"Then, draw another one, write down your name, and hand it in."
Raeleigh shook her head. "Forget it. I'm not going to do it."
"How can you do that? It's your work. Someone stole it. We have to tell the lecturer." Scarlette was so excited that Raeleigh had to hold her in place and said, "Don't go. Leave this matter to me. I'll go and hand in the drawings with you tomorrow."
"Raeleigh, you are too unassertive. This is exactly why they pick on you."
"I have no evidence to clarify this matter. No matter who took my blueprints, once a similar one is submitted, then the school will clamp down hard on both for plagiarism." Raeleigh insisted and Scarlette found herself speechless. In the end, the matter amounted to nothing.
In the evening, Scarlette said to Raeleigh, "If you're not attending the event, then there is little meaning for me to go, so I'll skip it too."
"Go and do your thing," Raeleigh said to Scarlette, who simply shook her head. It was meaningless for her because the drawings belonged to someone else.
The next day, while Raeleigh was in class, a teacher dropped by and said, "Raeleigh, could you please come out for a moment?"
Raeleigh followed the teacher outside. She left the classroom and asked Raeleigh, "Did you sign up for the car design competition?"
"Yes, I did sign up for it," Raeleigh replied honestly.
The teacher was puzzled and asked, "Today is the day to submit the blueprints. Where is yours?"
A teacher was put in charge of collecting the blueprints, or else it could allow students to hand it in as they pleased of their own accord. The university had a special department to deal with such matters.
Raeleigh's teacher had received a call from the principal, who said that all the students' blueprints who had registered for the competition had been submitted, all except Raeleigh and Scarlette. Then, the principal went to great lengths to inquire about Raeleigh and why she hadn't submitted it. The emphasis on Raeleigh and the lack of further mention of Scarlette implied that this was a matter of urgency and that there will be consequences for Raeleigh's future.
Her teacher's temperament was also very mild, but the fact that Raeleigh didn't have a blueprint still shocked her teacher.
"I didn't draw my blueprint. I am forfeiting from the competition."
The teacher was in a state of shock and could not come back to his senses. After a long time, he asked, "Raeleigh, I think the school highly values your work. I'll work something out with the school, so how about you go back now and concentrate on drawing out your blueprint?"
Raeleigh shook her head. "Time is too limited. I can't prepare it in time."
"Raeleigh, if you don't try, then how do you know whether it will work or not?" The bell rang and the students of the other classes came out, talking about the blueprints they had handed in that day.
"The results will come out in three days. I heard that at that time, there were lots of competing talents. Those who can enter the top three may win a lot of rewards."
The sound of these discussions were heard by Raeleigh as the students who said them passed by her. She did not say anything but just fixed her eyes on her teacher.
The teacher seemed helpless. How was he going to explain this to the higher-ups?
"Raeleigh, go back and think about it. I will try and communicate with the school to see if they can extend the submission deadline for you." After the teacher spoke, he left.
Scarlette stepped out of class and went to Raeleigh asking her, "What's happened, why did the teacher come round looking for you?"
"It's about the blueprints."
"What did you say then?"
"I said that I am no longer participating, and that I am forfeiting."
Scarlette was speechless as she thought to herself, "What a stubborn person!"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Cutie, Please Marry Me Again (Jenna and Hansen)