A Little More than Strangers

"Miss Hansen, can you show me what's inside your pocket?" The professor asked her as soon as she passed her test paper.

"My pocket?" Via thought about what could be inside her pocket before she took out everything stored inside. Though she was baffled by the sudden question, she did not see any reason to not comply with the request.

She showed her everything. A candy wrapper, a paper clip, and a small piece of paper. Upon seeing the paper, she was reminded of the request that Sheila asked her. She should deliver the note to her brother later when she arrived home.

"What's this?" The professor tried to take the note but Via pulled away. Though she had nothing to hide, she just did not think that it was right for others to know what was written in the note. After all, the note was not hers. It would be embarrassing to let them read the note that Sheila asked her to deliver to her brother.

"This is a little confidential, Miss." She tried to hide the note but the professor insisted on seeing it. Via looked at Sheila to ask permission if she could show it and Sheila nodded her head in displeasure. She had no choice but to let the professor take it since it would be more suspicious if she kept on resisting.

The professor took the note and looked at her with suspicious eyes. However, she was confident. She had been the top student ever since she started school and she would never do something that would tarnish her own reputation. A little note on her pocket would not cause her any trouble.

"What's the meaning of this?" The professor exclaimed as soon as she saw what was written inside. She showed the note to her and with an angry voice, she asked, "Why do you have a copy of the answer key?"

"Answer key?" Via's eyes widened when she saw the contents of the note. Why the heck would she have a copy of the answer key?

She looked at Sheila and her chest tightened when she saw the smirk plastered on her face. She knew she shouldn't have trusted her. It was a trap.

She did not know how she even got home after what happened. Even when the dean tried to get a statement from her, no words came out of her mouth. She could not explain what happened. She did not want to be hasty and drop Sheila's name because it might backfire. She did not know how to get out of a situation wherein she was caught red-handed.

But the worst was waiting for her at home. How would she face her father? What if he already knew about what happened? What should she do? She was too afraid of her father's reaction. He might just ask her to leave the house out of anger.

"Via, what have you done?" Collin, Via's brother asked her with worry evident in his eyes.

She smiled sadly but when she was about to explain herself, his brother cut her off. "You know you don't need to resort to this. You are already doing well without even trying."

Via bit her lips. She felt as if she was stabbed right through her heart. Was it that easy to believe that she would resort to cheating? He should have known her better. How could he, of all people, believe that she would do such a thing?

All her life, she had been a model student and a top achiever. Why would they think that she would need to cheat? Why would she even think of cheating when she could be the best even without doing that?

"Olivia."

Via lifted her head as she followed where the voice that called her name came from. Even without saying another word, she already knew how mad her father was based on his grim expression.

"Dad..." It was almost a whisper. Her father showed her the email coming from her dean that explained what transpired earlier. All she could do was lower her head and not meet his eyes. She was too afraid and too ashamed to face him.

"This is so disappointing, Olivia."

Via bit her lips when she heard the disappointment in her father's voice. Though she wanted to defend herself– she wanted to tell him that it was not even her fault – she chose to remain silent. No matter what she tried to say, she knew that it would just sound like an excuse.

"I told you to do better. Is this how you do it?"

Via looked at her father with teary eyes. "Dad..."

"What now? Are you going to apologize?"

Via nodded her head as tears streamed down her face. That was all she could do at the moment. Her father was in a rage and she could not quell his anger. She could not calm her father's rage.

His father slammed his hand on the table. "Then you shouldn't have done that in the first place! How dare you tarnish the family's reputation when all I ask from you is to behave yourself and stay out of trouble!"

Via covered her mouth. She did not want her father to hear her sobs because she knew that it would anger him even more.

"Have I ever asked you to do something difficult? You just need to be a little bit like your brother but you can't do even that."

Her father's words cut through her heart like a knife. Every sentence he told her denied everything she worked hard for. It was just one mistake. Something that she did not even really do. All her life, she did her best to please him. Her life's only goal was to make him proud.

For that one mistake, she was reduced to being a troublemaker. Was she that incapable in his eyes? To the point that he did not even confirm if what the others told him was the truth.

"Leave." His father sighed as he pointed to the door.

She felt betrayed. She looked at her father one more time before she left the office. She saw her brother look at her with worried eyes as soon as she was out but she immediately walked to her room. She did not want to talk to anyone. No amount of soothing words would make her feel better after what happened.

She was well aware that she had been failing to reach her father's expectations lately, but that did not mean that she was not doing her best or that she had been causing trouble for the family. She was still the best at school. She was still a model student. She just couldn't be like her brother.

Her shoulders shook as she remembered her father's disappointed expression. It was the first time he told her that he was disappointed with her. It would have been better if he just scolded her and told her that what she had been doing was still not enough. But it was different this time.

Even her brother who doted on her did not even ask her if it was true. No one even thought that she could not do such a thing. Was she that shallow of a person?

How could they do that to her? They were her family! They knew her better than anyone else. They should have known how hard she had been working. Even if they were too busy with their lives, they should have known that she spent sleepless nights studying. That all her time was spent trying to do everything with excellence.

But it seemed like they never even tried to look at her. All they did was dump all the pressure on her. They just wanted her to do things without really considering what she was capable of.

It was a painful realization. Not even her brother trusted her. Were all his encouragements just for show? He always told her that she could do it if she tried harder. He told her that she could surpass him if she wouldn't give up. He told her that he would just be walking ahead, paving the way she should go.

But what happened? How could he question her like that? Why did he not believe in her?

She dropped herself to the bed as tears continued to stream from her eyes. She was disappointed with herself. All her hard work and efforts were in vain after what happened. Just why did she have to be involved in a cheating scandal?