13 replies to this topic

[karice]

Part 1


Professor Dawes gave our History Class one week to prepare for our exam coming up on Friday, September 17, 2004. I was nervous, because he said it would be worth 25 percent of our final grade. My stomach flip-flopped uncontrollably.


I tried my best to study hard for Professor Dawes test, but I had six other classes to study for. Math, English, Science, Drama, French and Literature. I felt overwhelmed. I had FIVE tests, one for five of the classes to do for too, on top of my History Test.


I'm Dave Winston by the way, a 16 year old student at Marshall Johnson Academy for Boys, in Jacksonville, Florida.


I had to study the Early United States History. I wanted to cry. There was so much to study for, such as The Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, and The Boston Tea Party, The American Massacre, and American Revolution.


I studied for all 6 tests almost simultaneously. I began thinking of a song by Queen and David Bowie, "Under Pressure." That song embodied what I felt. Not a good feeling.


On September 16, I briefly thought about cheating on Professor Dawes's test while I was in my English Class. I felt a knot in my stomach, but I wanted to pass the test.


"Is it a good idea to cheat on the test?" I asked myself in my head. "Go to sleep, and try to see the answer," I thought in my mind.


I went to sleep to see if I could get the answer in my dream.


In my dream, I was called to the front of Professor Dawes's class. I went up. "Dave, you cheated on my test. I'm so disappointed in you." He looked at me hurt. "You cheated, and you're expelled. You are off of school property right after you get your things," he said, solemnly.



I got scared and screamed, "No, no, no!" loudly in the dream. The bad thing is, I screamed myself awake in real life. The whole class stared at me in confusion. I didn't blame them. I woke up screaming like Nancy Thompson in Nightmare on Elm Street when she burned herself to wake up from her Freddy Krueger nightmare.


Professor Atkins concernedly asked if I was all right.


"I woke up screaming. Not a good sign," I said, more to myself, than to him.


"What happened in your dream?" Professor Atkins asked me. Since I woke up screaming like Nancy, I decided to lie. "I had a dream about Freddy Krueger. He put his claws in me, and I screamed, walking myself up," I said, shakingly.


"Just be glad you woke up," Bobby Enders said to me, teasingly. I smiled weakly at him.


Professor Atkins asked me again if I was all right.


"Yes, I'm all right. It was just a bad dream," I told him. We went back to assignments.


I studied harder for the History test after school and before bed(the other tests were a little later). I made notes and looked at them the next morning before I left for school and got ready for the day. I looked at them again right before my first class, and right before Professor Dawes's class. My stomach was uncontrollably flip-flopping again and I felt dread about the test. I put my notes in my locker.


Soon, it was time for Professor Dawes's class.


We students filed in, and we nervously smiled at each other, and at Professor Dawes. He smiled back, and handed us our exams. "Good luck," he said. "The test begins now."


I began my test. I WANTED to cheat. I wanted to look at my neighboring classmate Jerry Knowles's paper and cheat off of his answers. "Don't do it, Dave. Don't cheat." my good conscience begged.



I glued my eyes to my own paper. I had questions like, "When did America win its independence? " I answered, "July 4th, 1776." Easy. Then I got a harder question. "What day was the Constitution finished?" I had to think REALLY hard. It was NOT July 4. I thought and I thought. I looked at the date on my paper kind of by accident, and it was September 17th. The same day as the Constitutions completion. September 17, 1787! I jotted it down. I remembered reading that in a chapter of my textbook.

[magic]

can you pls write a little bit more about the story? did you write it?

[karice]

magic, on 03 December 2009 - 09:29 PM, said:

can you pls write a little bit more about the story? did you write it?

Yes, i wrote it. it's about Dave, a 16 year old year old boy who studies at Marshall Johnson Academy For boys, an exclusive private school.

[karice]

Part 2


I still found me eyes wanting to wonder to Jerry’s paper. “ Stop Dave! Stop!” my conscience screamed at me. My stomach began to twist in knots.


