A Kiss At Midnight (Delilah and Caelum) novel Chapter 50

Chapter 50

“So you are saying you think your test script got replaced?”

I stopped walking long enough to stare at Kaia, the words sounding ridiculous when she said them out loud.

Honestly, they sounded ridiculous in my own head too

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If someone had come to me yesterday and told me their test paper had been switched by a random honors student with some weird obsession for copying handwriting, I would’ve laughed in their face.

Instead, here I was, living it

I pointed at her. “See, that’s where you’re wrong. I don’t think, I know,” the certainty in my voice surprised even me, but after what I had found last night, there was no room left for doubt.

Imagine having to spend hours, days blaming myself and wondering where I had gone wrong. Having tot replaying every tutoring session with Caelum and questioning whether I had somehow missed something important.

Only to discover that I hadn’t been crazy, and I hadn’t imagined it. Something was genuinely wrong.

Kaia’s brows furrowed, the expression told me she was trying very hard to be supportive while at the same time wondering if I’d finally lost my mind.

“Okay,” she said slowly, “but why would a nerd you’ve never talked to before and probably never glanced at in your entire life want to switch your test script?”

I immediately snapped my fingers, “Now that is a gold question.”

It was really a good question, which I had zero answers to by the way, but a good one nevertheless

So, why?

That was another part that had been driving me insane last night, right after figuring out how I think the test script was changed. Then all I think of was, what his motive would have been.

Like Kaia had said, he had never crossed paths before, right until the whole grade issue and It wasn’t like I had any interest holding a conversation with him, and he clearly wasn’t my enemy.

Hell, I didn’t even know his name. And given the fact that the only words we have ever exchanged was sorr, and that came from him, right after bumping into me.

So why me

Why go through all that trouble

Kaia stared at me. “Delilah.”

“No, seriously,” I snapped my fingers again, “I feel like am about to go nuts trying to figure this out.”

My frustration came rushing back again, as the entire situation felt like a puzzle where somebody had hidden half the pieces, and matter how much I thought about it, none of it fit together.

I hated that feeling of not knowing things when you needed to know them, and being so freaking confused about it. But most of all, I hated being fooled.

“Wait, wait. At the same time, it still doesn’t make any sense.” Kaia shakes her head, while I folded my arms.

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17:50 Thu, Jul 23

Chapter 50

“That is because it doesn’t.”

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“This was an honors test,” she looked genuinely baffled, “I seriously doubt some random nerd spent the entire exam writing a duplicate paper just so he could switch yours.”

My lips parted ways just for it to close again, because annoyingly enough, she had a point, a really good point, also the kind to make my brain hurt again.

I groaned. “Okay, that’s actually making this worse, now I have even more questions. Every answer just seem to creates three new ones.” I muttered out, throwing my hands up. “The bigger question is what a nerd was doing in a regular class when they had other classes to be in.”

The more I thought about it, the stranger it became. I mean, nobody accidentally ended up in the wrong classroom. especially not one of those honor students.

Those people practically scheduled their lives down to the minute.

Kaia blinked, as her eyes widened slightly. “Okay.”

“Right?”

“That would actually be insane.”

“Exactly.” she shakes her head, “especially if he managed to duplicate your handwriting.”

I pointed at her. “Yes.”

“And convince you that you failed.” my fingers snapped again, the sound echoed through the hallway.

“Another question that needs an answer,” the irritation sitting in my chest grew stronger, as this being another part that bothered me more than anything.

I had believed it, completely, doubted myself. The second I’d seen the grade, I had accepted it, and spent the days after carrying around that horrible feeling in my chest.

That feeling that maybe I had disappointed myself, maybe I had disappointed..no. I cut that thought off immediately, I wasn’t thinking about him.

Absolutely not.

“You know, the amount of effort this would’ve taken is actually terrifying,” Kaia’s voiced snapped out of my thoughts.

“It really is.” I said, running a hand through my hair. “I spent the entire night thinking I had messed up the test,” the memory made me cringe, as the embarrassment still burned. “I cannot believe I got fooled into thinking I screwed up the assessment

test.”

The annoyance returned full force. “Meanwhile there was some psycho level operation happening behind the scenes.”

“Psycho level operation?” she snorted.

Honestly, who copied someone else’s handwriting that perfectly. Thar wasn’t normal behavior, and was the behavior of someone who needed professional help.

“Good thing you still have the time to make up for the assessment.”

“Do you think Mrs Hudge might let me retake it.”

“Not sure, but we can always go ask her.”

17:50 Thu, Jul 23

Chapter 50

“You’re coming with me,” I asked, my voice coming out a bit smaller than I expected.

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“Yell yeah,” Kaia says, like was that even a question. I chuckled at this, and slowly feeling a tiny bit lighter, even just talking about it helped.

The crushing disappointment I had felt yesterday wasn’t there anymore. Confusion, definitely, anger..absolutely. But disappointment, no.

“It’s crazy how I would have never figured it out either if I wasn’t actually having trouble going to sleep,” the second the words left my mouth, Kaia turned to look at me.

“You haven’t been sleeping?” my stomach immediately dropped.

Crap.

I looked away, the reaction was automatic, and unfortunately, she noticed.

A slow grin spread across her face. “Oh my God.” Igroaned, “what was that look?”

“What look?”

“That look.”

“There wasn’t a look.”

“There absolutely was,” I rolled my eyes and focused on the hallway ahead as students moved around us in groups.

She bumped her shoulder against mine. “You are hiding something.”

“I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No. I’m not,” she gave me a look, the kind that said she knew I was lying, and the worst part was, she probably did.

if I was being completely honest with myself, there was a reason I hadn’t slept, a reason I wasn’t ready to talk about, one that had absolutely nothing to do with test papers.

My chest tightened annoyingly, it was crazy how just thinking about it was enough to make something uncomfortable settle beneath my ribs.

The feeling had followed me since yesterday, right after seeing him in the hallway, remembering the way he had looked at Olivia. I shoved the thought away before it could fully form.

Nope, not doing this, not here or ever.

Kaia’s grin widened. “Oh.” I groaned again, knowing that tone.

“No.”

“Oh, this is good.”

“It isn’t.”

“I can already guess why you haven’t been sleeping,” thankfully I was great at masking my emotions or it would have made things much worse. I couldn’t let not even a tiny crack show about my not so disinterest with a certain boy.

“Kaia”

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