dump her once you get what you want?"

"Think about it. Shes community college material. Once Im at a real four-year university, shes going to be way too insecure to cling to me anyway. We won't even be in the same social class."

Their raucous, mocking laughter echoed in my ears.

I looked down at the heavy prep book clutched against my chest. The rose-colored glasses of my first love shattered instantly, leaving behind nothing but cold, sharp clarity.

So that was his game.

In that case, I guess I didnt need to hold back my own scores anymore either.

I had just sat down at my desk when Zack walked into the classroom, casually tossing my study guide onto my lap.

"Elaine, I just saw our mock scores!" he said, flashing a warm, innocent smilethe exact smile that had once made my heart race. "If we keep this up, were definitely getting into our dream school."

He looked so completely earnest, as if this were truly the future he had been praying for.

When I didn't reply, he reached out and playfully ruffled my hair, teasing me. "Whats wrong? Happy-shocked?"

"Honestly, I think if we push just a little harder, we can squeeze out another fifty points on the next practice test."

He was in the middle of painting this beautiful, tragic picture of our shared future when his buddies strolled over, wearing sly, knowing grins.

"Man, you two are so inspiring," one of them said, throwing an arm around Zack's shoulder. "Bottom of the class together, rising up together. Going to the same community college is going to be so romantic."

"Seriously, Elaine," another added, looking at me with mock sincerity. "Youre lucky to have found a guy as dedicated as Zack. You hit the jackpot."

"Cut it out, guys," Zack said, waving them off with a humble chuckle. "If it weren't for Elaine, I would've given up on school a long time ago. Im the lucky one."

They laughed and joked, every word dripping with praise for Zacks deep devotion.

If this had been any other day, I would have been moved to tears. But now, I just looked at Zack with a completely blank expression.

"Zack," I said, my voice dead calm. "Your friends already told me the truth."

The laughter in the group died instantly. Zack's smile froze.

"Instead of spending all your energy pretending to be a slacker just to get into my pants," I continued, leaning back in my chair, "maybe you should actually hit the books. Otherwise, you won't even make it into a third-rate state school, and you'll have nowhere to cry."

I turned my head to look at his friends, who were standing there completely paralyzed, and let out a cold laugh.

"And you guys must be exhausted. Talking trash about how fake he is behind his back, only to kiss his ass to his face. I can't stand two-faced people. Stay the hell away from me."

The entire classroom fell into a suffocating silence. Every single eye in the room turned toward us.

Zack finally snapped out of his shock. His face flushed a dark, angry red. He snatched my study guide, slammed it onto the floor, and threw a hard punch right at the classmate who had been teasing him the hardest.

"Fuck! I must have been blind to call you guys my friends!" Zack screamed, throwing his entire weight into another punch. "You backstabbed me! I'm going to kill you!"

The guy took the blow to the jaw and stumbled backward, hands up. "We didn't! We swear we didn't say anything"

But Zack wasn't listening.

Within seconds, the three of them were a tangled, thrashing mess on the floor, kicking and tearing at each other. Groans, curses, and the sound of colliding bodies echoed through the room.

It was a chaotic, beautiful symphony. Music to my ears.

I stood a few feet away, watching the brawl unfold in silence. A slow, cold smirk spread across my lips.

Get into my pants?

Now, it was my turn to set the trap.

The chaos was finally broken up by our homeroom teacher, Mr. Cooper. All of them were given detention and forced to stand out in the hallway for the rest of the period.

When they returned, Zack's friends glared at me with pure hatred. I didn't care in the slightest.

Zack shot them a suspicious look, then turned to me, his brow furrowed with annoyance. "Since when did you get so close to them?"

I looked at the ugly purple bruise forming on his jaw and smiled. "Oh, you can thank yourself for that. Slackers always find a way to bond with other slackers."

Zacks face darkened, but he forced himself to swallow his anger, trying to play the victim.

"Elaine, look at me," he pleaded, his voice trembling as if he were the one who had been deeply wronged. "I swear I didn't mean any of that. I never called you an idiot. They made all of that up to tear us apart."

I watched his performance, listening to his honeyed words. Once upon a time, hearing things like this would have kept me giddy and sleepless for days. Now, it just made me sick to my stomach.

"Zack, you say they're lying," I said. "But are you really going to community college with me?"

"I..."

Now that his cover was blown, Zack apparently didn't want to play the dumb slacker anymore. But he still tried to spin it to his advantage.

"Back then, you said you wanted an equal partner. You weren't doing well in school, so of course I adjusted my scores to make you comfortable. But if we both go to community college, what kind of future do we have? How are we going to build a life together?"

He reached out to grab my hand, his voice dropping to a soft, intimate whisper. "Just trust me. Once I get into a state university and secure a good job after graduation, we'll get married. I promise I won't care that you only have an associate's degree."

If I hadn't overheard him earlier, I would have thought I had found a saint. Instead, I reached down and calmly pried his hand off my wrist.

