Leaving the New and Different You

P.E. Pants

Chapter 4

Days passed and here comes the time of the final examination. I'm pretty confident about this, quite sure I'm going to pass the exam. I was just thinking if I'll be in the same room as my friends. You know, school policy. The room assignments for examinations are randomized. Therefore, every room is composed of juniors, sophomores, and freshmen except seniors. Seniors had their examination last week for them to practice their graduation ceremony this week. Well, I was just expecting the graduation ball when the time comes. 

On the bulletin board, the room assignments are now posted. Corliss and I are in the same room, but Yana and Artemisia split up. But then, our rooms are just two blocks away. Lucky. 

"Good luck, girls," Yana said. As I can see, I think she's nervous. It shows.

"Good luck." I repeated.

I walked beside Corliss, who seemed to be nervous too. "Worried? Nervous?" I asked politely.

She released a shaky sigh. "Yeah to the both."

We entered the classroom and I sat behind Corliss. I observed the classroom and I thought it's quite eerie. The students are not speaking and they looked absent-minded. I asked Corliss, "Are these people okay?" 

"No. I think they're brain is about to explode because you know, the exam. My suspicion is, maybe they got tired studying. Result, no energy left," she explained, eyes closed. Well, these students are more over-acting than me.

"Are the lessons hard to memorize? 'Cause I can't imagine myself being like that," I reasoned out. I really don't find the lessons difficult. Seriously.

"You're so full of yourself," Corliss said as she turned her head back, facing the whiteboard.

Am I so full of myself? I'm just telling the truth. If you're listening to each of the lessons your teachers was teaching you, maybe you'll find it easy, too. And in fact, they already admitted to themselves that they're not listening to their teachers.

When the proctor came, he immediately distributed the papers. One-day examination. After this, we can all sing Hallelujah! 

I was so glad to see that all the topics I reviewed for this day were included in the examination. In Science, I was able to answer all the questions. Of course, Science is awesome. Well, in Math, I found difficulties in answering the problems. I ran my fingers through my hair when I noticed Keith sitting beside me. "Oh my gosh!"

"Shhh!" the whole room ordered.

"What?" Keith asked, rubbing his eyebrow. "Do I look scary?" he asked.

"In the examination, you are not allowed to talk to your seatmate," the proctor prompted. I rolled my eyes, removing the shock. I looked away, trying to focus on my paper. I'm almost done... Almost...

The bell rang exactly when I wrote the final answer for the last number. "Okay! Finished or not finished, pass your papers forward," our proctor ordered. "I wish you all the best. You'll see your scores on the bulletin board later this afternoon. Goodbye," he said.

I patted Corliss's back. "How's it?" I asked. "Are you able to finish it?"

"Of course not! It's kinda hard, Av!" she said aggressively. "I worked hard for this, I dunno why...why didn't I be able to finish it," she suddenly frowned.

"It's okay, Corliss. It's just the first final examination. We got three more."

"Three more? Should I be happy or sad?" she cried, which caused her face to redden. Corliss's eyes were filled with unease and angst that she wouldn't pass the exam.