Tally

Chapter 11: Achievement

"Last ones at B," Roman said through the mic.

As I went to B site, I stopped the last person and, without hesitation, started blasting him to oblivion.

"Nice!"

"Let's go."

We celebrated after winning the game.

School had already ended, and neither my friends nor I spoke a single word as we were trying to prepare for the worst. However, due to the absurd amount of fear we had, it is okay to take a refresher once in a while. Therefore, we took the stress out of us by playing together in exchange for more enjoyment, even for a few minutes.

"What was that, our third game in a row now?" Roland asked.

Answering his question, "Pretty sure it is."

"So," Roman says, changing the topic, "What do guys think you would get for your math score?"

"I'd probably fail," Roland says casually.

"Honestly, I don't know what to expect," I answered.

We talked for minutes on this topic. Finally, it occurred to me that I am not that far different from Roland and Roman. They, too, are pressured by the expectations of their parents. It surprised me that Roman was struggling, but I guess some have a more challenging time than I have.

"Alright, I'm going to head out," Roman says. "I just got called by my dad, so I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah, I think I'll head out as well," Roland followed.

"Yeah, me too. Okay, goodbye."

"Yeah, goodbye."

And just like that, our conversation ended. However, that is not the end of it all, as I just remembered that I would have to tell my parents what I got as my grade. So, returning to my paranoid state, I started praying, hoping that the score was acceptable.

I waited patiently for my email notification to arrive as I wanted to get this over with regardless of the outcome, though I preferred that the result was in my favor. Finally, I heard a little ding and was ready to see my grade.

Calm down, calm down. It can't be that bad right, no need to panic. Were the words I said to myself. Confidence was never really a thing I was firm with, and waiting for a score that my parents are guaranteed to have high expectations in is all the more nerve-wracking. Even now, I rewind my memory to see how I was doing in the test and realized that at one point, I was doing "eeny meeny miny moe" in the second half of the multiple-choice questions.

With me going back and forth in my room, I finally heard a "ding" and opened my email to see if it was there. It was there, the grades of my maths exam. Not wanting a repeat of the humanities exam, I made sure that I would check it thoroughly and was ready to give my score to my parents regardless of how bad it was.

As I opened the document, my heart was racing the deeper I got to it. Compared to the humanities exam paper, this one was slightly better as the mistakes were due to it being not very careful since I didn't have time to recheck my work before the submission. I prepared myself mentally for what was about to come and-

Wait, am I dreaming? I refreshed the document to recheck it. I brushed my eyes to make sure I wasn't seeing this incorrectly. "Holy moly," I exclaimed. The score that was written in my exam was 90/100.

I pumped my fists in the air in excitement, celebrating with joy. I finally did it. This was the first time I had accomplished something so great in school. With a lot of pride in me, I took a photo of the score and showed it to my parents.

Barging out of the door, I was acting like a little boy showing their parents a plastic star they got for being a good student in the class. I shouted their names repeatedly as I entered their room.

This time I have done it, I have peaked.