Welcome To Carlsonton Academy

Chapter VII

The last two weeks of school were always the worst. The Finals' week were everyone's least favourite. I was a good student, so the teachers always had high expectations of me, and the pressure intensified when my parents called to check on me. They forgot my birthday, but they surely remembered the finals. Typical.

Every year, the exams had always been a piece of cake for me since I had always prepared thoroughly before hand. This year, however, every time I sat down to study I just couldn't because of the whole Shane and Denise fiasco. The image of the two of them snogging was burned into the back of my mind. It was impossible to remember Newton's Laws with something as disturbing as that in my brain.

Once the exams actually started, I was glad the stress took over. I buried myself in my books and kept myself occupied, instead of thinking about those two. The anxiety kept my mind of Shane, which was a good thing. The last thing I needed was getting distracted by him and screwing up all my papers.

The first was fine. I didn't mess up any papers, but I didn't do exceptionally well either. The only satisfactory outcome was that all the deadly subjects were in the first week.

I was more chilled out in the second week. My first paper was Biology, followed by History, and I did pretty well in both of them. My English paper was also fine, but Chemistry was excellent. My last paper was Math, and I wasn't looking forward to it.

I had an irrational fear of Math papers. I dreaded writing them. It's not like I wasn't any good, but in every paper I inevitably made a silly calculation error that always cost me. I was determined to make this the first Math paper I didn't screw up.

The next morning when I walked into the exam hall, I was stressed out, but excited. I had mentally prepared myself to do well. The question papers and answer sheets had been distributed, and we could begin.

I ticked of all the questions I knew and circled the ones I didn't. I wrote my carefully and slowly, making sure I hadn't made any silly mistakes.

I was writing too slow, for when there were twenty minutes left, I still had ten marks to complete. I hurried my pace and and in the process made casual errors that were overlooked. I could feel the stress beginning to take over and I knew I was doomed. With five minutes left, I tried solving the last question as quickly as possible. I didn't care about my handwriting; I just needed to complete the paper.

"Pens down."

Shit. I hadn't completed my paper. I fought back the tears and quickly handed over my answer sheet. Once that was done, I left the hallway without even bothering to talk to anyone.

I bumped into James outside, who had a huge grin on his face. Great. So his paper had gone well.

"How was your-"

I pushed him aside before he could complete his sentence. I didn't even apologise. I went straight to my room instead. I shut the door and slumped down on the floor and began sobbing hideously. I normally didn't cry this much, so it was strange for me too. I curled up and sobbed into my knees. I heard my door softly open and click close. I knew who it was without looking up. James was the only one who entered my room without my permission.

He sat in front of me and put his hands on my knees. I looked at him through tear- brimmed eyes. He took my glasses off and put them on my bed. Brushing his fingers through my hair, he said, "It's just one exam."

"It's not just one exam, okay?" I practically yelled at him and he looked slightly startled. Sniffing, I continued, "It's a lot of things. None of my papers have gone brilliantly well, the teachers always expect too much of me, I'm always afraid of disappointing me parents, who're always comparing me with my sister who's better than me in every way, and I haven't even decided what I want to do with my life! And to top it off, the love of my life's infatuated with the enemy, I'm ugly as shit, and my life's a total mess! I hate feeling like a fucking screw up all the time, but it's what I am!"