Chapter 65: The Grading Begins
The first two periods were over, followed by two periods of self-study. Students were free to decide how they wanted to use the time—they could go to the library or find any quiet spot on campus to review on their own.
The classroom was too crowded, so Chloe York decided to head to the cafeteria. That way, she could eat right there as soon as she was done studying.
She was halfway there when she ran into Evan Shaw.
"Chloe, where are you headed?"
"I’m going to study in the cafeteria. That way I can grab lunch as soon as I’m finished."
"That’s a good idea," Evan Shaw offered. "By the way, the second mock exam is over. After taking it, do you feel like you have any weak subjects? Or if there were any specific questions you didn’t understand, you can tell me. I can help you with them."
He realized that even though he had made the offer before, Chloe had never once come to him with a question.
Besides, it seemed they never ran into each other anywhere but the cafeteria, so he decided to take the initiative and seek her out.
Chloe’s heart lifted at Evan Shaw’s words. There actually was a problem she couldn’t figure out. "Perfect! There’s a major problem on the math section I don’t get. I saw a similar one in the textbook, and if you explain it to me, I think the solution method should be the same as the one on the exam."
"Is it the last one?"
"Yeah."
"That problem is pretty complex. We might need some other reference materials. How about we go to the library? You can ask any other questions you have, and we can look up information there. That is, if you’re willing to go to the library."
"The cafeteria works too, but we won’t be able to look anything up if we need materials we don’t have!"
Evan Shaw let Chloe decide whether she wanted to go to the cafeteria or the library.
"Let’s go to the library. It’s close to the cafeteria anyway."
"Okay!"
The two headed to the library together, discussing the problem the entire way. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they completely missed the stares from the other students.
"Did you see that? Campus Prince Shaw is getting really close to Chloe York!"
"Yeah, you don’t think they’re dating, do you?"
"Probably not. They already cleared that up. Before, if Campus Prince Shaw got together with Chloe York, I would’ve been so annoyed. But ever since Chloe princess-carried that first-year girl, I totally ship them."
"Me too!"
"The second mock exam is over, so the results should be out soon, right? I really want to know who’s going to win that bet."
"I can’t believe we get to watch this drama unfold. A teacher betting against a student, haha!"
"A student making a bet with a teacher... that’s totally unheard of!"
Students passing by gathered in small groups to discuss. Some speculated about whether the two were dating, while others chattered about the bet over the second mock exam.
Meanwhile, in the faculty office, the PE teacher was getting ready to do some snooping.
"Hey everyone, how’s the grading coming along?" the PE teacher asked, wandering into the office shared by the core subject teachers and glancing around.
The PE teacher could tell they were grading the exams by class. Since Chloe York had taken the test with the lowest-ranked class, her paper was bound to be graded last.
"We’ve only gotten through the papers from the Class 5 exam room so far!"
"Yeah, we’re doing our best. The papers from the top classes are mostly correct, which makes them easy to grade. The hardest ones are from these middle-tier classes—they’re half right, half wrong, and we have to mark the reasoning for their mistakes."
"You English teachers are already on Class 5? We in the Chinese department are only on Class 3! Ours is more complex; we even have to flag individual characters!"
As soon as the PE teacher spoke, a wave of complaints rippled through the office.
Listening to the other teachers, the PE teacher hesitated. She couldn’t quite bring herself to say what was on her mind, but she knew she’d feel terrible if she didn’t.
"Um, everyone," the PE teacher said tentatively, "what if we just find and grade Chloe York’s exam first?"
The moment she finished speaking, all the teachers in the office turned to look at the homeroom teacher, Mr. Hale.
After all, Chloe was his student, and everyone knew about the bet between the two of them.
In truth, they all wanted to grade Chloe York’s exam ahead of time, but they were worried about how Mr. Hale, her homeroom teacher, would react if he found out.
The sudden silence, combined with everyone staring at Mr. Hale, made the PE teacher realize that the homeroom teacher was in the office as well.
Looking toward his desk, she saw Mr. Hale sitting there, glaring at her with a sour expression.
Her words made it sound like she was dying to know who would win the bet.
Realizing how it sounded, the PE teacher quickly tried to explain. "Mr. Hale, please don’t get me wrong! I’m not trying to gloat. I just think you’re obviously going to win this bet. One hundred percent." She even nodded to herself as she finished, as if to emphasize her sincerity.
"Of course I’ll win," Mr. Hale scoffed, his tone dripping with disbelief. "If I don’t, what, Chloe York does? Someone who got a single point on the first mock exam is going to score fifty on the second? If she’s that much of a genius, I’d be willing to polish her shoes for her."
None of the other teachers dared to respond. Such words were completely inappropriate coming from a teacher. It was a good thing there were no students in the office to hear it.
The PE teacher didn’t dare to say anything either. She hadn’t expected her simple question to provoke such a response.
Seeing everyone’s silence, the homeroom teacher snapped, "Isn’t it just about grading Chloe York’s exam? Fine! I’ll find her paper right now and grade it!"
The teachers exchanged glances. When they saw Mr. Hale actually start searching for Chloe York’s exam, they all began to search as well.
The teachers in this particular office taught the three core subjects for the third-year students: Chinese, Math, and English.
"Hey, Ms. Cole," Ms. Chase, the math teacher, chimed in. "You could go let the other subject teachers know. Tell them Chloe York’s homeroom teacher, Mr. Hale, said to grade her exam first."
"You got it!" Ms. Cole didn’t hesitate and immediately went to spread the word.
"Hey—" Mr. Hale reacted, trying to stop her, but she had already hurried out the door.
"Ms. Chase, I only said *I* would grade Chloe York’s exam first. I never said the other subjects should be graded early too. We still have to follow the school’s official procedures," Mr. Hale said, turning his frustration on the math teacher now that the PE teacher was gone.
’That Ms. Chase is always stirring up trouble, always working against me!’
The other teachers, who had been searching for the exam, paused. In truth, none of them particularly liked the homeroom teacher.
He was too rigid and loved to tattle on people. They didn’t care if he was a competitive overachiever—that was his business—but they really couldn’t stand the tattling.
"Oh, come on, Mr. Hale," Ms. Chase said, completely unfazed by his anger. Instead, she tried to persuade him. "Rules are meant to be bent. We have to be flexible! Besides, you’re not telling me you aren’t dying to know the results yourself, are you?"
Mr. Hale stopped talking. He found Chloe York’s exam and began grading it. ’There’s no point in arguing. Once I grade this paper, they’ll all see the truth.’