MidReal Story
Academic Alliances: A Tale of Friendship and Betrayal
Scenario: In Chapter 6, Thảo Linh shows Vũ Tấn and Mỹ Yến that she had a 98 on the third Statistics exam. Mỹ Yến also had a 97, whereas Vũ Tấn had a 92. Then, they determined to work on hypothesis testing, as well as regression analysis. While working, Thảo Linh noticed that there’s another storyline she disliked: Mỹ Yến stole Thảo Linh’s notebook to copy the notes. Therefore, Thảo Linh decided to change that storyline to a new one, making Mỹ Yến asked Thảo Linh for help as a team. After class, Thảo Linh asked Vũ Tấn and Mỹ Yến to sit with them for lunch.
Then, at the cafeteria, they met the tomboyish Diễm Mi, who also sat in the same table with them. Thảo Linh also asked Diễm Mi about how she did on the exam, and Diễm Mi said that she got an 89. If Vũ Tấn and Mỹ Yến ate their salads, then Thảo Linh ate a bacon cheese burger. While eating, Nhật Khang walked by and said ‘Hi’ to us. Nhật Khang also asked Thảo Linh if she would like to go with him for a stroll and she agreed after she finished her lunch.
Create my version of this story
There are three of us in the group, Vũ Tấn, Mỹ Yến, and me.
We just finished taking the third Statistics exam, and I’m super excited to tell them that I got an almost perfect score.
Ninety-eight, baby!”
Tấn’s eyes widen in disbelief, but Yến’s frown tells me that she knows I’m telling the truth.
She knows that if I say I got a 98, it means I didn’t get a perfect score, but only because there were two questions that I didn’t know the answers to.
Yến closes her eyes and lets out a deep breath.
“Ninety-seven,” she says.
I’m not even sure if she heard my score or if she just wanted to say that she missed one question too.
Vũ Tấn claps his hands.
“Awesome, Thảo Linh!
Well done, Yến.”
“Thank you,” she says, smiling.
He turns to me.
“Ninety-eight, huh?
And here I was thinking that I was going to be the only one with a ninety.”
I laugh at that.
Vũ Tấn is our group’s resident statistician.
He’s obsessed with numbers and data, and he’s always been pretty good at math.
He isn’t as clever as Yến or as hardworking as me, but he’s analytical and supportive, and it’s because of him that we’ve all been able to maintain our high GPAs.
He ended up with a 92 this time around, and I’m happy for him.
“I always knew you could do it,” I tell him.
“You’re smart enough to get an A in this class.”
He shrugs his shoulders modestly.
“It’s not that big of a deal.
I think you two are the ones who deserve some credit here.
Anyway, how did you guys do it?”
“I studied my ass off,” Mỹ Yến says.
“I’m still not sure what hypothesis testing is about.”
“My notes weren’t very good for that topic,” I admit.
“But we’ll figure it out when we go over the exam next time.”
She looks at Vũ Tấn nervously.
“Would you mind studying together?
He nods his head.
“Of course not.
We’ll go through some questions today and then do some more tomorrow.”
As they talk more about their plans for studying, I can’t help but feel like my life is predetermined.
Like things are following a script and that nothing can change.
I know it’s silly to think that, but even when I try not to, my mind keeps coming back to it.
It reminds me of when I was little and used to lie in bed at night wondering if fate and destiny were real.
If we were all just puppets on a string.
If we had no free will.
It was a scary thought and a confusing one.
I didn’t like the idea of not being able to choose what would happen to me or of having no control over my life.
It didn’t make sense to me either.
If everything was meant to be, then why did we work so hard to change things?
Why did we go to school?
Why did we try to become better people?
But then I realized that thinking about those things was a waste of time.
It didn’t matter if fate was real or if destiny was set in stone.
After class, I invited Vũ Tấn and Mỹ Yến to join me and Mỹ Yến for lunch, hoping to foster a sense of camaraderie among us. At the cafeteria, we ran into Diễm Mi, who happily joined us at our table. "How did you do on the exam?" I asked, genuinely curious.
Diễm Mi responded, “I got an 85. I should’ve asked you for help sooner.”
The truth is, Diễm Mi isn’t very good at statistics.
She’s more of a tomboy and prefers sports to anything else.
I don’t think she has ever really liked school all that much or even cared about her grades until now.
I’ve noticed her trying to study more lately and asking me for help with her homework or exam reviews.
I think she wants to do better this semester because she thinks it will help her in the future.
“I would have helped you if you had asked,” I tell her.
“It’s not a big deal.”
“That’s what I told her,” Yến says, giving me a look.
I’m used to the way she acts by now.
I know she’s annoyed because she thinks Diễm Mi just wants to be friends with us so she can get good grades without having to work for them.
But I don’t see it like that at all.
