e bit the strings of his hoodie, gnawing slightly. Andrew was almost finished with his History quiz on the economic changes that took place in the 1920s. He always had a knack for History, a subject he enjoys, can’t say the same about his classmates.

He finished his final short answer and placed his pencil on the table quietly, careful not to disturb the people sitting around him probably not even halfway done with their own quiz. Andrew raised his hand to catch the attention of his History teacher, Mr. Johnson.

Mr. Johnson rounded the tables and got to where Andrew was sitting, smoothly picking up the sheet of paper from the top of Andrew’s desk. The young boy beamed at his teacher, waiting to be praised. He wasn’t a show-off, per se, but he knew he at least got eight out of the ten questions correct.

Whilst Andrew was happy with his quiz, his teacher, on the other hand, was not.

“Andrew, to the front, please.”

The confusion was evident on Andrew’s face, but he followed his teacher all the way to the big desk in the front of the classroom. He could feel the stares of his fellow classmates at the back of his head, some probably laughing that he got himself in trouble. What trouble? He didn’t do anything wrong, except finish his quiz earlier than everyone.

“Be honest with me, Andrew,” Mr. Johnson grumbled.

“Sir?”

Mr. Johnson tapped his paper with the end of his pen more aggressively than he should have. “You cheated, didn’t you?”

Andrew jolted, surprised. He has never cheated and those who know him know that he would never cheat, he didn’t have a reason to. “Uhh– no, sir.”

His teacher clicked his tongue in annoyance and began marking his quiz.

10 out of 10.

Just by seeing that made Andrew’s heart fill with glee but he had to resist the urge to let out a cry of happiness.

“This can’t be right, you definitely cheated, Andrew,” Mr. Johnson said, his voice growing louder by the second. “I’m giving you a chance to come clean now or else there will be consequences.”

Andrew shook his head, he didn’t do anything wrong, why was this happening to him. “I really did not cheat, Mr. Johnson! What proof do you have?”

“Alright, fine then.” Mr. Johnson’s smile did not reach his eyes. The teacher reached into the drawer of his table and pulled out a book full of unwritten pink slips. “Guess you’re going to detention for this.”

The boy could hear the hushed whispers coming from his classmates behind him and he grew red in the face from embarrassment. When Andrew said he wanted attention, this wasn’t the kind of attention he expected to get. “But, sir, why would I go to detention? I didn’t cheat! I really didn’t!”

Mr. Johnson drops the pen he was holding in his hand. “Don’t want to go to detention? I’ll call your parents then.”

Andrew panics, but not for the reason his teacher thinks it is. His parents were busy people, his father a well-known attorney in Westchester County, his mother a corporate lawyer. He would much rather attend detention and waste his own time than let his teacher call his parents and waste their time.

Mr. Johnson catches the panic in his face and smirks, totally misunderstanding the situation. In that moment, Mr. Johnson felt proud of himself. He caught a cheater in his class, another pink slip to go under his belt, his road to becoming the vice-principal of Westchester Middle School is becoming shorter.

“Please don’t call my parents, I’ll go to detention,” Andrew pleaded, jerking Mr. Johnson out of his little fantasy.

“You had your chance, Andrew. I’ll be calling your father today,” Mr. Johnson replies, the smirk still pronounced on his face.

Andrew could feel a migraine coming, he watches in slow motion as Mr. Johnson flips through the attendance book and find his dad’s mobile number, dialling the number on his cell phone, putting it on speaker for everyone in the class to listen.

After a couple of beeps, his dad picks up the phone with a curt, “Hello.”

“Good afternoon, is this Mr. Foster? My name is Mr. Johnson and I’m calling because your son is in my History class and he cheated on the quiz we have today.” Mr. Johnson emphasizes on the word cheated, giving a short pause to let it sink in before continuing. “He said he didn’t cheat but he aced the test with full scores then picked up a fuss when I was going to send him to detention, hence why I’m calling you now.”

Andrew bit his lip, his heart pounding. He didn’t know what his dad would do. Yell at him? Side with Mr. Johnson? Tears pooled in his eyes and threatened to fall. The few seconds of silence was deafening.

“Mr. Johnson was it?” his dad started. “My normal billing rate is $650 per hour. Don’t waste my time with this crap. If Drew said he didn’t cheat, he didn’t cheat. Don’t call me ever again.”

Almost instantaneously, his dad hung up and his teacher’s phone screen turned black. Andrew could see his and Mr. Johnson’s reflection on the screen, the silence ringing in his ear.

Amid the silence, he could hear a couple of his classmates snickering, Mr. Johnson’s face turning as red as a tomato, staring at the phone in his hand, the grip on it so hard that is was almost cracking under the pressure. He had forgotten that Mr. Johnson put his phone on speaker, so the entire class was able to hear the enlightening conversation.

The tears in his eyes dried up as his lips turned up into a smile, he knew he could count on his dad to have his back. He didn’t know why he was so worried.

“Go back to your seat and be quiet, Andrew. Good work on your quiz.”

Andrew took a peek beneath his lashes to look at his teacher and nodded, he pressed his lips together to avoid the laughter wanting to burst from his lips. As he walked back to his seat, he received high-fives from his classmates which he returned. Andrew relished in the glory of his classmates’ grins and hollers, it made him triumphant.

Since that incident, Andrew was treated like a king for the next month or so from his classmates and he enjoyed the attention immensely. 

Andrew Jacob Foster; 13 years old

a/n: ( past ) teaser 5!! now, this is a major past past. to get a glimpse of drew's family and his past self ( and how smart he actually is, drew's not useless, okay ) this teaser was born. have a nice cackle at how savage drew's dad is and maybe, just maybe, when drew grows older he'll be just as savage. we pray for that day to come. – adam & loo