Chapter 1

The day before the SAT, strange comments suddenly appear before my eyes.

"In a while, your childhood friend, Savannah Dunham, will come to you complaining about a stomachache. She will ask you to accompany her to the restroom.

"She'll give birth there, then accuse you of being the baby's father. Since you'll be at the scene and she'll personally identify you as the father of the baby, the police will arrest you on the spot. By the time the truth comes out, you'll have already missed the SAT."

The very next moment, Savannah clutches her stomach and grabs my arm.

"Benny, my stomach hurts. Can you come to the restroom with me?"

Every word she says and every move she makes matches the comments exactly.

Then, another comment appears.

"Her boyfriend is Michael Crowley, the one who always comes second. If you miss the SAT, Michael will become the top scorer this year."

I shake off Savannah's hand immediately.

"I'm sorry. Ms. Kirkland asked to see me. She said there's a problem with my exam admission pass. You'll have to go by yourself."

Chapter 1

My childhood friend, Savannah Dunham, clutched her stomach, her voice thick with tears. "Benny, can you please just take me to the restroom first before we go meet Ms. Kirkland? It'll be quick. I won't take much of your time. Please, I really feel awful. I don't know who else I can turn to."

Still, I turned her down. "We're sitting for the SAT tomorrow. I can't focus on anything if I don't get my exam admission pass sorted out. Besides, I'm a guy. It really isn't appropriate for me to walk you to the ladies' restroom."

Savannah's tears spilled over, her voice cracking. "Benny, you used to always be there for me. Are you pushing me away now that I've gained so much weight?"

I clenched my fists, feeling a chill running through me.

Before I saw the comments, I thought she'd just put on weight over the past year. I never imagined she was actually pregnant, and close to full term at that.

Nolan Findel, our class representative who was always bursting with a sense of justice, happened to pass by right at that time. Seeing Savannah cry like that, he spoke up for her. "Benson Frost, how could you bully Savannah just because she's gained some weight?"

With someone taking her side, Savannah sat on the ground clutching her stomach and sobbed even harder.

"My stomach hurts so badly that I can barely walk. I just wanted Benny to walk me to the restroom. I don't understand why he won't help me with something so trivial. He used to be so ready to help me whenever I needed him. We grew up together, after all."

Nolan grew even more furious. "Benson, no decent person would remain indifferent seeing someone in this much pain. And you're her childhood friend on top of that! How can you be so cold-blooded? Do you even have a conscience?"

Another one of our classmates frowned and chimed in. "She really looks like she's in a lot of pain. What if something happens? Just take Savannah to the restroom, Benson. I'll go find Ms. Kirkland and ask about your exam admission pass so nothing gets held up."

The other students all started speaking up for Savannah too, as if refusing to take her to the restroom made me some kind of monster.

Savannah's expression grew even more pained, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead. Seeing that, the crowd's urging grew more insistent.

I couldn't tell if she was faking or not, but I caught the flash of triumph in her eyes. It turned out this person I'd grown up with since childhood was actually hellbent on destroying me in such a vicious way.

Suppressing my anger, I kept my expression the same and held up my phone.

"You've all got it wrong! I just thought that if she was in so much pain, going to the restroom wouldn't be of much help, so I was going to call 911. Savannah, I figured going to the hospital would be a much better option than having me walk you to the restroom."

Savannah stopped clutching her stomach and scrambled to her feet to snatch my phone. "No! I just ate something that had gone bad. There's no need for the hospital! I just need to go to the restroom!"

Chapter 2

I dodged Savannah's attempt to grab my phone and dialed 911. Then, I said reproachfully, "You're being too irresponsible with your own body. If you're hurting this badly, there's no way it's just from eating something that's gone bad. You need to go to the hospital!"

Without giving her a chance to refute, I quickly gave the dispatcher our exact location and urged, "Please hurry. The patient is in a lot of pain. There could be complications at any moment."

After I hung up, Savannah started to panic. She grabbed at me, refusing to let me leave. "Even if we're going to the hospital, you have to come with me! Because… because they'll be running all kinds of tests, and I can't go through that alone."

I almost laughed. She wasn't worried about needing someone to accompany her for the tests. She was just worried that if I didn't go with her, she wouldn't be able to set me up properly.

I put on a smile and pretended to comfort her. "You don't have to worry about that. I already texted your parents. They'll meet you at the hospital."