I think Diễm Mi is just trying to be more responsible and take school seriously for once, and I want to help her out if I can.
As they talk more about the exam, I look around the room and notice Nhật Khang sitting at a nearby table with his friends.
He sees me staring at him and gives me a warm smile before going back to his conversation.
I feel my face grow hot and quickly look away, but that doesn’t stop Yến from noticing.
“Didn’t you two go on a walk earlier today?”
she asks with a grin.
“Are you guys getting close again?”
I can feel my heart beating faster and try to come up with something to say.
“We were just talking about school,” I tell them.
But Mỹ Yến doesn’t believe me.
“You guys are cute together,” she says with a wink.
“Wait until I tell everyone in our class.”
“No one needs to know,” I tell her quickly.
“Are you embarrassed?”
she asks.
“No,” I say.
But she doesn’t believe me.
“Don’t worry about it,” she says.
“If people want to talk, let them talk.
You don’t need to hide anything from us.”
I know she’s trying to help, but the truth is, I don’t want anyone to make fun of Nhật Khang or say anything bad about him or his friends.
I want to be able to control things this time around.
That’s why I asked Yến to come out with us.
Because I know that if she’s around, Nhật Khang won’t make any moves on me.
I also know that she will be on my side if anything happens and that she will do whatever I ask of her.
She has always been that way for as long as I can remember.
Like how she always steals my notebooks to copy my notes when I’m not looking.
But I can see the way she looks at me, and I know that she doesn’t like doing that either.
After lunch, Nhật Khang and I went for a stroll around campus. We talked about our grades, and Nhật Khang revealed he scored a 94. Spotting cherry blossom trees, I suggested, "Let's take some cute photos!"
As we snapped pictures amidst the blossoms, Nhật Khang opened up about his passions for photography and music. I found myself drawn to his depth and talent, feeling a connection I hadn't expected.
Reluctantly, we parted ways as the sun began to set, but not before Nhật Khang walked me back to my dorm. Grateful for the evening's conversation, I couldn't shake the feeling of contentment.
“Let’s have lunch,” I tell Yến as we walk out of our history class.
“What do you guys want?
Mỹ Yến asks as we walk toward the cafeteria.
“I’m feeling a salad today,” Vũ Tấn tells her.
“Me too,” Mỹ Yến agrees.
“I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger,” I tell them.
“Are you trying to get fat?”
Yến asks me with a laugh.
“You’re so tiny, you don’t have any weight to lose.”
“Who cares about weight?”
Vũ Tấn says as he puts his arms around Yến and pulls her in close.
“I love you no matter what.”
“Ew!”
she says as she shoves him away.
“We’re in public!
We’ll have plenty of time to be gross after we graduate.”
The four of us walk into the cafeteria and head over to the counter to order our food.
As we’re walking back to the table with our trays in hand, Nhật Khang walks by and sees us sitting together.
“Hey,” he says as he waves at us.
“Linh, do you mind if I join you guys?”
“It’s a free country,” I tell him as I take a bite of my burger.
“You don’t mind if I sit next to you?”
he asks with a smile.
I can feel my face growing hot as I try to think of what to say.
But I can see Vũ Tấn and Mỹ Yến staring at me, so I quickly say, “No, I don’t mind.”
Nhật Khang sits down next to me and we all start eating.
“So how did you guys do on the last Statistics exam?
I ask as I look over at Vũ Tấn and Mỹ Yến.
“I got an 89,” Vũ Tấn says.
“99,” Mỹ Yến says with a smirk.
I look over at Diễm Mi and wait for an answer, but she doesn’t say anything.
“What about you?”
I ask her.
“Oh, I got an 89 too,” she says with a shrug.
“Did you even study?”
I ask her.
“You barely came to class this semester.”
“No, I didn’t study at all,” she says as she takes a bite of her salad.
I can feel my eyes going wide as I look over at Nhật Khang.
“Did you hear that?”
I ask him.
“You got an 89?”
he asks as he looks over at Diễm Mi.
“That’s pretty good, especially if you didn’t study.”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Diễm Mi asks me as she wipes something off of her face.
“You did really well on the exam,” I tell her.
“But you didn’t even come to class most of the time!”
“Like I said before, it wasn’t important to me,” she says with a shrug.
“That’s too bad, though,” Nhật Khang says as he looks over at her with a smile.
“If you tried harder, I bet you could be the best student in our class.”
Diễm Mi just shrugs and goes back to eating her salad.
“How did you do on the exam?”
Vũ Tấn asks Nhật Khang curiously.
“Not as well as Diễm Mi, that’s for sure,” Nhật Khang says with a laugh.
I look over at him and wait for him to answer my question.
“But how did you do?”
I ask him.
“I got a 94,” he says with a shrug.
