The moment Layla stepped through the school gate, she felt it—every pair of eyes turning toward her. Conversations paused. Whispers rose. People nudged one another and tilted their heads in her direction.
As she walked toward her classroom, the tension grew with each step. Students pointed, some whispered behind their hands, others openly stared.
What's going on? Why is everyone looking at me like that? she wondered, trying to stay composed.
"She's the one," someone muttered nearby.
"Can you believe it?" another voice added.
Layla's brow furrowed in confusion, but the answer soon came into view.
A crowd of senior students stood gathered around the school notice board, staring at the freshly posted results of yesterday's math test. It clicked.
So that's what this is all about…
She didn't need to check the list to know—she had scored full marks. The dream-like mental clarity she had since the accident made it easy to breeze through even the toughest problems. But to everyone else, this result was nothing short of a miracle—or, perhaps, a scandal.
Just weeks ago, she had been dismissed as nothing more than a "beauty with a chicken brain." Always in the bottom ten. Now suddenly topping the math test? It didn't sit well with many.
Some were shocked, others envious. Most simply refused to believe it.
When Layla entered her classroom, the atmosphere was no different. The moment she stepped inside, a voice rang out.
"How did you do it? You cheated, didn't you? Don't even try to deny it," said Raya, crossing her arms with a smug look. "Everyone here knows you're dumb. There's no way you got those answers on your own."
Before Layla could reply, another voice cut in sharply.
"If you think cheating is possible under Teacher Hadi's nose, you should've tried it yourself," said Asma, standing up from her seat. "You're just jealous Layla did better than you."
Raya scoffed. "Ha! You don't even believe that, do you? You're her best friend. You sit beside her every day. You must know she cheated."
Asma clenched her jaw but didn't respond right away.
Layla, calm and composed, finally spoke, her voice cool and unshaken. "If it hurts that much, you might as well cry and let it out. Tears will give you more relief than jealousy ever will."
"You… you!" Raya stuttered, her face flushing with anger.
Just then, a male student appeared at the door.
"Layla Aksoy, you're needed in the teachers' staff room," he said.
Raya let out a loud laugh. "See? I told you she cheated. Now she's about to get punished by Teacher Hadi."
"Layla…" Asma said softly, concern written all over her face.
"It's okay. There's no problem," Layla assured her with a small smile.
Without another word, she picked up her bag and headed to the staff room, her back straight, her steps steady—ready to face whatever came next.
---
Layla walked through the hallway, passing rows of classrooms on her way to the teachers' staff room. Her steps echoed softly in the corridor, but inside, her thoughts were loud.
What could they possibly want with me now?
As soon as she stepped inside the staff room, a wave of silence swept over the teachers. Every pair of eyes turned to her, and she could feel the weight of their stares. It wasn't just the students—her reputation for being "pretty but dumb" was well known among the teachers too.
Of course, she was the most talked-about girl in the school—if not for her looks, then for how often she failed tests. But today, the reason was very different.
"Come here, Layla," said Teacher Hadi, the math teacher, gesturing her forward.
"You called for me?" Layla asked, keeping her tone even.
"Yes, I did. Don't worry, I'm not here to accuse you of cheating," he said, pausing thoughtfully. "Frankly, I know it's impossible for someone to solve all twenty math problems in just five minutes—even if they had the answers beforehand."
He looked at her, eyes sharp with curiosity. "But what's even more impossible is solving all twenty without having seen them before. So the question remains… how did you do it?"
Layla felt a twinge of regret. I should've taken longer, she thought. Now that she was smart enough to think strategically, it was obvious—finishing the test in five minutes had been a mistake. It had only drawn more suspicion.
She took a breath, then answered calmly, "I've solved those problems before—similar ones. At home, I practice math problems when I'm free. So when I saw them during the test, they weren't new to me. That's why I finished quickly."
Teacher Hadi tapped his pen on the desk, thinking it over. "Hmm… yeah, it's possible. If you'd seen similar problems before, I suppose it could be done that fast."
But then, he leaned back in his chair and gave her a long, direct look.
"That still doesn't answer the real question," he said. "You know me—I don't like beating around the bush. I'll get straight to the point."
He paused, and then said bluntly, "You're the most famous student in this school. First for your beauty. Second… for your dumbness. So how is it that you're suddenly smart?"
Some of the teachers lowered their heads, smiling awkwardly. The words had come from Hadi, but the discomfort spread across the room. It was as if he had voiced what many of them had thought but never dared to say aloud.
This was the question Layla had hoped no one would ask.
Before she could open her mouth to reply, another voice interrupted.
"Maybe she was hiding her intelligence all along," said Mr. Kazım, her homeroom teacher, folding his arms. "Some students prefer to avoid attention. Perhaps she simply chose not to show it before."
He looked at Teacher Hadi with a raised brow. "You're bold, interrogating my student while I'm not around."
"Oh, don't be dramatic," Hadi scoffed. "She's my student too."
"You can go back to class now," Mr. Kazım said to Layla with a small nod.
"Thank you, teacher," Layla replied politely.
With that, she turned and walked out of the staff room, her footsteps calm and steady despite the whirlwind of attention she had just faced.
As the door closed behind her, Teacher Hadi frowned slightly. "Mr. Kazım, I wasn't done. My curiosity isn't satisfied yet, and you sent her off."
"She needs to be in class," Mr. Kazım replied. "And what's so wrong with scoring full marks anyway?"
Still, even as he defended her, a flicker of doubt passed through his mind. Did she really hide her intelligence all this time? The question lingered in the back of his thoughts like a shadow.
He didn't say it aloud—but deep down, he was just as curious as Hadi.
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