Those Who Can’t, Cheat

(I am in high school and am in honors classes. I have a teacher who doesn’t like me and for one reason or another does not think I deserve to be in the class. I’m about to leave when she calls me to her desk.)

Teacher: “[My name], I have some concerns about you.”

Me: *confused* “Okay…”

Teacher: “It appears that a couple of the people around you have the exact same answers as you, and I can tell you’re copying them.”

Me: “Wait, what?! You think I’M copying THEM! That’s not—”

Teacher: “I want to you cease or I’m going to fail you and have you kicked from honors immediately.”

Me: “Okay, no. Why do you assume I’m the one cheating? How do you know they aren’t copying me?”

Teacher: “Because I questioned them and they told me so. Besides, they’re better than that and smarter to—”

Me: “Hold it right there. First off, where do you get the right to think someone’s smarter? There are different types of intelligences. Second, I do not, nor have I ever, cheated. If anyone’s doing it, it’s them.”

Teacher: “I don’t believe you. I’m not fond of your tone and I don’t appreciate liars.”

Me: “Fine. Let’s make a deal. I’m going to prove I’m not the one cheating. My next test, I’m going to score exactly a five. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less; and when the other people around me have the same answers and flunk miserably, I want to come back later that day and retake my test, got it?”

Teacher: “Fine. Whatever. But when they don’t fail, you’re keeping your grade!”

(Sure enough, next test, two of the people around me had a score of five. While the teacher did let me retake the test, which I got a 100/100 on by the way, I never received an apology, and the other kids weren’t kicked out like she’d threatened to do to me because she liked them more.)