Seeing that I wasn't budging, Savannah forced a strained smile. "No need for that. My stomach doesn't hurt anymore. There's no need to go to the hospital, so just cancel the ambulance. Let's not waste money on that."

I noticed her eyes still darting around. She was obviously cooking up another plan.

Staring at her stomach, I asked, "Are you really not in pain anymore?"

Savannah nodded frantically, forcing a light tone. "Really. I'd never lie to you."

Curious to see what trick she would pull next, I canceled the ambulance.

Sure enough, she immediately said, "Benny, I'll go with you to talk to Ms. Kirkland about your exam admission pass. What if you really can't sit for the SAT tomorrow? I feel terrible about wronging you earlier. I should go along and see if there's anything I can help out with."

I stayed silent for a few seconds before agreeing to it. It looked like Savannah was determined to stick to me today no matter what. Even if I refused, she'd just find another excuse. I figured I might as well let her tag along and find another way to dodge her trap.

There was no way I was letting her ruin my chance at the SAT.

I deliberately walked fast, putting distance between us. Then I texted Raden Gleeson, my best friend.

"Hey pal, help a friend out, will you? Go tell Michael Crowley about how Savannah said her stomach hurt and asked me to take her to the restroom, and make sure you tell him that I refused."

Raden texted back, sounding a bit confused. "Why?"

"It's a long story. I can't explain right now. Just do what I said."

I stressed it again. "This is really important to me."

When Raden saw that, he dropped all his questions. "Alright. I'll get it done."

Minutes later, Savannah's phone rang. A flicker of panic crossed her face. "Benny, I need to step away and take this call for a bit. Can you wait a few minutes?"

I naturally agreed, and only then did Savannah seem reassured enough to walk behind a tree and answer the call.

I crept over quietly and stopped where I could clearly hear her voice.

"Mike, don't worry. I'll make sure I pin this baby on Benson today so he can't take the exam tomorrow. I promise you'll be the top scorer this year!"

My heart sank. So she really was scheming against me for Michael's sake after all.

After pondering it for a while, I sent Raden another message. "Hey, do me another favor."

Then, fighting the urge to vomit, I listened to her sweet-talk Michael for a much longer time. The moment she hung up, I quickly hid and texted her.

"Hey, Sav, Ms. Kirkland said the issue with the exam admission pass has been sorted out. I don't need to go see her anymore, so I'll head home first."

I saw Savannah freeze for a few seconds, then her face twisted with fury as she started calling me.

Chapter 3

I rejected Savannah's call and texted her. "About to get on the bus. Can't talk right now."

She bombarded me with a string of frantic messages, clearly losing her temper.

"Benson, you said you'd wait for me!"

"How could you just leave?"

"Are you messing with me on purpose?"

I didn't reply to her and remained hidden, waiting to see what she'd try next.

Then, she sent me many more messages which I completely ignored. Savannah paced around anxiously, but there was nothing she could do. Finally, clutching her stomach in frustration, she left the school grounds, seemingly giving up on hounding me.

I had just breathed a sigh of relief when chaos erupted at the school gate.

Someone screamed in horror, "Th-there's someone going into labor!"

To avoid being called out by Savannah on the spot, I remained where I was and watched from the hallway on the second floor of the academic building.

Savannah was slumped on the ground, the area beneath her already stained red.

Everyone there was a student, and no one had ever seen anything like this. They all crowded around the school gate, frozen and clueless. Some asked what they should do, and others asked whether they should call 911, but no one dared to get close.

Savannah wailed through her sobs, shrieking, "Benny! Where are you? Our baby is coming! Oh, Benny! It hurts so much… Benny! Didn't you promise you'd always be with me and the baby? How could you lie to me?"

She kept calling my name, firmly pinning the label of getting her pregnant out of wedlock and then abandoning her squarely on my head.

I was furious. Even after I avoided her, she still tried to pin the baby on me.

Everyone around was stunned by her words and began whispering among themselves.

"Oh my goodness! The top student of the grade is actually such an irresponsible scumbag?"

"I thought Savannah just gained weight. I didn't realize she was pregnant!"

"How disgusting! A monster like him deserves to rot in hell!"

My deskmate, Elijah Montgomery, tried to defend me. "There has to be some sort of misunderstanding here! Benson's not like that!"

Someone shot back, "A misunderstanding? She's ready to pop out a whole baby! What kind of a misunderstanding could there be? And let's be real, Benson and Savannah are always together. You can't deny the fact that they are pretty much inseparable, right?"

