The Last Cheat
Chracters:
Nisar was a 15-year-old student, smart but very lazy.
Haris was Nisar's best friend, honest and hardworking.
Mr. Nadeem was their strict but fair and good math teacher.
Story:
Nisar had a plan.
It was not a study plan — it was a cheat plan.
It was time for the final math exam and Ayaan had not prepared at all. To his credit, Nisar had jotted down notes on a small piece of paper that he had stuffed into his socks.
As he always did, Ayaan muttered to himself, “I’ve done this before. Easy.”
His best friend Haris had tried to convince him otherwise and had claimed he was not worried about Nisar’s marks.
"Nisar, it’s not just about marks. It’s about who you become," Haris said.
Nisar simply laughed it off.
It was not the first time he had to deal with Haris, and it wouldn’t be the last.
The school buzzed with the same anxious energy the following day. Students were taking turns to ask one another questions as Mr. Nadeem vigilantly watched the class.
Nisar’s intense focus on the exam was broken as he struggled to remember a particularly tricky question. His pulse noticeably quickened, and he decided to take a peek at Haris, who was way ahead of him.
“Nisar, this is the moment,” he thought to himself. “This is a crucial turning point for my story.”
Nisar bent down, slowly pulled one of his shoes off and retrieved the paper.
As he was reading it, Nisar felt a small shadow. It was Mr. Nadeem. He was about to notice him and Nisar was almost certain he had lost.
But in the most uneventful way possible, Mr. Nadeem came, glanced down at him and picked up the cheat and simply walked away without uttering a single word.
It is as if the passage of time has been stalled.
Nisar tried regathering his focus, but unrelenting waves of his heart pounding hotter than a furnace flooded his mind. It felt like he was in a sauna, succocating in a sea of hot air.
Nisar was brought straight to the office after the test. Mr. Nadeem sat across from him, serene but determined.
“Ayaan, I've seen you in your class. You're smart. But cheating? That's not weakness in math -- that's weakness in character.”
He gave Nisar the paper.
“No suspension. No punishment. But you have to inform your parents personally. And… I expect a handwritten paper tomorrow: ‘Why I chose to cheat — and why I won’t do it again.’ That’s your homework.”
Nisar nodded, feeling ashamed but oddly thankful.
That evening, for the first time in months, he cracked open his math book -- not to cheat off of it, but to comprehend.
Moral of the story:
Taking the easy way out might save you time now, but it’ll cost you later. Real integrity starts when nobody’s there to see it.
