Third grade. I was 8 years old. I was this self-absorbed kid, mostly oblivious of my surroundings. I wouldn’t notice the people or what they were doing. I was lost in my own world and be contented with it. In retrospect, I feel like I used to walk about with an invisible bubble around me; like a bubble charm in Harry Potter, if you will.
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In my
school, we had exams and tests quite often. I was a pretty good student, and
we’d go into “exam mode” at home, so I was always prepared quite well for them.
One exam
incident stands out in my memory. It was an English exam, midterms. I liked
English classes well back then as much as I do now. So needless to say, I
wasn’t unprepared, or a nervous wreck. I knew I’d get through it without
much ado.
A week
later, the English teacher handed the graded answer sheets back to us. I don’t
remember how I fared in the exam; what I do remember is what the teacher said.
“You
cheated, didn’t you. You copied the answers off Katie’s** paper, in the
comprehension section.”
I was
shocked. The “comprehension section” was the last part of the paper, which, I
remember, was a short story about a man. We had to give the story a title, and
answer the questions that were based on it; basically, a test to see how
much of the passage you’ve comprehended.
Katie
had a seat just behind mine. I remember I’d finished the whole paper before she
had. Comparing the two answer papers, we
obviously had given the same answers word by word.
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Being so
young and unable to defend myself verbally (like I can now), all I could keep
repeating was, “It wasn’t me, ma’am. I didn’t copy.” But no one listened to
me. To them, it was clear that I was the
one who had cheated. Katie wouldn’t.
Katie
was pretty. She was popular. She participated in many extra-curricular
activities and brought laurels to the school. She could sing. She could dance.
As I later came to realize, her being my classmate for a total of twelve years,
she could also act well. On stage and off. I’m sure all this worked in her
favour.
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Me? I
was the ugly duckling. I participated in very few non-academic activities; none
of them involved standing before a big crowd. I wasn’t as eloquent as Katie.
No one
thought that I would have had a hell of a time trying to peek into her answer
sheet while she was behind me. The teacher on duty would have noticed, had that
happened. I didn’t even know how to
cheat. The idea never occurred to me. No one noticed that I had finished
writing way before she did. All they did notice were the similar answers, and
obviously, the popular, pretty girl
would not have been the culprit.
I’m glad
the teachers didn’t mark me down because of the incident. I know that that
particular teacher did not hold a grudge against me, before or after that. I
didn’t get any marks reduced. I didn’t get sent to the Principal’s office. My
parents weren’t called in. They handled it like it wasn’t a big deal.
But for
me it was a big deal. I didn’t tell
my parents about it; I don’t know now why I didn’t.
What
hurt the most, though, was that another teacher, during a different hour the
same day, casually said, “So, Vivienne, I heard that you copied for the English
exam.” Word had gotten around in the staff room. Again, all I could sullenly
repeat was, “I didn’t copy.” Of course, no one listened. No one believed me.
**name changed
Today's prompt: Tell a story from your
childhood