“It would be so easy to cheat,” a silky voice told me in my head. “You could keep up your “A” average,” the voice continued to coo.


“No, don’t cheat. It’s unfair for you to cheat,” my good conscience told me.


I gritted my teeth as I tried not to cheat.


I got a sudden flashback of an incident that happened when I was 10 years old in fifth grade, in North Port Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. We were taking a spelling test, and our teacher had stepped out of the room for a few minutes. I had trouble spelling the word, “dynasty,” so I went into my desk to get out my spelling words list, to find the correct spelling and I jotted it down. Little did I know, Mitch Parkerson saw me, and told the teacher what I had done when the teacher returned to the class.


The teacher confronted me in front of the class, and I reluctantly confessed. The teacher solemnly said in front of everyone,” Dave, you are a cheater. Do you know I could have you expelled for cheating?”


I said, “I’m sorry.”


My teacher put “Minus 5000 points for cheating and a sad face for cheating" next to my name on the class roster list that was on the blackboard. I felt humiliated and bad.


When I went home, I spoke to my father’s friend, Eddie. I explained what happened, and he told me that he wouldn’t tell my parents, but told me never to do it again. It felt good to talk with him, and I promised to never cheat again. I’ve kept the promise since.


I went back to the present. I did my hardest, and super glued my eyes to my own paper. I still felt the urge to cheat. It was a really bad urge.


“Professor Dawes, can I do my test up front, next to you?” I asked.


“Why?” He asked.


“Because I will cheat if I stay here,” I told him.


He looked at me in surprise. I am sure no student had made that request before.


“Sure,” he told me, and I sat next to him and could easily focus on keeping my eyes on my paper. 20 minutes later, I handed him my paper, and he smiled at me. I smiled back at him. I went back to my seat. We did another assignment, and then class was over.


I went through my day. The next day, I went to school, and then a little later went to Professor Dawes’s class.


Professor Dawes looked at the class solemnly.


“It pains me to say this, but someone cheated on the History test.” He looked really hurt and angry.


The class gasped.


Professor Dawes said, “I want everyone to pair into four pairs, since there are 16 students. Each person will write down the person they think is the cheater. Whoever has the most votes will be questioned.”


The class had to split into four groups. My group was me, Jerry, Ronnie Bradley, and Walter Pearson.


We all stared at each other.


“Who should we put down?” Jerry asked.


Everyone looked at each other in suspicion. ‘Maybe we shouldn’t tell who we are going to put down,” I said. “It might cause awkwardness.” I reasoned. The group agreed, and we wrote names down. I put “Dave Winston,” because I did not want to put someone else’s name down and get them into trouble.


We all turned our papers face down and handed them to Professor Dawes. Professor Dawes accepted the papers and put them down on his desk.


We all walked back.


In a few more minutes, everyone had turned in their papers.


Professor Dawes stood up and read each boy’s names and how many votes they got from their “group.” When my name was called, he said, “Dave Winston, 2 votes.” I was shocked! Who else had voted for me?!


“2 votes?” I screeched. “It should only be 1 vote!” I yelled emotionally.


“No, it’s two votes,” Professor Dawes said, looking at me strangely. I felt like I was having a mini-heart attack. I could be questioned! Maybe putting my own name wasn’t smart.


Walter got no votes and, Ronnie, and Jerry each got one vote.


I was the only sucker with two votes out of the group.


“Dave, come to the front,” Professor Dawes said. I did.


“Dave, did you cheat on my test?” He asked.


“No. Remember I asked to come to the front to take my test so that I wouldn’t cheat?” I asked.


“Yes, I remember that, but that could have been a cover-up, Dave,” he replied.


“I didn’t cheat!” I yelled emotionally. “I’m innocent!”


Professor Dawes pursed his lips together. “You’ve had a problem with honesty, haven’t you?” He asked me thoughtfully.


I blushed. I’m a compulsive liar, and have told many countless lies.


