Nerves pounded my body like waves crashing on the shore. It came on like nausea, there were moments when you thought you were fine and that you were going to get through this. Then there were the others where you just wanted to curl up and puke. My palms were sweating and we still had 20 minutes to go. I looked around the foreign hall and wondered why we couldn't have the exam back home, so much easier, so much less stress. Instead we had to drive for three hours straight and mum had to take the weekend off of work. She got bored here, I could tell she would rather be on a hockey pitch shouting on her teammates. But she wasn't, she was here, and I was glad. I could see the other girls eyeing me up. What if they did everything different? What if I copied? It was grained into us from a very young age not to copy, but still...
"Hey." A small voice casually sounded out from behind me.
"Hey." I replied, trying to sound as casual as she did. Jay was sitting the exam with me, the only one from back home.
"Nervous?" She asked trying to make conversation.
"Of course, you?" I replied not wanting to sound rude but I didn't feel much like talking.
"Yeah." That was the extent of my conversational skills. Saving me from deep waters my teacher came bustling over, she looked flustered and tired and had a big encouraging smile on her face. She offered us some mints, I declined but Jay took one eagerly. She glanced at my hair and frowned muttering to herself about more hair spray. She walked off and returned soon with a fire hydrant of extra strong spray and squirted until my head was enclosed in a wet misty cloud. Trying hard not to cough and putting on a faltering smile I thanked her for about the hundredth time today. She told me not to worry and offered me another mint. Declining again, I absent-midedly warmed up, trying desperately not to forget the examiners name.
"5 minutes girls!" A snobby voice yelled from the other end of the hall. I picked at my spaghetti straps that dug into my shoulders and walked shakily over to get a ribbon pinned into my hair. My stomach rolled and twisted like an acrobat. I took a nervous glance at mum which turned into a wince as a pin nearly penetrated my scalp through my tight 'survive an earthquake' bun.
"Got your pointe shoes? Good girls, you will be fine, do you want another mint?Her name is Mrs. Nichols. Be nice and polite, don't forget to smile. She is very nice." A babble of words of encouragement exploded from my teachers mouth. "Remember to jump off one foot, don't forget to turn out. Just enjoy yourselves!" I felt a weathered hand touch my shoulder and looked up to see mum staring down at me.
"You will be fine. What will go wrong? Nothing! exactly!" All the adults had seemed to just come down with a case of verbal diahorrea. Swallowing down puke I clutched at my pointe shoes wrapped in a nice white towel with a drink bottle and a damp face cloth. I was watching the door waiting for the snobby lady to come back. A full sense of dread pounded through my stomach. I took a deep breath and watched the foreign group of girls giggle and shoot the occasional judging stare in my direction. I was trying very hard not to care. The door at the end of the hall opened and the lady beckoned for us to come. All the weight of my organs seemed to drop to my feet making them impossible to pick up. I walked out the door and into a little 'in between room'. In front of me were the foreign people. I squared my shoulders and forced myself to look confident even if I felt the complete opposite. I knew it was the only way to get through this. Last minute thoughts and tips echoed through my mind bouncing every where in a shear state of panic. We waited a full 8 minutes and I was starting to think she had forgotten about us until I heard the dreaded sound, the bell. The innocent little tinkle echoed through my mind and all of the tips and last minute help ceased. The door creaked open and we ran in.
