Edge Of Danger

Chapter 10: The Placement Test

Hey guys!~ It's me, Nightwing. How is everyone today? Fabulous? I hope so; you all are fabulous!

Anyway, just wanted to put a quick note here. This chapter (The Placement Test) is a flashback from Stella's memory. This may be off track from the original story, but hopefully this will give another insight from a time long before the events already described in this book had taken place. (Yes, even before the "torte" situation during the freshman orientation) Stella is still in 8th grade at this point, but she is accepted into Skyfeller Academy High nonetheless.

This will (hopefully) be the last long chapter I'm putting here. everything else will hopefully be shorter, and this story updated quicker. Yes, I'm bad at updating; it's hard to find time to write stories these days...

"Bring a lunch, 2 pens in BLACK or BLUE ink, two #2 TICONDEROGA pencils (CANNOT be any other brand), and NON-LATEX eraser if you choose. Please arrive no later than 8:45AM, as the test will be administered at 9AM."

Stella reread the rules that morning listed on the letter. As much as she tried sleeping in and hoping it was a dream, her mother insisted on taking her to the Academy that morning. She was disgusted at her mother's excitement, as it was her mother's first time to finally see beyond Skyfeller's ivory walls and embellished fences. Stella had been there 6-7 times before, 3 to sneak into the building with some friends, but she wasn't going to push it.

"Good morning, and welcome to Skyfeller Academy High! Today we will be taking a placement test to see your skill levels in each and every subject," the teacher said warmly.

Stella looked at the students around her, taking a seat in the middle. She observed the kids she was sitting with. Two twin siblings were chatting away, and some boys in Under Armor hoodies sat in the corners trying to make small talk with each other. A homeschooled boy in a plaid collared shirt sat two seats behind her, twiddling his thumbs nervously. Another girl was near the side close to the wall, her long dark hair obscuring her face. It didn't seem like anyone noticed her but Stella, not even the chatty twins. Stella could see her head turning around and intently listening on the conversations of the others, if there were any. A wallflower, Stella kept in mind.

Another kid next to her, however, had wide-framed glasses and was picking his nose. Ew.

"Well it looks like most of us are being quiet today," the teacher says lightly. "Why don't you walk around the classroom, get familiar with it? Say hello to your fellow classmates that you'll see next year? I'll be out to get a drink and some tests upstairs. I'm sure you good children will behave."

With that, the teacher left, her footsteps echoed from the stairs above.

"Hey you!" One of the chatty twins called out to Stella, causing everyone's eyes to glance at her direction. "Who're you? I'm Emma."

She could feel every eye trained on her this very moment. She decided to reply, "That's very good to know, Emma. Nice to meet you."

The girl was taken aback. "Well, then what's your name?"

"Stella."

"Ooohh! Nice name, Stella!" Emma replied, before pointing to her twin brother. "Well, here's my twin brother Noah. We're from Maystone!"

Others started murmuring amongst each other, while Emma smiled in glee. Noah's face turned as red as a tomato as he hid in his seat. Maystone was a small town 30 minutes away from Oakwood, but it didn't have a good reputation. It was once a bustling, kind little town with many local businesses, but eventually time took a toll. Many of the businesses were long gone, and most people moved. The crime rate was very high there, but the town profited from the pubs in town and the hunters that hunt in the woods. There was a brick and metalworking factory there too, along with a deteriorating school system. Otherwise, Maystone was a shadow of it's former self.