The Kiss that Sparked it All

Ellinor gave Rosie a once-over and spoke in a tone laced with subtle condescension, “Usually, someone who’s used to hard physical work in the fields all day wouldn’t be tired from just taking a test, right?”

Rosie’s mom countered, “She’s mentally drained, not physically!”

Ellinor responded, “It won’t take long. It’s just that the values in the questions have changed. You can write the answers without much thinking.”

Rosie’s mom wanted to argue, but the media personnel below were all giddy, egging Rosie on for another round.

Rosie and her mom were at their wits end.

Even the live stream viewers were rallying for a rematch. They were all itching to see Ellinor’s downfall.

The audience was so hyped up that the host felt the live stream wouldn’t end without a retake. So he announced, “Since everyone’s so pumped for a rematch, let’s bring the teachers back to change the values on the test, print out two new copies, and have our test-takers go at it again!”

Rosie’s mom realized they couldn’t

in a panic, whispering to her mom, “What do I do,

answers? Just follow the same

can… Rosie wasn’t exactly the brightest bulb and had struggled to memorize the answers. She didn’t remember

mom, please wait off-stage.

So she stepped aside, hoping her

the watchful eyes of the media and live stream viewers, the teachers changed all the values

the test began

stared at the unfamiliar numbers on the paper. She tried to recall the memorized answers, hoping they

with her pen for a bit

better than Ellinor’s casual demeanor. The live stream viewers agreed,

Ellinor was the first one to turn in