The place was empty–cleared out for the test–so there weren’t many students around. With a loud bang, the bathroom door slammed shut and locked from the inside.
Yunice was cornered.
She’d been shoved into a boy’s bathroom by three students–two guys and one girl. All of them were taking the SATs, same as her.
One of the guys had her pinned from behind with a hand clamped over her mouth. He was tall and already built like an adult man, with a strength Yunice couldn’t match. She struggled, but the guy’s grip only tightened.
That’s when she saw the others. The girl and the second guy stood in front of her, arms crossed, faces cold and smug. They didn’t look like honor roll students–more like the kind of kids who ran the halls with a bad attitude and a thirst for bullying. The guy holding her leaned in and hissed in her ear.
“Tell us how you cheated. Now. Or we’ll make sure you don’t walk out of here.” Yunice stared at them. She didn’t recognize any of their faces–except maybe the guy from her testing room. Clearly, they’d heard the rumors. They thought she had some secret way to cheat, and now they wanted in. She tried to speak, but the guy’s hand muffled everything. She squirmed harder.
Eventually, he let her breathe. “I didn’t cheat,” she said quickly. “If I did, the exam board would’ve disqualified me already.” The girl snorted. “You finished the paper that fast? Don’t lie. You’ve got answers.” The guy beside her stepped forward. “There’s three of us. It’s not like we’re gonna mess up your score. Don’t be selfish.” Yunice didn’t respond. She could tell there was no point arguing. These kids weren’t interested in the truth. She looked around. No phone. No one to call. No security. And she sure as hell wasn’t strong enough to fight all three at once.
So she played along. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll tell you how I did it. But you have to swear you won’t tell anyone.” The girl narrowed her eyes. “Go on.” Yunice lowered her voice. “There’s a projector hidden in the classroom camera. It beams the answers onto my test paper. I don’t even need to read–I just copy.”
The three of them stared at her. The guy in front squinted. “That sounds fake as hell.” “It’s real. I swear.” Yunice nodded, trying to sound desperate. “You think I’d lie to you with three people in here? If I screw you over, you could ruin me.” They exchanged looks. The girl looked convinced.
Yunice’s blood turned to ice. The guy’s smirk spread. “Just in case. Gotta keep you on a leash.” The girl pulled a camera from the bathroom tank. She unwrapped it carefully and aimed it straight at Yunice’s face. It hit her then. They weren’t just threatening her. They were planning to film it. One guy to pin her. One guy to do it. One girl to film the whole thing. They wanted leverage. They wanted blackmail. Yunice stood frozen, calculating.
The guy moved toward her, unzipping his pants. The girl laughed. “You look like you’re into it. What’s the matter? Never had it before?” “She probably gets off on it,” the other guy said, sneering. Yunice met the girl’s eyes. “What’s a girl who’s ‘been played with’ supposed to look like?” The girl smirked. “Like you.”
Same twisted faces. Same disgusting smirks. It felt like three years ago all over again. She didn’t argue. She just waited. Watched.
When the guy crouched in front of her, hand outstretched for her waistband, she struck. Her knee came up hard–right between his legs. He let out a howl and dropped like a rock, clutching his groin. The girl screamed and lunged for Yunice, hand raised for a slap. Yunice ducked. The slap landed right across the face of the guy still holding her from behind. He flinched back, stunned. The girl was fuming. She grabbed the nearest mop, yanked it free, and raised it high. Yunice braced.
That’s when the door burst open with a deafening crash. All three of them froze. The mop hovered in midair. The guy on the floor wheezed in pain. The girl screamed. “Block the door!” The two guys stumbled toward it– But it was too late.