Evergreen

Chapter 28

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other? - George Eliot

*

"That was a tough one!" said Everett, running his hand through his hair as he left the hall for what felt like the hundredth time, even though he was only on his fifth exam. Still, despite the fear that he failed on many of the questions, he felt a certain satisfaction that made him understand Jade's philomathy for a (brief) moment. Plus, there was plenty to discuss.

"What did you put for question 5?" blurted out Jade, as if she'd been waiting to ask for a long time.

"Phenolphthalein, of course. What other indicators are there?" said Hassan. Everett was flabbergasted by his friend's statement.

"I've never heard of that in my life: I put litmus paper!"

"How do you even spell phenolphthalein?" wondered Marty out loud.

"P - H - E - N -" began Jade.

"It was a rhetorical question. Did anyone manage to balance that equation at the end? I couldn't do it for the life of me."

"That one was easy!"

"Was not!" replied everyone else.

They carried on discussing questions late into the day as if their lives depended on it. Even though they knew they couldn't change their answers now, it was a comfort to know that at least they weren't the only ones who felt like they'd completely messed it up. They were all in this together. And, somehow, they'd all get good grades, like they always did in the end.

"My older brother says that GCSEs are easy compared to A-levels," said Hassan, "and I believe him; he spends hours at home trying to get homework done. I took a peek at his Maths homework the other day, and it looked so hard."

"I'm sure they'll ease us in gently," said Everett in a tone that was breezier than he felt. He'd heard loads about how arduous A-levels were, and he wasn't sure if he was up to the challenge. Then again, his teachers believed in him (well, some more than others).

"I don't know about that. There's so much content in A-levels that they have to get through," said Jade.

"Yeah, I heard my sister say that A-levels are harder and less fun than university studies," said Marty, "although she might just be saying that because she parties all the time at uni."

Jade turned to Everett with a challenging smirk. "Have we put you off A-levels yet, Ev?"

"Na, I'm set on doing A-levels. Maths and Physics are what I'm going to use every day as a pilot. Music's more of a fun hobby, and it'll help me get better at guitar," said Everett, dreaming about the future where he would get up every day to fly planes across the sky. It was a dream he thought of often, yet it still thrilled him.

"I'd rather do practical stuff than learn lots of facts," said Hassan. "I'm only doing A-levels so I can get a job in journalism. Then I can get my hands dirty."

"Oh, getting dirty, are we, Hassan?" teased Marty, wiggling his eyebrows. The friends laughed; Hassan was far from the kind of dirty that Marty insinuated. It was one of the things that Everett liked about Hassan; he didn't need dirty jokes to be funny or rude words to express himself. He said what he wanted to say directly, without any bows or ribbons.

"Let's revise some Maths. The first paper's tomorrow, and I need a recap on trigonometry," said Jade. On that note, the friends settled into a studious silence, leafing through the pages of their revision guides while praying that the words on the page would sink into their minds (for one day at least).