"But I care."

Zack frowned, genuinely bewildered. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means I actually look down on slackers like you."

"Elaine!" Zack gasped, clearly blindsided by my reaction. He pointed a finger at his chest, then at me. "You're calling me a slacker?"

"Obviously."

Zack slammed his fist onto the desk, his face twisting in rage as he practically spat his words at me. "Youre a community college failure! Who the hell gave you the nerve to call me a slacker? Youve been at the absolute bottom of every single class roster, and you're looking down on me? If you weren't pretty, do you think Id ever lower myself to be with an absolute idiot who can barely pass her classes?"

The contrast between his sweet lies and this ugly reality was almost comical. The old saying is true: you never truly know a person's character until you break up with them.

I gave him one final, cold look, picked up my backpack, and walked out of the classroom.

Zacks furious roar echoed behind me. "You're making a huge mistake! You're going to regret this, you idiot!"

Regret?

Maybe a little. I regretted almost throwing away my entire future for a guy like him. But thankfully, there was still time to fix it.

Over the next few days, Zack didn't give me a single pleasant look. Every time our paths crossed, he made sure to drop a mocking comment.

"I saw your practice test. You didn't even attempt the free-response questions. Do you seriously think you can even get into community college with that kind of brain?"

"You want to get into Jefferson Community College, right? What a coincidencemy uncle is the head of admissions there. If you beg me, maybe I can pull some strings for you. Otherwise, you won't even be allowed to set foot on that campus."

I watched his mouth move, finding the sound of his voice incredibly grating.

"Zack, aren't you afraid of choking on your own ego? You're scraping by for a third-rate state school and acting like you got a full ride to Harvard. Do you want the school to throw you a parade?" I retorted. "Instead of wasting your breath on me, why don't you worry about whether you'll end up at the bottom of the next mock exam?"

"You"

Zack's face turned a violent shade of green. He slammed his binder shut and walked away.

The surrounding classmates, who had been watching the drama, immediately began whispering.

"Elaine is so ungrateful. Zack was literally offering to secure her future, and she's still acting like she's too good for him. At this rate, she's going to fail out entirely."

"Right? I heard Zack has been holding back his scores this whole time. He's easily a 1150 student, but he dragged himself down to the 900s just to stay close to her. And even with him holding back, she still scored lower than him."

This sparked a wave of laughter across the room. People pointed and snickered, throwing around words like "failure" and "brainless."

I was long past caring about their gossip.

I had fallen for Zack at first sight. During freshman year, he casually mentioned that he found "nerdy girls" incredibly boring. From that day on, I made sure to only bubble in a few correct answers on my multiple-choice sheets, firmly securing my spot at the very bottom of the class.

In sophomore year, he said he didn't like having a girlfriend who scored higher than him. So, I stopped trying altogether, deliberately keeping my score exactly one step behind his.

When he was in a bad mood and wanted to skip school, I skipped with him. When the principal caught us, I took the entire fall, claiming I had lost an expensive piece of jewelry and begged Zack to help me look for it.

I was forced to read a public apology in front of the entire student body. Zack got off without a single scratch. Our guidance counselor had even scolded me in front of the class: "You're already at the bottom of the grade. Stop dragging down students who actually have a shot at a future."

I became the school's laughingstock. Zack never defended me. He just offered a detached, casual suggestion that I should study harder so I could "catch up" to him.

I had mistaken his calculated manipulation for love. And in the end, the joke was on me.

I ignored the rumors and focused entirely on the practice tests on my desk. With the actual SAT looming, the school scheduled a few more official mock exams.

On the day the results of the fourth mock came out, Zack decided to play the magnanimous savior one last time.

"They say this practice test is the most accurate predictor of our actual score," he said, leaning over my desk with smug confidence. "I'll give you one last chance. Apologize to me in front of everyone, and I'll take you back. Even if I go to a four-year university, I won't dump you. Deal?"

I looked at his smug face and asked calmly, "Is there no bathroom in your house, or do you just not know what a mirror looks like?"

"Elaine, don't come crying to me when you're desperate!"

The teacher arrived to hand back the score reports. Zack glared at me, a venomous smirk on his face, as if waiting to see me break.

Mr. Cooper began calling out names and scores.

"Zack. A total score of 1150. I want to highlight Zacks performance today. Going from the bottom of the class to a solid 1150 is an incredible achievement. Well done."

A collective gasp went through the classroom. A jump of that magnitude was almost unheard of in our average public school. Zack had kept his scores artificially low not just to manipulate me, but also to stage a grand "glow-up" at the very end to impress everyone. He loved being the center of attention.

Sure enough, the praise came pouring in.

"Holy crap, Zack! You were a hidden genius this whole time!"

"Dude, with that score, you could easily get into a decent four-year university. Stop being so modest!"

