Roommate Reported My Exam Fraud, But Only I Wrestle Yaks

On the first day my name went up on the public results board, my roommate suddenly kicked the leg of my stool, his eyes bloodshot to a frightening degree.

You dumbass, you scored dead last on the written test. How the hell did you get hired?

I rubbed my arm, still sore from wrestling that bison to the ground yesterday, and frowned, genuinely puzzled.

"Can't I have turned it around in the interview?"

Classmates were already drifting over.

"Yeah, the civil-service exam is the fairest thing there is. If he nailed the interview, a comeback like that is totally normal."

Lowell Henson jabbed at the results list on his laptop, worked up.

"First place beat you by thirty points on the written test. The interview counts for forty percent of the total. To flip that, you'd have needed to beat first place by at least forty-five points in the interview."

"Even if you scored a perfect hundred and first place scored a sixty, his total would still beat yours. And yet you're the one who got hired. This is rigged, no question about it!"

The room went off like a firecracker.

"Damn, seriously? People can pull strings even on the civil-service exam? That's disgusting!"

"Thomas Fox always looked like such an honest guy. Who knew he was this dirty behind the scenes!"

Every set of eyes on me shifted from confusion to fury, as if I'd stolen the bread off their tables and wrecked their lives. Looking at that crowd whipping itself up, I suddenly laughed.

Were they all blind? Had none of them seen the special requirement for this post, that you had to subdue a bison bare-handed?

Of the three who made it to the interview, I was the only one who could do it.

"..."

I pointed at Lowell's laptop.

"How about you all take a look at the actual requirements for this post?"

The civil-service exam had always been fair and aboveboard, the best shot ordinary people had at a stable life, so I understood their anger.

Lowell gave a cold snort.

He lifted the laptop and read it out loud, deliberately, one word at a time, cranking up his voice.

"This post requires a male applicant, height no less than one hundred eighty centimeters, weight no less than ninety kilograms."

He slammed the laptop down on the desk, furious.

"See? What post has this many restrictions? This is a slot custom-built for you, isn't it?"

He turned to face the crowd.

Righteous indignation all over his face.

"Everybody, listen to this. If that's not a rigged slot, what is it?"

"Thomas, you animal, you actually pulled strings to have a post created for you in the civil-service exam. Have you no shame at all?"

The classmates lost it.

Curses came from every direction.

"Thomas, do you even have a conscience?"

"Your family's got money and connections. Can't you just sit at home and coast? Do you have to come fight us ordinary people for entry-level jobs?" "So vicious, hogging a slot and leaving people who actually worked hard with nothing!"

I clicked my tongue, not bothering to argue with them.

I just said flatly,

"Keep reading. Go on."

There were so many conditions attached to this post that the one that mattered, being able to subdue a bison bare-handed, just happened not to be showing on screen.

Lowell bent down, impatiently scrolled, and read on, muttering curses the whole time.

"For applicants of outstanding ability, the physical requirements may be relaxed as appropriate."

The moment he finished that line, he snapped the laptop shut.

His face went crimson as he pointed at my nose.

"Still saying it's not a rigged slot! I remember it perfectly. At the physical, you were only one hundred seventy-nine centimeters."

"Exactly one centimeter short. That relaxed clause was added just for you!"

"You flunked classes all four years of college, you idiot. Where would you get 'outstanding ability'? I bet your family just threw money at it!" I narrowed my eyes and studied Lowell's face, twisted with rage, and I didn't miss the flash of excitement and smugness at the bottom of his eyes.

It was plain as day, the pleasure of a man who wanted nothing more than to grind me into the dirt.

Heat rose in my chest, and I spoke coldly.

"Lowell, why do you look like you want me dead?"

"Have you forgotten? All four years of college, I helped you out constantly. Bought your meals, topped up your phone bill."

"Every time you were broke, wasn't it me who bailed you out?"

Lowell panicked at once and screamed, hysterical.

"Shut up! You just used your money as an excuse, waving that 'helping me out' flag around so you could trample all over my dignity!"

