It was sixth grade and I was at my desk taking a book quiz.  The book was assigned as a class reading.  The book was very uninteresting, which is why I do not recall the name.  I sat at my table minding my own business.  In total there was three tables surrounding the perimeter of the class, besides one open side, as the square was not completed.  I was sitting in the inside of the three tables while facing the teachers desk.  I was facing the teacher, but my view of the teacher was obstructed by “anti cheat dividers,” which were placed in front of each student.
A friend of mine was sitting to the right of me taking the same quiz.  My friend’s problem is he did not read the pages that were assigned.  Instead of recognizing we were both in sixth grade and the grade he got on that quiz would barely affect him, he decided to grab my attention to help him with his quiz.
That same quiz was also open book, which makes cheating on it sound even more silly.  My friend could have easily skimmed through pages to find answers to the free response questions.  Of course I did not think to offer that idea, nor did he think of skimming through the book.
I specifically remember that day we had a substitute teacher.  One of the biggest benefits of having a sub on a quiz day is that you will find they do not really care.  Most substitutes will pay no attention to the students taking the quiz.  They will sit in the teacher’s chair and go on facebook, almost every substitute teacher is guilty of doing so.  Of course by sixth grade I recognized that is what most substitutes do.
Without hesitation I was willing to help my friend cheat on this quiz, especially because of the substitute teacher.  Just as one would assume the substitute teacher paid no attention to everyone taking their quizes.  At the time this was perfect.  I could easily help my friend cheat, so that is exactly what I did.
    We went through the quiz together.  I would look at a question respond to it, then tell my friend the same answer.  I would even explain my reasoning for that answer, not that it would really matter, as he did not read the book.  I was still doing really well, and he was not slowing me down, at least enough to worry about.
    Because of the quiz having free response answers, I would tell my friend to change the wording of his answers.  I did not want to have the exact same answers, that would be to obvious.  It wasn’t my first time  cheating in elementary school, so I knew what I was doing.  I couldn’t stare at his paper as he wrote the same answers, so I trusted my friend to change the wordings.
    The next day when we came back to school the teacher immediately called for my friend to come up and talk with her.  Of course I was already worrying, but I wasn’t prepared for what she was going to do.  She called me up and my friend went and walked back to his seat.  The teacher asked, “did you give your friend answers?”  I was shocked and didn’t know what to say.  Tripping over my words I spat out something along the lines of, “we both shared our answers together.”  She immediately asked if I was lying, hinting towards my friend copying off me.  I denied it and again told her we both equally cheated off each other.
    I talked to my friend that day during lunch about the whole situation.  My friend told me he denied us ever cheating at all.  I then explained to my friend how I told the teacher that we cheated, and his face dropped in agony.  He was pissed, I mean how could I just blatantly tell the teacher when she doesn’t even have evidence?  I immediately felt dumb, but not at all sorry.
    The teacher never confronted us on the situation, and just marked the quiz as a zero.  I did have to confront my parents on the situation though, as the teacher called them.  When I talked to my parents they were very disappointed, but never emplaced disciplinary action.  The embarrassment was enough.
The only time I ever talked about that test again was at parent teacher conferences, but the teacher went on maternity leave and had a substitute for the conferences.  She didn’t know anything of the cheating until then, and my parents were already informed, so nothing much was exchanged when talking about it.
In retrospect I wouldn’t change any of my decisions made on the day we cheated.  The story is a great story and memory to tell, and really helped me when making decisions today.  I know if I’m going to cheat I have to make it look very different from the person I’m cheating with, and I shouldn’t trust them to alter theirs.