“So, how do I know you’re telling me the truth?” Professor Dawes asked.


“Am I a compulsive liar?” I asked. “Yes.” I said. “Am I a cheater?” I asked. “No”, I told him.


“Dave, I’m going to have another vote for you,” Professor Dawes said. He turned to the class.


“Anyone who thinks that Dave is the cheater, raise your hands,” he said. A few students raised their hands.


“Anyone who thinks that Dave is NOT the cheater, raise your hands.” Professor Dawes said.


More hands were raised in my defense.


Professor Dawes said, “Majority says that they think that you DID NOT cheat on the test.”

Edited by karice, 09 December 2009 - 11:35 PM.

[karice]

Part Three



I breathed a sigh of relief.


"So, am I off the hook?" I asked.


"If there is no proof, you are off the hook." Professor Dawes said.


I begun to walk to my seat.


"I wouldn't go so fast," Profesor Dawes said with a cold smile.


"What do you mean?" I asked.


He gave me my test paper, and compared it to another student's. He blocked the other student's name.


They were the SAME test answers! I was shocked.


I nervously smiled at Professor Dawes. "That does not look good," I told him, trying to "side" with him. "I mean, I'm a compulsive liar, and I have a test that looks exactly like another student's test. But, I am innocent." I continued.


"No, it doesn't look good. Would you like to explain your side to Student Court?" Professor Dawes asked.


"What? Student Court?" I asked, indignant. "I didn't cheat!"


"If you don't have anything to hide, let's take this to Student Court," Professor Dawes said, coldly.


"Okay, I'll go to Student Court,"I told him reluctantly.


"Okay," Professsor Dawes said. "You may go back to your seat."


I did.


In my seat, I wondered how I would prove my innocense. I was NOT a cheater!


I HADE to go to Student Court and clear my name.


On Monday, rumors of my "cheating" were already beginning to circulate.


"I heard that Dave Winston cheated on Professor Dawes's test," Rick Smalls said to Billy Alexander.


"I heard he cheated on his last Math test," Billy said.


"I heard he committed Plagarism on his Literature essay," Alex Sanders said.


That last one was true. I committed self-plagarism. I re-wrote my Literature essay from my Freshman year and turned it in. I blushed.


Alex, Billy, and Rick all turned around.


"Dave!" Alex said in shock. The others look uncomfortable.


"Hi guys," I said, nonchalantly. They all laughed like damn hyenas.


"Uh, how much of that did you hear?" Alex asked me, smiling plastically.


"Everything," I said, calmly.


"Uh, we were just jokinjg," Rick said.


"Whatever, it's just gossip," I said, smiling coldly. "How bad can it get?" I asked.


They were all sweating. "Uh, I have to get to my class now," Billy said. He walked away, tensely.


"Bye, Billy," I said.


"We have to go to class too," Alex said. Rick said, "Yeah,". They both chuckled weakly. They walked away uncomfortably too. "Bye," I told them too.


I went to my Math Class. In class, I heard snickering and pointing. I heard nasty murmurings about me.


"Dave totally cheated on that test," Erick Fox said. There was more nasty chattering and snickering.


"I did not cheat!" I exclaimed. "It was just a coincidence that my paper has the exact same answers as another student's!" I yelled frustrated.

[Sharon007]

i have exams on this saturday I will not cheat because if a person is found doing that they get thrown out of college

[karice]

Part 4

Something hit me. Why didn't Professor Dawes question the other student's paper? Hmm.


I painfuly went through my day. At home, I called Max Cartwright, my boyfriend.


"Max, I didn't cheat on my test! You believe me, don't you?" I asked Max.


Max answered, "Sure, I do. I believe you are innocent. You are not a cheater, Dave," he said, reassuringly.


I smiled at him over the phone. "Thank you, Max!" I told him, happily. I gave him a kiss on the phone.


"You're welcome, sweetie," he said.


I hung up the phone.


