Guilt

 "Ten minutes left", the teacher's voice echoed down the classroom, adding another layer of tension and nervousness that already gripped the classroom.

All students had their heads bowed to their exam papers, their hands moving frantically to finish before the time runs out. Every now and then, the sound of shuffling paper would break in through the stiff silence that reigned over the classroom.

Ahsan's head was also bowed against the paper, but he wasn't writing, his mind was racing constantly to solve an equation. Only ten minutes were left, and here he was, still dwelling on the fourth question.

The teacher pushed back his chair and stood up to take a round of the classroom. Ahsan sighed and threw his head in his palms, his mind had gone totally blank from panic, and exhaustion. 

He was staring at his shoes under the table, pondering over the equation, and racking his empty brain for a way to solve it, when his eyes landed upon a sheet of paper lying under the desk, not actually his desk, the teacher's desk which was right in front of his.

At first, he didn't think it of much attention, but then he spared a second glance at it. It seemed like an answer sheet, answers were lined according to their question numbers, and what else subject could they have been other than mathematics.

"His heart leaped in joy, it is sometimes advantageous to sit at the front," he thought, "That's it, my exam is cleared, a guaranteed A+'' he said to himself. But just then his teacher's instructions echoed in his mind, "any student caught cheating in any way, will be expelled right away", he gave up on the thought of cheating, but just then, his mother's voice echoed in his mind, "I'm warning you, Ahsan, No grade lower than A is acceptable on your final term report card by me or your father, and if so, then you will be responsible for the consequences", it was indeed a great dilemma.

"Five minutes left", the teacher's announcement broke in through his thoughts. He was running out of time.

He wanted an A grade, but on the other hand, he was to be expelled if he would be caught cheating, "Don't worry Ahsan, you will only be expelled if you'll be caught cheating, if no one will see you cheating, no one will expel you", "No Ahsan, don't stain your personality by committing such an action", a duel of voices was going on in his mind, raising even more panic, "Come on Ahsan, be quick, you too want high grades". He could never resist temptation, and in a fraction of a second, he made up his mind.

He dropped his pen intentionally, "Sir, I've dropped my pen, may I pick it", he asked, "Yes you may" replied the teacher from the back of the row. He ducked under the table, and grabbed both, his pen, and the answer sheet, he rose up, and swiftly slipped it under his question paper. He looked around cautiously to make sure no one had seen him, and to his relief, all the heads were down just like they had been.

He pulled out the paper slightly from under his question sheet and started copying down the answers. Within two minutes, he had copied down all the answers. 

He hastily threw the answer sheet under the desk, and announced, "Sir, I've done", "Okay, hand it over to me", he handed the paper to the teacher, and hastily shuffled out of the classroom, relieved to be finally freed from the "prison of examination''.

Ahsan entered the school office, and issued his report card, eager to see an "A", but what he saw, made him clap his hands over his mouth in horror, an "F" in mathematics, how could he have scored an F, it was a guaranteed A+.

Bewildered, and more depressed than ever, he dragged himself all the way home, kicking and cursing every random thing that came his way, the "F" flashing in his mind, and his mother's voice echoing in his ears, "any grade lower than A is not acceptable".

He reached his home, and quietly slipped into the room that he shared with his brother, his report card, and marked exam papers were scattered on the study table, indicating he was home.

He didn't want to see anything, but something caught his attention, his brother's mathematics exam paper, the answers on it, felt a little familiar, he pulled out his mathematics exam paper and gasped, the answers were all same, the answer sheet he had copied through was of fourth grade, not fifth. He could've figured it out easily if he would've had had wits, it was all so straight, and simple, he had seen the teacher marking fourth-grade exam papers, but there was nothing he could do about it now.

He sank into the chair and thrust his head in his palms overcome by frustration, exhaustion, and most of all, the guilt of cheating, and then losing.