Uncanny Boy

Chapter 9: Test Day Nerves

Jace’s POV:

@school, test day, almost 7: 40 a.m.

I quickly ate breakfast and rushed into Alvaro’s car. He too got ready to go out.

“Okay, let’s quickly revise.”, I said.

“You know you don’t need to read on the exam day, right? Trust me, makes you forget what you already know.”, Alvaro said.

“Yeah. And I’m not reading. It’s more like a revision.”, I said but I had my head buried in the book.

20 mins later:

“Alright, we are here.”, he said.

“So quick?”, I asked in shock.

“Yeah, you were too buried in your book to notice. Anyway, bye.”, he said.

“Bye. Oh, and My friends are coming over this afternoon, remember?”, I said.

“Oh, yeah. I’ll be there. See ya.”, he said while giving a two-finger salute.

“Bye.”, I said while watching him drive off.

I walked into the school like entering a battlefield. Yeah, I get nervous while taking tests. Never heard of test anxiety?

I walked in, and the first thing that seemed to distract me from my intense staring contest with the environment was the fact that Richie A, again with his friends, were standing in a corner discussing.

I couldn’t care less what the matter related to, but I would if it related to me. Then, I walked in and saw Cam, his head buried in his locker.

“Whatcha’ doing?”, I said.

“Oh! You scared me. What are you doing here?”, he yelled while closing his locker like he did something bad.

“Nothing. You were expecting someone else?”, I said.

“No, not that. It’s just...”, he said.

“What? You can tell me.”, I said to reassure him.

“Nothing. I was… this is a pressure ball.”, he said looking fidgety.

“Pressure ball?”, I asked.

“Yeah. It’s a ball you squeeze tight when you get nervous. That’s what I was doing.”, he said.

“You don’t need to hide that. I too get test anxieties.”, I said.

“I didn’t hide it. Chase, Nikki and Syd already know. I just didn’t want any other person to know. They’ll think I’m crazy or unstable.”, he said.

“Yeah, I feel you. So, you prepared or what?”, I said feeling pumped.

“Of course, I’m prepared. Just that this stress unnecessarily comes.”, he said confidently.

“Let’s de-stress and take the test.”, I said.

“Okay!”, he said.

“Just out of curiosity, can I try the pressure ball?”, I asked.

“Yeah, sure. Come.”, he said, pulling my arm.

He somewhat shoved me into his locker and I saw the ball. Cute blue color but surprise, it gives a violet color when you squeeze it.

“Feels good, right?”, he asked.

“Yeah, I kinda needed this, and I will need this in the future maybe.”, I said.

“Huh.”, he chuckled.

Just then, Sydney came to where we were standing with a selfie-stick shooting a vlog. She bounced to Cam’s locker but as she saw me, she got a little calmer. Maybe she was expecting to see only Cam here. What is going on?! Are they really… no, no, no. It’s too early.