I felt good that Max believed me. I loved his trust in me. We've been dating for over a year, almost two years now.


I took a bath and ate dinner, and watched some T.V. I went to sleep.


The next day was my Student Court day.


I put on my best outfit, a two piece professional outfit that my father had given to me to wear on professional occasions. I got to skip some classes to go to Student Court.


At Student Court, I saw Max smiling at me. He waved at me and mouthed, "I believe you."


I smiled warmly at him.


I had to stand in front of the court. Billy was the Judge.


"Dave Alexander Winston, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?" The Baliff, Bobby asked, making me put my left hand on a bible and raise my right hand.


"I swear," I said.




Billy said, "Dave winston, you are accused of cheating on Professor Dawes's History Test. How do you plead?"


"Not guilty, your honor," I said, humbly.


There were chatterings again.


"Are you an honest person?" Billy asked.


"Please don't make me answer that," I begged. I squirmed visibly.


"Answer it," Billy said. "The court would love to hear your answer."


"No," I reluctantly answered.


"That doesn't sound good," Billy said. "How does the court know you are going to be honest now?" Billy asked.


"Because I'm not a cheater!" I exclaimed.


"Have you ever cheated on a test before?" Billy asked.


I blushed uncomfortably. "D-Y-N-A-S-T-Y," I answered.


"What?" Billy asked. "Why are you spelling, "Dynasty?" He asked confused. The jurors(full of other students) looked confused too. So did everyone else.


"In the fifth grade at 10 years old, I had trouble spelling "Dynasty," on a spelling test, so I took a peek at my spelling wordds list while the teacher had stepped out of the room for a few seconds and I jotted down the correct spelling down on my test. Another student caught me, and he told the teacher on me, and I was scolded by the teacher in front of the whole class for cheating. I felt bad and promised never to cheat again. I've kept that promise ever since," I answered.


Billy said, "So you admit that you've cheated before."


"It was just once on a spelling test, when I was 10!" I defended myself desparately.


"Once a cheater, always a cheater," Billy said.


"Wait! I object!" I protested.


"You can't object," Billy said. "Only your lawyer can object," He continued. He looked around. "By the way, where is your lawyer?" Billy asked.


"I don't have one. I am representing myself," I answered.


"Oh, this is going to be good, " Kevin Martin said from the jury.


The rest of the jury chuckled.


"Order! Order!" Billy exclaimed. The jury settled down. "Dave, you decided to come to court without a lawyer. That wasn't wise."


"I don't need one," I replied smugly.

[Carrie]

Sharon007, on 08 December 2009 - 02:44 PM, said:

i have exams on this saturday I will not cheat because if a person is found doing that they get thrown out of college

But still...if you wasn't thrown out - you wouldn't cheat either would you?? I think, if ppl cheat - the only one who they are really cheating is themselves.

[Phantom]

Carrie, on 09 December 2009 - 05:00 PM, said:

But still...if you wasn't thrown out - you wouldn't cheat either would you?? I think, if ppl cheat - the only one who they are really cheating is themselves.

still I have cheated in exams once

but I really hated that subject, it was the most boring subject I've ever read in my life (I think)

there was no possibility to learn it, and I also didn't want to

[karice]

Part 5


“Bailiff, bring out the Exhibit A,” Billy said,” Billy said.


Bobby brought out the “Exhibit A”. The two matching tests. Once again, the other student’s name was covered.


Everyone looked at the two matching tests.


“Mmm. Dave must have cheated! His test matches the other test completely!” Aaron Sydney said, from the jury. A few other jurors agreed.


“Hey, that’s not fair!” I protested. “The other student could have easily cheated off of me!”


Professor Dawes spoke up. “I know the other student, and he is an honest person. He never lies, and he’s never cheated before, which is why I haven’t questioned him.”


“So, you automatically assume that I’m the cheater?” I asked, seeing red.


“You’re not an honest person,” Dave, he said.


