Well, well, I thought as I pulled out Google Docs on my laptop, if dear Lisa still hasn't done her work -

Only to see that the ownership of the document was no longer under my name, but Jesslyn Woods, meaning Lisa had submitted it. I quickly clicked to see what she'd written - and surprisingly, she'd dumped whole chunks of words at 11:45pm. Birch probably wrote it on a separate document.

But guess what was worse?

Said chunks actually made sense - no, they were even kind of good.

Well screw you, Lisa. You made my ass panic for three days over whether you'd submit on time. And you somehow managed to write with more flowery language than I have and -

I narrowed my eyes when I noticed the paragraphs I'd written.

Something... something was not quite the same with it... which meant Lisa had edited my work. Without my permission.

What the hell - what was she getting at? Trying to claim my work as hers?!

Good thing I'd already spoken to Ms Woods. At least she'd know the real tea and who the snake was.

I hope.

No, she'd probably interpret it as kind darling Lisa trying to improve my essay to make up for her procrastination, leaving me to be an anxious clown emoji.

Wasn't I just Boo Boo the Fool? Again?

I stood up with a huff, shutting my laptop as I climbed out of the picnic table, looking around at the garden-ish courtyard directly outside the study area. It was eight in the morning, with the cold breeze swaying the autumn tree branches. The insects and birds chirped at moderate intervals, not too loudly, not too frequently - just nice and melodic, just another beautiful morning at a scenic little corner of the perfect, prestigious Rifton Girls' High.

No, it wasn't one of those situations described in books where everything looked miserable because I was unhappy and annoyed. It was a nice morning, and I felt grateful for it, yes. Yet, appreciating the small things never took away the bad things.

In case anyone was wondering, I wasn't depressed, or at least, I didn't think so. I 'got out of bed' just fine and I did still experience feelings of happiness when I should. I was somewhat unmotivated at times, but that was mostly due to me paling in comparison to everyone else and the demon of procrastination.

I just felt empty.

Not sad empty, of course - it was just that I wasn't doing anything meaningful with my life by letting time pass, thinking the next milestone would somehow be better when it just turned out to be the same old people and the same old BS all over again.

From another perspective, perhaps it was just me who hadn't been seizing enough opportunities for the past year. Maybe, it was right to start grabbing onto the strings of fate, like I had with Natalie and Gillian. I'd had my fun, and I'd achieved my goal of putting them in their place. So far, things had turned out decently.

What was another Lisa Knight to me? Natalie and Gillian were the stronger pieces on the chessboard, and yet they had slipped up. If this was a year of careless blunders, all I had to do was wait and watch.

And so, I waited.

Patience was a virtue.

One week. Two. Three.

Three and a half weeks in, I noticed a pattern.

She was actually making it so easy for me at this point, oh my goodness.

But then again, Lisa was the bimbo of the group. She thought she had backup - but really? She had been safer hiding behind Natalie and Gillian, both of which were crazy careful about their public images even despite their bold fronts. If Natalie hadn't gone on a mad rant, I'd never have caught her. And Gillian was careful enough to use a spam account - albeit one that she accepted people into too readily, with the assumption that said people all agreed with her opinions.

Being the sidekick kept Lisa out of the prime position, away from the crown that was too heavy for her air-headed self. But she had taken it anyway - and it was going to crush her.

I was going to crush her - and with her, the entirety of the Tyrannical Trio.

Another week passed - and then half of another.

By this point, I was armed with my arsenal of screenshots. Once the bell rang and final period ended, the tea would be spilled.

"She said she had something going on at home," Gillian stated as she re-tied her high ponytail, as innocently as a shady figure like her was capable of. Lorenzo narrowed her eyes, clearly unimpressed.

"This girl...again?! Why was I not informed prior to this?"

The class exchanged furtive glances.

No one was gonna say it. Snitching was an act of dishonour, after all.

It would be bold of anyone, however, to assume I had any honour left for these people.

"Aish, forget it. Please take out Tutorial 5.1 and we'll continue from... where did we stop the last time, Rianne?"

"Example Three, Madam," Rianne Clifford spoke instantly as papers were flipped on tables and the rhythm of clicking pens ensued. I looked up at the projected image on the screen as Lorenzo scribbled furiously and barked out things to note about math. Suddenly, I felt rather motivated to be doing my questions as efficiently as my current deskmate. Elise Thomas, an intense K-Pop Kid, was already two pages ahead and still scribbling wildly - even though doing it ahead was only useful in terms of assigned homework.

Honestly, with that crazed look and the unstable way she held her pen, she looked like she was down to her last five minutes on a final exam, trying to do a five-mark question with a million steps. If she wasn't a BTS worshipper, I was certain the Intellectuals would take her in for that world record homework-doing speed.

But hey, if I got it done fast... it meant more time to prepare.

After several brain-frying rounds of intense trigonometry speed-solving, I was (thankfully) done. A sigh escaped from my throat as I pulled out my laptop and found my email draft - I'd used my phone to attach the screenshots, and all I had to do now was write.

It was going to be a daring, dangerous leap, but no guts, no glory, right?