Chapter 2

The next morning, Margaret had already set breakfast on the table. In front of Ethan and Liam were fresh bagels and black coffee. And right in front of me, perfectly placed, was another cup of steaming, thick, sticky hot cocoa.

"Clara, drink this while it's warm." Margaret pushed the cup closer to me. "Your body's really weak, and the bar exam lasts three whole days. You need to get more nutrition."

Liam was spreading cream cheese on his bagel while he made a snarky comment. "Looks like the genius's body isn't all that great. All that drinking and it's still useless. Don't go passing out in the exam hall again today like you did the last two years, making a total fool of yourself."

I stared at that sweet-smelling cup of hot cocoa in front of me and felt like I was sitting on pins and needles. The painful lessons from the last two failures were still fresh in my mind. I'd poured the bedtime cocoa into the flowerpot last night, and here she was bringing another one this morning! This wasn't nutrition — this was a death sentence.

I shot up out of my chair, pushed the hot cocoa away hard, and reached for Ethan's black coffee.

"Mom, I don't feel like drinking something sweet today. Coffee's fine, it'll wake me up."

But before my fingers even touched the edge of the coffee cup, Margaret lunged over, grabbed the whole cup and saucer, and slammed it down in the sink.

"No way!" Margaret's face went dark instantly. "I told you your body's not strong enough. Black coffee has no nutrition! You are going to drink every last drop of this hot cocoa today, and that's final!"

She stared me down, that almost crazy stubbornness flashing in her eyes. "I made this myself first thing this morning. If you don't drink it, you're not leaving this house to take the exam!"

Ethan was sitting there with a cold look on his face, sneering. "Clara, cut the shit already. Mom gets up early and stays late taking care of you, and you're pulling this Harvard princess act? So ungrateful. You're totally wasting Mom's good intentions."

The anger inside me exploded straight to my head. I couldn't hold it back anymore. I slammed my hand on the table, raised my voice, and snapped back. "I'm not drinking it! Do you not understand me?! I said I'm not fucking drinking it!" I pointed at the hot cocoa, my eyes burning red as I stared Margaret down. "What the hell is in this thing?! Why do you all keep forcing me to drink it?!"

My loud question echoed through the dining room.

Margaret clearly didn't expect me to fight back to her face. She froze there, stunned, her eyes instantly welling up with tears, her whole face full of hurt and sadness.

"You... you actually think that of me?" Her lips trembled, and she turned away, disappointed. "Fine, fine. Don't drink it then. I guess I was worried for nothing. My good intentions just went straight to hell."

Looking at how devastated she seemed, my heart twisted a little. A flicker of guilt crept in. Was I really overthinking this? Was she actually just genuinely caring about me?

No! Today was my most important bar exam. I absolutely couldn't let any accidents happen again! Even if I was wrong about her, for the sake of the exam I wasn't backing down.

I took a deep breath, forced down the storm in my chest, grabbed a dry piece of toast off the table, and stuffed it in my mouth.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't feel like drinking it today."

With that, I chewed a few bites of dry bread, grabbed my exam ticket and bag, and stormed out of the house without looking back, heading for the exam.

Stepping into the bar exam hall for the third time, I forced myself to block out all the morning's arguments.

When the exam bell rang, I flipped open the test paper quickly. My eyes scanned the questions, and my heart started racing — all of it was stuff I'd reviewed!

My brain was clearer than it had ever been. Legal provisions and case analysis flowed out of my pen like water. Everything was going smoothly. That feeling of being in total control was finally back.

But halfway through the morning exam, a really weird feeling hit me out of nowhere.

The letters on the page started doubling and twisting, completely out of my control. My brain felt like it was being drained of oxygen. My vision started going black, and this overwhelming, crushing exhaustion wrapped around me tight.

My wrist started shaking so bad I couldn't even write the simplest letter.

What the fuck?! I didn't drink anything! I only had one bite of toast!

I bit down hard on my lip, even reached under the table and pinched the inside of my thigh as hard as I could. The sharp pain from my nails digging into my flesh gave me a few seconds of clarity.

Keep writing... just one more question...

But that massive exhaustion wasn't something willpower could fight. It was like a giant black hole, swallowing up every last bit of my consciousness instantly. Everything went completely black, and I collapsed face-first onto the exam desk, passed out cold.

"Clara... wake up..."

I don't know how much time passed, but a voice faintly called my name from somewhere.

My eyes flew open. I wasn't looking at the cold white ceiling of the exam hall — I was looking at the familiar light fixture in my bedroom.

I was... at home?!

Memories came flooding back, and my heart skipped a beat. The exam! My bar exam!

I threw off the covers in a panic, didn't even bother with shoes, and tried to rush back to the exam hall right away. But the second my feet hit the floor, my knees went weak, and I fell forward uncontrollably, hitting the carpet hard.

The bedroom door slammed open with a bang.

Margaret walked in carrying a familiar tray. And on that tray — there it was, another cup of steaming hot cocoa!

"Whoa, you're finally awake." Margaret looked at me sitting on the floor, her tone full of exasperation. "I told you, your body's weak. I told you to drink the hot cocoa this morning for nutrition, but you had to be stubborn about it! And what happened? You passed out from low blood sugar in the exam hall, didn't you?"

I stared at her hard, cold sweat pouring down my face, and yelled. "Margaret, what time is it?! Hurry! Take me to the exam hall! I need to take the test!"

Margaret set the tray down on the nightstand and said it coldly. "What exam? You've been asleep in bed for three whole days. The bar exam's long over."

What the fuck?!