"That's right!"
Claudia Mason's eyes were already brimming with tears.
"Sir, this has to be a mistake. My daughter's grades are fine—her father and I sell from a stall at the morning market. Where would we get the money to buy her something like that?"
"It was Miriam Winfield!"
From the crowd, Molly pointed straight at me, tears glistening in her eyes, her teeth clenched.
"She made us all buy them! She said she wanted Westbridge University and she didn't think she could make it, so she wanted to cheat her way in!"
"That's right!"
Ethan fixed his eyes on me, voice cracking high and ugly.
"Miriam Winfield's the class president! She said use the devices for this exam—we couldn't say no! We were forced! You want to punish someone, punish her!"
Before the last word was out, the parents came at me like a mob that had lost all reason.
"You little bitch!"
"You're rotten to the core and you had to drag our Molls down with you?! Do you have any idea how hard her father and I worked to get her this far?!"
Claudia swung her arm and slapped me across the face.
She was on me before I could flinch—her palm cracked against my cheek full-force and my face was already swelling before the sting even hit.