It was humiliating. The stress of studying every night, way past midnight, had led to those awful cluster headaches. She blinked hard to keep the tears from hitting her books, as the memory of that day flashed in her mind.

She could sense the whispers:

” A year older but can’t pass a simple Maths test?”

“Maybe she failed last year.”

“Never talks to anyone. No wonder she can’t do well.”

Then, Ms. Bhat’s voice roused her from a deep reverie.

” Lalitha, congratulations. You’ve stood first in the mock exam.”

Beaming ,she realised that she had the last laugh after all!

This is written in response to the prompt
She had the last laugh
Β for Write Tribe’sΒ 100 WordsΒ on Saturday.