Not So Friendly Anymore

I'm Back

The door swung open, and KC staggered in, looking like he had just fought through an entire warzone. His clothes were slightly disheveled, his hair was a mess, and there was an exhaustion in his eyes that spoke of a struggle far greater than any mere battle. Yet, despite all of that, there was something triumphant in the way he stood, like a man who had climbed the tallest mountain, barely survived, and yet somehow still had the energy to gloat about it.

With a deep sigh, he ran a hand through his hair and then turned his head, breaking the fourth wall as he looked directly at the readers.

"Hey, everyone. It's been a while." He gave a tired but knowing smirk. "If you've been keeping up, you'll have noticed it's been a month since the last update on this story. Well, if you haven't read the messages, allow me to explain myself."

He groaned and flopped onto the nearest chair, rubbing his face before gesturing vaguely. "You see, I'm currently in college right now, and here in Florida, in order to graduate, we need to pass an exam called the FCLE, the Florida Civic Literacy Exam. It's a requirement to graduate here. And so, since my future kind of requires me to pass this test, you'll have to forgive me for deciding to take a break to focus on studying for it."

He sighed dramatically, resting his chin in his palm. "Now, as you've probably guessed, by the fact that I'm finally speaking up after a month of radio silence, I passed. Thank TOAA for that. But before I go on and explain the status of this story, please allow me to take a few moments of your time to rant about how much I hate this test."

KC sat up, cracking his knuckles like he was preparing for battle all over again. "Alright, let's get into it. See, my thought process was pretty simple: I have three classes this semester, all online, only on Tuesdays and Thursdays. So I thought, 'Okay, I already take all my classes from home, and I don't see the point in wasting gas driving to campus just to take a test. I'll just take it from home.'"

His eye twitched slightly. "Big mistake."

He held up a finger. "First, I had to pay $23 for a remote proctoring session. Annoying, but fine. I thought, 'Whatever, I'll take the test, pass it, and be done with it.'" He inhaled sharply. "But no."

He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "So, I'm studying from Monday to Thursday, feeling good, and then I get an email from the remote proctoring program. They tell me I need to download a secure browser to take the test. Makes sense. I go to download it, but, surprise!, since I use a Chromebook, I need a specific version of the app. And when I try to download it? It tells me I can't because it's not a 'kiosk app.'"

KC clenched his fists and exhaled sharply. "So, I look it up, and guess what? I need a Google App Developer account just to download it. Fine. Whatever. I go make one... and it costs $5 to set up." He closed his eyes, visibly restraining himself. "So now I'm nearly $30 deep into this stupid test. But I finally get the developer account, go to download it, and then, another problem. Turns out, in order to actually open the file, I need to create an app first. Which meant I spent two hours trying to figure out how to make a useless app just so I could open a goddamn file."

He threw his hands up. "Until I finally said, 'Screw it,' and used my dad's old computer. I download the app, go to bed, wake up the next day, and—" he clapped his hands together, "—time for the test."

KC let out a bitter chuckle. "Now, here's the thing: they told me I'd get a Zoom call thirty minutes before my test for a room scan to ensure there was nothing helping me cheat. But I got nothing. Not a single message. So I'm sitting there, alone in my dining room, nervous as hell, thinking I forgot something or they forgot me. Finally, five minutes before my test, I get an email. I join the Zoom call, the proctor gives me my test code, I log in, and—"