Keeping Score Of The Cheating

(I am a high school sophomore, and this is my first year in a public school. I had been homeschooled previously. We are taking a very important vocabulary test, and I am writing my answers on a separate piece of paper so that I can determine my score after the test, as our teachers are slow at grading. I am very good at vocabulary, so I go to turn in my paper first, and I am holding the other paper. I don’t realize, but it probably looks like I have been cheating.)

Boy: “Is [My Name] cheating?”

(Everyone looks up. I am confused, until my friend facepalms and gestures to the paper.)

Me: “What? Oh! No, no, this is, this isn’t…”

(The teacher takes the paper to look at what is on it. As I look at it again, I realize it definitely looks like a cheat sheet. I think I am in deep trouble, but…)

Teacher: “Calm down, everyone; it’s just a story.” *looks at me seriously* “How many times do I have to tell you to save the fanfiction for your own time?”

Me: *stunned* “Uh… A lot. Sorry.”

(She gives me the paper back. For fifteen minutes, I am puzzled, as there is absolutely no way this “cheat sheet” can be mistaken as a story. After class, the teacher calls me over and asks what I was really doing; I explain it to her.)

Me: “Thanks, by the way… Why’d you do that?”

Teacher: “Oh, I knew you wouldn’t need to cheat on this. Even if you did, I feel like you’re too smart to just let yourself be caught like that.”