I took a closer look at the tests. I knew the other student’s handwriting!


It was Ronnie Bradley’s handwriting! Ronnie didn’t sit too far away from me. He could have easily seen my test answers and jotted them down!


Ronnie Bradley cheated! He WAS struggling in class, after all. And he was in our “little group”. He could have easily jotted my name down as the cheater!


I cleared my throat. “As my lawyer, I will say that Exhibit A is not evidence, but suspicious. There is no REAL proof that I cheated, so this trial must be deemed as insufficient evidence. Plus, I’ve read the Marshall Johnson Academy Handbook for 2004, and it says that a student cannot be persecuted on mere suspicion,” I said. I went over to my book bag and pulled the Handbook out.


“A student who is accused of cheating must have sufficient and reasonable proof of cheating and not mere speculation. The proof must be plausible and absolute. It must not be mere suspicion.” I read from the Handbook.


I put the Handbook down.


I soon picked it up. “Read the Handbook! Read it!” I cried, desperately to Billy. “This isn’t proof. Two matching tests are suspicious, not proof.


Billy reluctantly read the Handbook. He reluctantly agreed to what it said. He gave it to the jury who read it and agreed to it too.


“Dave Alexander Winston cannot really be tried for something that is plausible suspicion,” he said, with a deep sigh.


“Thank you, your honor,” I said.


Billy said, “I hereby declare the Dave Alexander Winston trial as dismissed for lack of evidence.” He banged his gravel.


I was free to go without any worry. But I still felt unsatisfied. Sure, my case was dismissed, but I still hadn’t cleared my name. I was probably still a cheater in other’s eyes. And my case wasn’t CLOSED, it was just DISMISSED. This meant that I could easily be tried again.


I went to the remainder of my classes, feeling hollow. Ronnie Bradley cheated and let me take the fall! What if I hadn’t had the Student Handbook on me?


I ate a late lunch, and then begun to go to my next class.


I saw Ronnie on my way to that class


“Hi, Dave,” he told me.


“Hey,”I told him with all the charm of a shark with a bad toothache.


“What’s with the attitude, Dave?” Ronnie asked.


I glared at him. “You try being accused of cheating, when you did not cheat and tell me if you’ll be in a good mood. I did not cheat, Ronnie! I wanted to cheat, but I fought long and hard not to cheat, and I did not give in to cheating, and I still got accused and tried for cheating!” I was emotional.


I searched Ronnie’s face for any signs of remorse.


“Do you know who cheated, Ronnie?” I asked him. “Because if you do, you’d better tell me because people are looking at me in suspicion now.” I told him.


Ronnie said, ‘I don’t know who cheated.” Liar! I thought. And people say I’m the compulsive liar. Oh wait, I am, but Ronnie is a liar too.


“Bye, Ronnie,” I said.


“Bye, Dave,” he said.


I went to my classes.

Edited by karice, 09 December 2009 - 11:41 PM.

[karice]

Part 6


After school hours, I snuck into Professor Dawes’s classroom. I looked in his desk drawer for the names of the four groups.



I found them! Aha! Ronnie’s handwriting matched the handwriting that had written my name. Ronnie is a BASTARD! I thought angrily to myself. Not only did he cheat, but he wrote MY name down. Because he cheated off of me. I smiled bitterly.



I quickly shut the drawer, and snuck to my own dorm. Ronnie was going to pay! I only saw revenge in my eyes.



“You’re jumping to conclusions,” a calmer voice told me. “Find more evidence first that Ronnie cheated".



I decided that I needed more evidence before I went all “ninja” on Ronnie’s ass.



The next day, I overheard Ronnie tell his best friend Patrick King that he cheated on Professor Dawes’s test. Ronnie told him that he cheated off of my test paper. He made Patrick swear not to tell anyone. Patrick agreed.



That was the evidence that I needed! I was gonna get Ronnie badly!



I went through my day, with people still looking at me in suspicion. I looked away.