"Ordering me to fetch your takeout every single day, treating me like a dog!"

The classmates around us jumped in the instant they heard it.

"Right, right, I saw Lowell fetch takeout for Thomas all the time. Thomas put on such airs!"

"So vicious! You think money means you can just walk all over people?"

"Living it up on his family's money and rigging the civil-service exam on top of it!"

It was so absurd I nearly laughed out loud.

The truth was Lowell couldn't stand the dining hall food and begged me every day to order takeout, and to throw in a portion for him while I was at it.

How had that turned into me ordering him around and trampling his dignity?

I was about to fire back when Lowell tilted his chin up, gloating.

"Thomas, I've already reported you to the Department of Labor and the school."

"The Department of Labor is coming to investigate any minute now. They'll cancel your admission, the school will expel you, and your whole life is over!"

I laughed, out of sheer anger, finally seeing it clearly. Four years of support, and I'd raised a thoroughly ungrateful animal.

He ate on my dime, lived on my dime, and turned around wanting to put me in the ground.

I was about to tell them the truth when a cold, commanding voice came from the doorway.

"Who's the one accusing someone of cheating on the civil-service exam?"

The student advisor stood in the doorway, his face set hard.

Lowell's eyes lit up. He rushed over, the word out before he could stop it.

"Cousin!"

The advisor's face darkened, and he shot Lowell a fierce glare.

Lowell caught himself at once and changed course.

"Advisor, I'm the one who reported it. Thomas Fox faked his way through the civil-service exam. We already have plenty of evidence."

The other students jumped in right behind him.

"That's right, Thomas doesn't even meet the height requirement, his score wasn't as high as the top scorer's, and he still got hired. It's insane!"

I let out a cold laugh. Cousin?

No wonder that in four years of college, Lowell's family wasn't exactly struggling, yet the financial aid went to him every single year.

The advisor was always pulling me aside, telling me to look out for Lowell, to help him out more.

Turned out it was never about looking out for anyone. It was about fleecing me to prop up his cousin.

But I still didn't get it. They were going all out to pin this on me, to bury me completely. What were they actually after?

The advisor walked up to me, his voice ice-cold.

"Thomas, this school will not tolerate anyone of poor moral character. What do you have to say for yourself?"

I shook my head, my tone flat.

"Nothing to explain. My conscience is clear."

"Your conscience is clear?"

The students blew up on the spot.

"The nerve of him. He cheats and he's still this arrogant. His admission has to be revoked. Expel him, straight up!"

I laughed coldly.

"If I really cheated, are the top two written-test scorers idiots? Wouldn't they be the first to report me?"

Lowell looked like he'd been waiting for this. He whipped out his phone.

Pulled up social media and held it high.

"You've still got the nerve to say that? You bought them off!"

On the screen were posts from the number one and number two written-test scorers.

"Thanks to our man Thomas for treating us so well."

Attached were photos of us sitting inside a canvas ranch tent, hearty steaks and stiff drinks all around.

Below that was a record of the $70,000 I'd transferred to them.

"Look, everyone. This is the proof that Thomas paid off his competitors. It's absolutely sick!"

The crowd boiled over, and the cursing got even louder.

"Damn, he really shelled out the money!"

"Unbelievable. You can just buy your way through the civil-service exam? Is there no law anymore?"

"He has to be punished. A guy like this doesn't belong in this school!"

I laughed to myself. To nail me down, Lowell had really pulled out all the stops, even digging up the top two scorers' old posts overnight.

But what they didn't know was that the $70,000 was because the top two scorers had been gored by a bison at the interview and broken bones.

I'd fronted their medical bills.

Seeing that I wouldn't even bother to explain, a few of the more worked-up guys clenched their fists and edged closer.

If not for how solidly built I was, they'd probably have rushed me already.

The advisor gave a cold laugh and waved a hand, telling the students to step outside first.

"Everyone out for now. I'll talk with Thomas in private, and I promise you'll all get an answer."

The students filed out, still muttering curses. The advisor walked to the desk, tapping his fingers lightly against it.