Savannah put on a pained, self-soothing act. "Benny wouldn't abandon me and the baby. He's probably just busy. After all, it's the SAT tomorrow. He's always been so good to me."

Then her phone slipped from her hand, and a voice message I had sent her started playing.

"Baby will sleep with me tonight. I'll take good care of Baby."

"Baby's pregnant? Don't worry! I'm coming over now!"

Someone exploded in anger. "He admitted it himself! How is that not proof? Benson is absolute scum!"

Even Elijah hesitated, starting to doubt whether I really was that kind of person.

I was so mad that a laugh escaped me. Baby was Savannah's cat!

Before I could step forward to explain, Savannah let out a blood-curdling scream.

Everyone looked to find Savannah had delivered the baby. It was a purplish, shriveled stillborn baby.

Covered in blood, Savannah staggered to her feet. "It's dead. My baby is dead, and Benny doesn't want me anymore! What's the point in living anymore?"

With that, she made a show of lunging headfirst into the school gate.

Everyone around rushed to hold her back.

"Don't be stupid! This isn't your fault! Benson's the monster!"

"I've already called the police. They'll get you justice!"

"Benson's such a disgusting creature! He deserves to be imprisoned!"

Chapter 4

Everyone had already decided that I was the one who got Savannah pregnant and left her to deliver a stillborn baby.

When the police arrived soon after, they quickly found me and were ready to take me back to the station for investigation.

But I couldn't let them take me away to the station! If that happened, then it would really be as the comments said—even if I was eventually proven innocent, I'd still miss the SAT.

When Savannah saw the police leading me downstairs, she continued her act. "Come on, Benny! Just tell them! Tell them that you're the father! Then they won't have to take you in!"

I smiled humorlessly. If I admitted it, perhaps I wouldn't be taken to the station, but I'd be buried under the weight of public scrutiny and social stigma, and my chances of making it to my dream college would be greatly affected.

So, I firmly denied it. "That stillborn baby Savannah delivered has nothing to do with me."

She stared at me in shock, then burst into heart-wrenching sobs. "Benny, that baby is yours! How can you deny it?

"We both had too much to drink on my birthday back then, and you coaxed me into doing it. I never thought I'd get pregnant after just once! But you told me not to tell anyone and to just say I had gained weight."

Some of our friends who had attended Savannah's birthday party started speaking up.

"I remember now! Benson and Savannah did leave together halfway through the party!"

"That's right! And when Savannah came back, her expression looked off, and there were red marks on her neck. She said they were mosquito bites back then, so I believed her."

"Hey! There are no mosquitoes at that time of the year! It must have been Benson!"

I looked at Savannah as if seeing her for the first time. In 18 years of knowing her, this was the first time I truly understood how terrifying she could be. She had twisted every coincidence into evidence, just to make sure that she could completely ruin my chance at the SAT.

I gritted my teeth and said, "This is all her word against mine! She has no direct evidence to prove the baby is mine! But I have proof that she's framing me!"

With that, I pulled out my phone and played a recording. It was the one I'd made of Savannah's phone call with Michael. Though it only captured Savannah's voice, it was enough to prove she had been conspiring with Michael to use the baby in her womb to set me up.

Everyone who'd believed Savannah began to waver.

Seeing the situation turn against her, Savannah resorted to her old trick. She screamed and tried to lunge at the school gate again.

"Benny! You would use AI to fake a recording just to wash your hands of me? Have you been lying to me all along? You never wanted to take responsibility and were just playing around, weren't you? Just let me die already!"

Since she was willing to risk her life, everyone naturally trusted her more. They quickly turned their angry glares back on me.

"How shameless can he get? He ruined her, and now he's driving her to her death!"

"Why would Savannah go as far as to risk her life just to frame him?"

One of the policemen stopped Savannah and barked, "Enough! Everyone, calm down! We'll find out who's lying once the paternity test is done."

With that, they moved to take me to the station.

I felt a wave of despair crashing over me. It would take at least three days for them to get the paternity test results. By then, the SAT would already be over.

Was there really nothing I could do to change things?

Just as I was being pushed into the police car, Raden came running over in a hurry.

"Wait! I have evidence that it was Michael Crowley who slept with Savannah!"

He hurriedly pulled out his phone and said, "This is Michael's phone. I found several videos of him having sex with girls on it, including one with Savannah!"