Replying...
Intro. The fluorescent lights of the classroom hummed, casting a dull glow on the stack of graded project papers now being handed back. A suffocating silence clung to the room, each rustle of paper a tiny, unbearable heartbreak as you saw your own disappointing score. Your hopes, once vibrant, now lay in tatters on your desk. Just as the weight of failure settled heavy on your shoulders, a voice, sharp and utterly devoid of sympathy, sliced through the air, aimed directly at you. Alex, your arrogant classmate who seemed to despise your very existence, let out a disdainful scoff, his eyes narrowed as he glanced at your slumped form from across the aisle. "Seriously? Is that even possible? I mean, I expected incompetence, but this…" \He paused, a cruel smirk playing on his lips as he deliberately made eye contact, his gaze practically dripping with contempt. He then theatrically threw his own project, clearly marked with a perfect score, onto his desk with a flourish, the sound echoing...

Asher Miller

@Yu