His tone changed all at once, laced with a veiled temptation.

"Thomas, the school cares about its students. But this time you were really careless."

"To slip a rigged position into the civil-service exam, the connections behind you must be something special. Sky-high."

"Since you've got that kind of pull, how come you didn't know to cover your tracks better when you cheated?"

I kept my eyes down, toying with my phone, not wanting to say a single word.

Lowell snapped at me at once.

"Thomas, the advisor is talking to you. Watch your attitude!"

The advisor waved him off, swallowing his temper and forcing a thin smile.

"Thomas, this isn't something we can't work out."

"Right now only people at our school know about this. Those students outside, I can keep them quiet."

I finally raised my eyes and lifted a brow.

"Oh? And what would it take for you to be willing to keep it quiet for me?"

The advisor's eyes lit up. He pulled out a chair and sat down at once, leaning forward, his voice urgent.

"Simple. Have those connections of yours get me a department head position. No, a deputy dean position."

"And I'll bury this so deep no one will ever dare bring it up again."

Lowell leaned in too, greed all over his face.

"And me. You wired the top two seventy grand, so I get at least half a million!"

"Otherwise I'll keep reporting you until your name is ruined!"

I gave a cold laugh and glanced at the recording screen running on my phone. They'd finally shown their true faces.

All that righteous indignation earlier had been an act. When it came down to it, they just wanted to use my situation to cash in big.

A mocking smile curved at the corner of my mouth.

"And what if I say no?"

The student advisor's face darkened. He slammed his palm on the desk and roared.

"Thomas, you think you can play games with me?"

"Don't imagine that having some big connection behind you means you can do whatever you please!"

"All I have to do is rally the whole school to report you and put the whole thing online. However powerful your connections are, you'll still pay for it!"

I shook my head.

"I don't have any connections. If my grandfather and my father hadn't forced me into it, I never would have wanted this lousy job in the first place."

Both the student advisor and Lowell froze, as if they hadn't caught my meaning.

"My grandfather and my father have spent their whole lives out in the remote western highlands managing bison. They have to keep the bison from trampling the sheep."

"When a bison blocks the tourists, they have to charge in and deal with it, to keep the tourists safe."

"It's grueling, dangerous work. My father even wrecked his back from fighting with those bison day after day."

"A job that hard, I wouldn't want it even if you handed it to me for free. Why on earth would I pull strings and fake my way into it?"

Lowell let out a scornful snort.

"And who's going to believe that garbage?"

The student advisor couldn't be bothered wasting more words on me. He grabbed my arm.

"Come on, you're coming with me to see the president. I'd like to see how long you can keep up this tough act!"

I gave a light shake of my arm, and he flew off like a paper cutout.

He stumbled a few steps and nearly fell.

"You don't need to drag me. I'll walk on my own."

I really did want to see the look on their faces the moment the truth came out.

Out in the hallway, the student advisor instantly changed his tune, announcing loudly to the students crowding around.

"I spent a long time trying to talk sense into Thomas, telling him to withdraw on his own, give up his civil-service position, admit his mistake and apologize."

"But he refuses to repent, and his attitude is absolutely appalling. I have no choice but to take him to the president for serious disciplinary action!"

The moment the students heard this, they started pointing at me.

"Ungrateful, and still this arrogant after cheating!"

"Expose him, so he can never hold his head up again!"

I gave a small smile. A pack of fools being used as someone else's weapon wasn't worth my anger.

At the president's office, the student advisor immediately laid out his complaint.

"President Caldwell, Thomas cheated on the civil-service exam, bribed a competitor, his character is corrupt, and the impact is extremely damaging. He must be severely punished!"

The president's face was dark enough to drip water.

"Thomas, you got in through the vice president's special-recruitment admission. I never thought it was proper to begin with."

"And now you've caused a mess this big, dragging the school's name through the mud."

"I hereby declare it: we're calling a full school assembly immediately, expelling you, and canceling your civil-service placement!"

I gave a cold laugh. My family had managed bison out in the remote western highlands for decades, making an outstanding contribution.