Zack smirked, shooting a triumphant look in my direction. Seeking to humiliate me, he called out to the teacher. "Mr. Cooper! My desk partner said shes made massive progress too. She told me she was going to blow my score out of the water. What did she get?"

The classroom erupted in laughter. Someone shouted, "Yeah, let's see her miracle transformation!"

Zack chuckled, shaking his head. "Hey, be nice. She definitely did great. After all, she said she looks down on slackers like me." He crossed his arms, waiting for the punchline.

Mr. Cooper adjusted his glasses, looking at my score sheet. When he looked up, his expression was incredibly strange.

Confused by his silence, the class urged him on. "Come on, Mr. Cooper! She's used to being at the bottom. Did she get a zero this time?"

Mr. Cooper cleared his throat and read clearly, "Elaine. 1160."

"What?"

The room went dead silent.

Zacks jaw dropped. He stared at me, utterly speechless. When he finally recovered, his immediate reaction was denial. "Elaine, you cheated! Its easy to cheat on a practice test, but what are you going to do on the real SAT?"

The rest of the class instantly latched onto his theory.

"Of course! She got exactly ten points higher than Zack. She must have copied his answers and got lucky on one guess!"

"What is she trying to prove? That shes a good thief? She's only ruining her own future."

Mr. Cooper tapped the whiteboard to quiet the class down. He shot a cold, warning look in my direction. "The actual SAT is just around the corner. I expect everyone to show their true abilities. Hard work is the only way to succeed."

From that day on, I had a new nickname in school: "The Cheat Code."

I didn't care. I kept my head down and continued working through my prep books. Every practice test, every official mockI completed them all. If you're going to slap someone in the face, you have to do it thoroughly.

For the remaining mock exams, I made sure to score exactly ten points higher than Zack every single time. Controlling test scores wasn't a trick only he knew. And my precision was flawless.

Zack finally lost his mind. He confronted me after class, practically shaking with rage. "Elaine, what is your problem? Do you dare to score higher than me on the actual SAT?"

I looked at his furious face and nodded. "Yes."

"Fine! Let's make a bet. If your actual SAT score is higher than mine, I will literally eat dirt in front of the whole school. But if your score is lower, you will get on your knees and apologize to me."

"Deal."

Terrified that I would back out, he made me sign a written agreement in front of the entire class, complete with our thumbprints.

Before we knew it, the SAT was over. The class agreed to gather in our homeroom to check our scores online together, which would also serve as the ultimate judgment day for our bet.

The classroom was packed early in the morning. Zack was standing in the center of a crowd, loudly bragging about his performance.

"Im telling you, I felt like I was in the zone. I answered every single hard math question perfectly."

"Zack, you're a beast! We're waiting on that high score!"

"I've got my phone ready to livestream. Elaine on her knees apologizing is going to go viral."

When I walked in, they were actively debating whether they should pay to promote the video. Seeing me, their eyes lit up with malicious excitement.

Zack gestured to the computer on his desk, oozing arrogance. "I'll go first. Once my score pops up, you might not even have the courage to log in."

"Yeah! Zack first!"

Zack sat down with a flourish. As he hit enter on his registration number, the screen loaded, displaying three digits.

"What... how..."

980.

It was indeed a "shocking" score. Zack's face turned a sickly pale green. He refreshed the page three times, but the number remained stubbornly the same.

He whipped his head around to look at me. Seeing the faint smile on my lips, he lashed out. "What are you smiling at? You think you did any better? An idiot is still an idiot. Even if you got lucky on a practice test, youre still community college trash. Do you really think you can bridge the gap and get into a real university?"

I couldn't help but laugh out loud. "You're barely scratching a community college score yourself, yet you're still trying to look down on me."

"You"

Zack gnashed his teeth, pulling out our signed bet. "I'm going to watch you crawl on your knees."

I sat down in front of the screen and typed in my credentials. The screen flashed, loading my results. When the page loaded, the room went dead silent for a second, followed by a burst of hysterical laughter.

"Oh my god! N/A! No score! This is legendary! My dog could bubble in a sheet and get a better score than that!"

"Elaine, Zack warned you not to cheat. Now look. They caught you and threw out your score. Do you have any shame left?"

Zack walked up to me, chin tilted high, a sneer plastered on his face. "Are you going to start kneeling now, or do you need a minute to prepare? Tell you what, since you literally failed the entire exam, if you beg me right now, I'll ask my uncle to get you into that community college with me."

I looked at his triumphant face and asked softly, "Zack, even if you are an idiot, shouldn't you have basic common sense? When a high school senior checks their standardized test score and it shows 'N/A' during release week, there's only one reason..."

"What reason? It means you didn't get a single question right!" Zack cut me off, prompting another round of roaring laughter from his friends. "Get on your knees!"

But before Zack could say another word, the classroom door was violently pushed open, and a crowd of reporters carrying cameras and microphones rushed into the room.

"Excuse me, is Elaine here?"