Flora’s Guide to a Second Chance at Love and Life

The clacking of keys filled the room, making it sound like she was deep into some intense gaming session. But that was far from the truth...

Eilies and Cynthia exchanged a look, deciding it was best to keep quiet. Frustrated, they compared Flora's source code with their own and started making revisions. With Flora's code as a guide, they quickly wrapped up the rest of their work.

By 6 p.m., they had sent the completed website to their teacher's email, right on schedule.

Class began at 7:30 p.m. Students trickled into the computer lab. Flora, Eilies, and Cynthia slipped into the last two rows just as the clock struck time, their late arrival leaving them no other choice.

"I've received and reviewed your website assignments. Most of you did pretty well, but Flora's work stood out," Mr. Abbott, the web design instructor, announced as he walked to the front of the room. His voice was calm, giving nothing away: "Flora's project exceeded my expectations. She used advanced techniques that aren't usually in a beginner's toolkit."

The class felt a shift in the atmosphere.

be straight with me. Did you buy this code

had felt when he first saw the code. Even a junior in computer science might struggle to produce something so polished.

of its own. Mr. Abbott could handle the learning curve, knowing everyone starts somewhere, but he couldn't

her gaze

didn't buy the code! She wrote it herself and even helped

Abbott's expression softened, "Come

way to the front with

decent. If you can do that, it'll prove I was wrong, and I'll apologize." "Don't take my earlier tone to heart," Mr. Abbott added, acknowledging his previous

taking a seat at the workstation instead.

project this on everyone's screen?" someone