Chapter 4: The Test and the Reveal

In the test room, I was completely focused.

The clock ticked loud and slow. My hands barely trembled as I worked through each question, a little zone of calm in the middle of a storm of nerves and pencil scratching. I felt almost outside myself—like the room had faded and it was just me, a Scantron sheet, and a chance.

When the bell rang, I capped my pen, like a runner crossing the finish line.

At the same time, I caught the latest live chat update on Lillian:

[Lillian is totally chill, sleeping through the whole SAT, even drooling a little. So cute!]

[Ahhh I can’t wait for the scene where the supporting character gets roasted after the score swap. Go Lillian!]

[Wait, are you serious? The supporting character answered every question—she doesn’t look like she wants to swap scores at all...]

Looks like Lillian didn’t take my advice after all. The path of the SAT is closed to her. But I never planned to let her take another path, either.

Our homeroom teacher organized a score prediction session, gathering the whole class.

Lillian was the first to announce her estimated score: “1570.”

The whole class gasped:

“So high? You’ve never scored above 1450 in any of the practice tests!” the teacher exclaimed.

Lillian arched her brow at me and smiled.

“I did exceptionally well this time.”

Then she deliberately turned the spotlight on me:

“What about our class’s number two? What’s your estimate?”

I replied calmly, “About the same as you.”

Lillian immediately burst out laughing.

“About the same? You can’t even catch up to me in practice tests, and now you estimate 1570 too?”

I nodded. “That’s right.”

Lillian didn’t believe a word. In her mind, I was just setting up for the score swap later.

She gave me a meaningful look:

“If that’s the case, the state’s top scorer is probably from our class! Such a big deal—I’ll have my dad contact the local news, and when the scores come out, we’ll do a live broadcast.”

“Natalie Carter, you don’t mind, right?”

Not only do I not mind—It’s exactly what I want.

Especially since I know the day the scores are released—Is the same day my mom, Carol Foster, plans to have me recognized by my birth parents.