High School Student Cheats On Final Exam, Regrets It Immediately - Story of the Day

A high school student copied his classmate's answers during the final exam to score high marks in a test. Not long after, he regretted his actions when karma made him learn a lesson the hard way.

Alex was your typical 15-year-old reckless teenager who went to school just for chilling with friends, girls, and pulling pranks on the class nerds.

Even at this point, when final exams were approaching, he didn’t care to touch his books. He believed he had plenty of time left, and even if he didn’t, he could always bully one of his classmates to help him during the exams, especially his favorite target: Will.

Will was a shy and quiet child and one of the best students in his class in academics. He came from a humble background and worked hard so that he could provide his parents with a better life one day. He attended classes on time, was disciplined, and never refused anyone who asked him for help.

Alex always took advantage of Will’s kindness by copying his homework and ending up with excellent grades. Everyone in the class was surprised that Alex always got good grades despite not studying at all.

But Will knew the truth; he knew Alex copied his work regularly. So one day, he went to Alex and said, “See, Alex. I don’t mind helping you, but I don’t like the way you copy my work. It’s not fair.”

Alex smirked. “Oh really? I’m sorry, Will, but I will copy your homework whether you like it or not.”

“But that’s cheating, Alex. And I’m not going to help cheaters. From now on, I’m not sharing my homework with you,” Will said firmly.

Alex looked at him angrily. “What did you say just now? Did you dare to say you wouldn’t help me?”

“Yes, you heard that right. I won’t help you from now on,” Will replied confidently.

Alex took a step forward towards Will and looked right into his eyes. “You’ll be kicked out of this school if you don’t help me, Will. Remember, my parents are the school’s trustees, and you’re only a scholarship student. Your poor parents cannot afford to send you to a new school.”

Will wanted to tell Alex right on his face that he’d never help him again, but at this point, he had no option. He knew his parents couldn’t afford to send him to a new school, especially in the middle of a semester. So, he didn’t say anything to Will. He just stood there quietly with his head bowed down.

Alex, on the other hand, looked at him and started laughing. “What happened, poor nerd? Why aren’t you saying anything now? Well, I think you’ve learned your lesson. So, remember, don’t you dare refuse me for homework. In fact, I should be the first one to receive it once you’re finished.”

Will nodded his head and was about to leave, but then Alex stopped him. “Wait, I’m not done talking yet.”

“What do you want now?” Will asked him, irritated.

“Don’t get so irritated, Will,” Alex told him with a crooked smile on his face. “You need to help me in the exams too!”

“What the hell! No way I’m doing that!” Will retorted.

“Don’t forget, Will. Your scholarship, your poor parents…” Alex immediately replied.

Will sighed. “Fine, I’ll help you.”

“That’s a good classmate, Will,” Alex told him and walked away.

Will didn’t want to help Alex. He knew that if he helped him once, he’d bully him again and again. So he came up with a plan. The next day, he went straight to their class teacher, Mrs. Mathews, and told her everything. Mrs. Mathews took out their homework sheets and was surprised to see that their work was identical.

“Oh, God. I can’t believe this! This boy was copying answers all this while! No wonder he came and submitted his assignments at the last minute. He knew the teachers would be in a rush to finalize the corrections before the deadline, and they wouldn’t be able to thoroughly check for plagiarism,” she told Will.

“I should have told you earlier, Mrs. Mathews, but I was scared because he threatened to have me expelled from school,” Will told her.

“You don’t worry, Will. I’ll take care of this. Also, there’s no way you’ll be expelled. I know Alex’s parents well. They’re probably not aware of what that punk is up to behind their backs. Don’t worry, just go home and prepare for the final exam.” Mrs. Mathews told him. Will heaved a sigh of relief and went home.

The next day, Mrs. Mathews told the students that she would not be assigning any homework anytime soon so that Alex wouldn't bully Will, but she decided to teach Alex a lesson on final exam day.

Instead of making her questions theoretical, she made them multiple choice and shuffled the options for every question. When Alex copied the answers on exam day, he didn’t notice the options were different for each question. And when the results came out, he got an F while Will got an A.

Alex was enraged when he saw the results. He went straight to Will and grabbed his collar, screaming, “You moron! Did you change your answers at the last moment? How come you have an A while I have an F?”

Will had no idea the options had been shuffled. He looked at Alex, confused. “What? How is that possible? I really didn’t change any answers, I swear,” he told Will.

“Oh really? Then why did I get an F?” he yelled at Will.

“Let me tell you how,” a voice from behind told Alex. When he turned to see who it was, he saw his dad, Mr. Olsen, and Mrs. Mathews looking at him. He immediately removed his hand from Alex’s collar.

“Dad, you?” he asked, surprised.

“I didn’t expect this from you, Alex! You’re cheating in exams and threatening students behind my back?! It’s good that Mrs. Mathews shuffled the answers for each paper. I wouldn’t have known otherwise,” Mr. Olsen told him.

Alex stammered, “Dad, I’m... I’m sorry,” he said.

“I’m not going to listen to anything, Alex. You should be punished for this,” he told Alex and took him straight to the principal's office.

“Sir, I request that you suspend Alex for a month and give him new assignments in place of the ones he had been copying up to this point. Also, make sure everything has a deadline. He deserves to be punished for what he’s done.”

“But dad, that’s a lot,” Alex retorted.

Mr. Olsen glanced at him and then looked at the principal. “Actually, Sir, extend the punishment for three months and give him twice as many assignments. I don’t think he’s feeling guilty for what he’s done,” he told the principal.

“But...”

Alex didn’t finish his sentence. He stood there silently because he knew that saying anything more would only increase his problems. “Yes, dad, I will do as you say,” he told Mr. Olsen in a low voice.

In the end, Alex was suspended from school for three months with twice the number of assignments he had copied from Will. And he was also asked to apologize to Will in front of all the students.

What can we learn from this story?

• If you do wrong to others, you’ll be punished for it sooner or later. Alex threatened Will but found himself suspended as a result of his actions.
• Learn to say no. If Will hadn’t refused to help Alex and complained to their class teacher, Alex would have continued to bully Will for helping him with homework and exams.

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