CECE, DISRESPECTFULLY | ✓

54: WHO SAID I WAS DONE?

            The first part of the competition is a multiple-choice independent exam without calculators. Each of us has selected one category: computational mathematics, logic and set theory, number theory, and programming. I'm doing computational maths because it's where my ability to visualise equations has turned out to be most beneficial during practice. It's multiple-choice. It's easy. But my leg won't stop bouncing under the table.

The quizmaster is welcoming the audience from her podium. The school hall at St Aquinas is much larger than any of the other schools we've been to and yet, nearly every chair is occupied. At least sixty sets of eyes blink at us.

I find Nikki's. He smiles and waves and, noticing this, the row of his mates that he invited with my permission wave too, Caleb so enthusiastically he might be auditioning for the role of a drowning man in an annoying commercial. They're so colourful and textured in the sea of muted sleekness that they remind me of the broken bits of plastic that collect along the side of the street. They've even crafted signs.

I close my eyes for a cycle of breath. I'm going to do my best. No one is going to hate me if we lose, they won't kick me off the team if I stop being useful. They want me around because... we're friends.

'Contestants,' the host addresses us, 'you all have your first exam in front of you. Each member will have twenty-five questions and thirty minutes, if you finish early, your leftover minutes will be added to your final points, however, any incorrect answers will be penalised. We will start the clock in fifteen seconds. Make sure you've got your pens and minds ready.'

Fifteen seconds have never gone slower.

Fifteen seconds have never gone faster.

When she rings the bell that ends the countdown, it takes my brain a moment to even register it happening. Then I throw open the exam booklet in front of me.

Question 1
Find the least common multiple of 21, 36, 51.

A) 756
B) 4, 284
C) 1, 836
D) 38, 556
E) none

I break down each number into the smallest possible prime number that can be multiplied to reach the sum. 21 = 3 x 7, 36 = 2 x 2 x 3 x 3, 51 = 3 x 17. Cancelling out repeated values results in the equation 2 × 2 × 3 × 3 × 7 × 17. I circle option B and move on to the next question.

Question 2
Assume that you breathe once every 10 seconds. How many breaths do you take in 3 weeks?

A) 181, 440
B) 260, 480
C) 201, 600
D) 1, 209, 600
E) none

Looking at numbers so large makes my head spin for a second. Focus. It's an easy question. All I need is to know how many seconds there are in three weeks. So I first find the number of days, then the number of hours, then the number of minutes, and finally the number of seconds: 1,814,400. Remove a zero.

The answer is A.

I'm able to keep up a steady pace and though I finish with nine minutes left on the clock, I don't yet return it. Diwa did my head in every practice that I need to check my results, that the points we gain when I rush through and save time are rarely worth the risk of losing points for questions I've answered incorrectly.

So I read through each question a second time and I do catch two mistakes. In the end, I finish one minute early, exactly in synch with Meira. Noah has already shut the number theory test booklet and Diwa puts down her pen seconds after me.

The St Aquinas contestants have naturally all already finished theirs. Their smug glances swing between us and the Eastbridge team, where two members are still frantically circling their final answers.