I painfully went through my day.



At lunchtime, I saw Ronnie. Ronnie looked down at his tray when he saw me.


“Hi, Ronnie,” I said, in a voice dipped in honey sweetness.



“Hey,” Ronnie said, looking at his tray. Ooh, that b*tch knew what he did.



I continued my lunch. I was already hatching a plan in my mind for Ronnie. I smiled evilly to myself.



I went through the rest of my day. At 6:00, I went to Building 8, room 380. This building is pretty much abandoned (Johnson tradition says that it’s cursed by Marshall Johnson’s ghost, but that’s just a myth.). I went to a vault in the room and put in the vault combination that I had programmed into it. 3260. It opened up, and I got out my Black Ninja outfit, and put it on over my regular clothes. I went to Building 3 to wait for Ronnie. I knew that Ronnie had a club meeting that finished at 6:30, and it was the dark kind of 6:30, not the light kind of 6:30, perfect for my ambush on Ronnie.



At 6:35, Ronnie came out of Building 3, and I stealthily followed him, like a ninja. Every time Ronnie turned around, I dashed behind a tree. I could see Ronnie was scared, especially since he had seen a dark figure run behind a tree. Ronnie continued to walk towards Alexander Hall, our dorm. I kept creeping behind him. I was gonna get him good.



“Please, leave me alone,” Ronnie cried, trembling.



Ronnie begun to run full force. I ran full force too. Ronnie took a turn behind Building 6, and I ran behind Building 6 too. Ronnie ran upstairs, and I followed him.



“Please stop following me. Leave me alone,” Ronnie said to me, still not seeing my face. Ninja outfits are notorious for hiding people’s faces. With these outfits, you can only see eyes.


“Cheater!” I hissed at him in a disguised voice. Ronnie’s face drained of color.


Ronnie ran down the stairs, and I followed him. Ronnie ran to Building 7.



I was right behind him. I punched him in his face two times and he groaned in pain. He tried running, but I was too quick for him. I stepped in front of him and punched him in his stomach!



“Please stop,” he said, trembling. I continued to beat him up. I smiled decadently as I saw the blood coming out of him. I gave him some high kicks and slammed his head on the ground. I enjoyed seeing his suffering.



Ronnie looked like a limp noodle. He was extremely raggedy.



I continued to beat Ronnie senseless. Ronnie looked like a pulp when I was finished with him. Ronnie moaned and cried.



Nobody frames Dave Winston for cheating, I thought proudly.



I left Ronnie there, proud of what I had done. I felt DELICIOUS seeing Ronnie on the floor. That b*tch got what he deserved. I smiled to myself.



I begun to feel a LITTLE bad for Ronnie, so I went to the bathroom and got out a roll of tissue and threw it at him and said, “You’re bleeding. Go stop your bleeding.”



Ronnie weakly took the ball and stopped his bleeding. I ran to Building 8, and put in the code 3-2-6-0, and put my Ninja clothes in the vault and quietly snuck back home.



I smiled happily at myself in the mirror.



I was fu…..A!” I got that b*tch good. I’m sure he won’t cheat off me and frame me for cheating again! I went to sleep happily.

[Sharon007]

Phantom, on 09 December 2009 - 06:53 PM, said:

still I have cheated in exams once

but I really hated that subject, it was the most boring subject I've ever read in my life (I think)

there was no possibility to learn it, and I also didn't want to

i remember cheating in an exam once and I was caught it was awful and I was embarrassed. From what I have learned then its not worth it and its better to study for the exams beforehand. All you can do is your best.

[Phantom]

Sharon007, on 05 February 2010 - 08:21 PM, said:

i remember cheating in an exam once and I was caught it was awful and I was embarrassed. From what I have learned then its not worth it and its better to study for the exams beforehand. All you can do is your best.

I wasn't caught the only time that I cheated

however I never did it again...

only the fear of getting caught was enough for me

[karice]

Does anyone like my story so far?