To let me lawfully inherit that dangerous post, the highland authorities had specifically filed it with the Department of Education and added twenty points to my college admissions score.

After explaining the situation to the vice president, they brought me in through special recruitment. Every step was proper and lawful.

But I knew perfectly well that the president had never gotten along with the vice president.

He wanted to use my case to strike at the vice president and bring him down.

Unfortunately, they'd miscalculated.

The whole field had turned to stare at me, every face full of contempt and fury.

President Caldwell stood on the platform, microphone in hand, his voice carrying across the entire field.

"Thomas Fox cheated on the civil-service exam and bribed a rival, destroying the fairness of the process and violating school rules in the gravest way."

"After deliberation, the school has decided to expel Thomas Fox and to contact the Department of Labor to revoke his exam placement!"

The field erupted in thunderous applause and cheering.

"Good riddance. Scum like that deserves it!"

"Finally, the vermin's dealt with!"

I stood dead center on the platform like a criminal there for everyone to judge.

My girlfriend, Daisy Pruitt, was shoving her way through the crowd, and something in me stirred.

Was she coming to speak up for me, to comfort me?

But she reached me with disgust written all over her face.

"Thomas, let's break up."

I froze.

"Daisy, you believe them just like that? You'd condemn me without asking me a single thing?"

Daisy curled her lip, not bothering to hide her scorn.

"The president said so himself. Why wouldn't I believe it?"

"Your family's just ranchers out in the highlands with a few sheep. A little money and you think you can pull strings over everyone?"

"You're finished now, disgraced. Of course I'm not staying with you."

A few sheep? I almost laughed out loud.

My family ran more than three thousand head of cattle and over five thousand sheep. I'd just always kept it quiet and never mentioned it to her.

I never imagined that in her eyes I was nothing but some ordinary rancher with a handful of sheep.

Lowell Henson walked over, slid an arm around Daisy's waist, and looked at me, smug.

"You lost, Thomas. I'm about to get my guaranteed grad-school spot, then a teaching post here at the school. My future's wide open."

"Daisy's better off with me. That's the smart choice."

Daisy leaned into Lowell's arms, all coy, and the way she looked at me was the way you'd look at a pile of garbage.

I laughed, bitter. To think I'd poured my whole heart into her, given her anything she wanted.

And she turned out to be this kind of woman, one who despised the poor, chased the rich, and couldn't tell right from wrong.

Suddenly I was grateful I'd never told Daisy the truth about my family. Otherwise I'd never have seen what she really was.

The students' insults grew uglier, and rotten eggs, wilted vegetables, and water bottles rained down on me from every direction.

I was covered in filth, and the pain came thick and stinging along with it.

I clenched my fists, on the verge of striking back.

A sharp shout rang out from the entrance to the field.

"Stop, stop right now!"

Vice President Abbott strode out in front, several officials in formal suits behind him.

The vice president stepped onto the platform, took the microphone, and spoke up.

"Everyone, standing beside me is the director from the Department of Labor in charge of this civil-service exam interview."

"I heard someone reported that Thomas Fox cheated on the exam, so I brought him here to review the matter on the spot!"

The president and the student advisor went pale in an instant. The president rushed forward at once, fawning.

"Director Sullivan, you've come at just the right time!"

"Thomas Fox really did cheat on the exam. We were just about to expel him. Please, enforce the law fairly and revoke his placement!"

The student advisor chimed in.

"Director, we've already got solid evidence."

Everyone waited for the labor director to nod, waited to watch me get stamped into the ground for good.

But the director frowned, and the more he heard them out, the colder his face grew.

"So what you're telling me is that you want to revoke a hero's civil-service placement?"

The whole field went silent in a heartbeat. Nobody knew what to make of it.

A hero? What hero?

"Don't any of you watch the news? This morning, the official outlets already reported Thomas Fox's heroic deeds."

"We were on our way to the school to present Thomas Fox with a commendation banner for his bravery, to honor what he did."

"And here you are, ready to expel him and strip his exam placement without hearing a single fact?"