Chapter 3
However, just when it seemed as though I was about to take a sip, I grabbed Connor, who had just come out of the shower.
"So sorry about what happened the other day, Connor," I said. "Jimmy bought this iced caramel latte for me, but here, you can have it instead. Consider it an apology from me, okay?"
After seeing how sincere my gaze was, Connor accepted the cup with an exasperated expression.
Panicked, Jimmy hastily tried to stop us. "No, don't! That's—"
I cut him off with a puzzled expression. "What's wrong? It's fine. I don't like sweet stuff all that much anyway."
Jimmy didn't know what to say. He hemmed and hawed, but all he could do was watch as Connor took a big gulp of the iced caramel latte.
Ten minutes later, Connor doubled over and rushed to the bathroom with a pained expression.
It was as I'd suspected. The drink had indeed been tampered with.
While I was snickering on the inside, I made myself seem worried. "What's wrong with Connor? Should we take him to the campus clinic?"
Jimmy looked both furious and on edge. He clearly wanted to say something, but was afraid to do it.
Suddenly, his eyes flickered. He stabbed a straw into his own drink and insistently handed it to me. "You can have mine. I haven't touched it."
"Huh?" I tried to refuse him. "I wouldn't want to take your drink."
"It's fine. Drink up! Otherwise, it means you don't consider me your friend."
"But—Oh, no!"
In the scuffle, Jimmy's grip loosened. The iced caramel latte spilled across the deck, soaking the stack of exam passes I'd brought back.
"Crap!"
Not bothering to argue with Jimmy, I swiftly tried to wipe off the latte from the exam passes, but it was too late.
In my previous life, he had used this exact method to destroy the entire class' exam passes before pinning all the blame on me.
As a result, everyone accused me, the class representative, of not being able to do my duties properly. They said it was my fault they couldn't take the exam the next day and directed all sorts of resentful complaints at me.
Looking at the now-ruined exam pass on top, I fell silent.
However, Jimmy simply frowned, seemingly in exasperation. Trying to twist things around, he exclaimed, "Hey! Why didn't you hold the cup properly? Look what you've done! You've ruined the exam passes!"
As he lashed out at me, he eagerly relayed this situation to the class group chat, making sure to embellish the story as much as possible.
Everyone was in an uproar.
"What the heck? Are you kidding me?"
"The exam's tomorrow, and he pulls this stunt today?"
Relishing in everyone's reaction, Jimmy shot me a gloating look before happily fanning the flames.
"It's true, but don't blame Alex for what happened. It's normal for a clumsy, clueless guy like him to be a little careless when it comes to such things."
Just like in my previous life, everyone began attacking me relentlessly.
"I said from the start that Alex should never have been made the class rep! Look what happened now!"
"I wouldn't have voted for him if Jimmy hadn't backed him up so strongly."
"I can't believe this is happening. I'm going to report this to the student affairs office!"
"Stop hiding like a coward and show yourself, Alex! How are you going to resolve this matter?"
"How can it even be resolved? It's already 11:00 pm. It's too late to get a replacement for the exam passes. The college's administration staff went home ages ago!"
"If we can't sit for the exam tomorrow, I'm going to make sure this goes on your record, Alex! I'm going to report you to the dean and see to it that disciplinary action is taken against you!"
Jimmy could barely suppress the elated grin on his face when he saw how angry everyone was. I lowered my head and wordlessly typed out my response.
"It was indeed my fault. Sorry, everyone. I can't even defend myself."
However, no one was willing to accept my apology. They continued to chew me out, and some even started cursing at me.
"What's the use of giving us this bullshit now?"
"You piece of trash!"
Jimmy chimed in, texting the group chat, "They're right. It's too late for apologies. What are you going to do now, Alex?"
I glumly responded to his text, "You're right, Jimmy. It's too late for me to say anything to you."
Startled, Jimmy jerked his head up and looked at me. "What do you mean?"
Looking up, I met his widened eyes and sighed. "I forgot to tell you that only one exam pass got ruined. The rest of the papers were just scrap paper. And… it just so happens that the exam pass that was ruined by the spilled latte… belongs to you."