Oxygen

Chapter 39 - Exams, exams, exams

Waking up on a Monday morning is hard enough, let alone waking up on a Monday morning with your first thought being EXAM DAY. I slowly rolled out of bed, letting my yellow fluffy blanket roll to the floor as I leave the room.

I slump my way down the stairs and enter the kitchen. It feels like every other morning physically; my bones ache, my eyes hurt from a lack of sleep, and my need for food is my first priority. Except today, not only do I feel all that, but mentally, I'm a mess. 

I tried studying last night before bed with all the windows open, and that seemed to help a bit, but I still didn't do as much as I should've. Luckily, I only have one exam today, which happens to be science, the subject I'm best at. 

For the rest of the day after that, I've forced myself into going to the library, and get an air conditioned study session in. Hopefully this science exam will go well, for me it's the most important one, since it's my favourite subject. I'm still not sure what I want to take at University, since I don't have a definite career path set out. I guess we'll find out.

I open a few draws in the kitchen and pull out a bowl and spoon. Then I make the tremendous walk to the cupboard, and get a tin of fruit. For a day when I'm not overly hungry, and I'm not in the mood for making anything, I'll open a tin of fruit and put that in a bowl. So that's what I did. Easy and lazy.

After pouring the fresh smelling substance in the bowl, I take my spoon with me to the living room. Bonnie has left a note explaining what to do for dinner, since she won't be here for it. When she first adopted me, she stayed home all day in case I left school, but after a few years she's gone back into her routine of work all day, sleep all night.

I finished eating and left the bowl in the kitchen. As I head back up the stairs, I sorted through my head all the knowledge I would need today. Mass is the matter in the object, I thought, Weight is gravity's pull. I repeated the words a few times while getting dressed. I pulled on my comfy black leggings, not too thick for the summer weather, and my simple white top. This should do, I said to myself as I collected my bag and headed out the door.

I walked down the concrete path and sat on the grass next to it while I waited for my ride. Eventually, Jordan's white Jeep pulled over and I jumped in the passenger side. "Hey" I said groggily, wishing I had more sleep. "Hey" Jordan sounded as miserable as I felt. No one ever likes exam week, purely because the hours are earlier than normal school ones, and the pressure for each exam was ridiculous.

We arrived at school in ten minutes, and Jordan got out of the car in his rugby hoodie and track pants. We both made our way to the same part of the school before kissing goodbye and going our separate ways. I opened the door to the exam room and gasped. Everyone was sitting in their seats, moments from starting.

I glided past the teacher and sat in the last seat. As I received my paper, the teacher said sternly "You can't be late for exams. Don't let this happen again". I nodded nervously as I sat comfortably in my seat.

After a few minutes, I was hunched over in my chair, reading through the second question of the test. My mind was spinning, how am I supposed to concentrate this early in the morning? I held my head up with one hand, my elbow on my desk as I read the question again. 

The pens on my desk began to rattle, jumping around as they danced in front of me. My fingers tapped away to the song playing in my head as I looked out the window. The grassy field and the fresh air dragged me towards it, but I was trapped here, in this dark room. The urge to leave was stronger than anything else. 

The wind whistled a sweet tune as I finally left the room. One exam down, a million to go. This was going to be a long couple of weeks. I left the class with high spirits, I feel very confident in my result. Most of the questions were challenging, but I had the work in my head to answer them all.