The Awakening

Chapter 2: The Test

"There's no such thing as an unlucky person. Bad things happen to bad people. Bad things happen to good people. Bad things happen to everyone.” - pixie_trixie

It's already seven in the morning and I haven't slept yet. I stayed up all night researching if there were other cases of people who experienced the same thing as me. The result? zero.

I messed up my hair with annoyance. This is driving me insane. My life was already unlucky, then all of a sudden, this happened.

My head feels as if it's floating. Imagine not getting a single wink of sleep for four days in a row. I'm not ready to die yet.

I went downstairs without daring a glance at my mirror. 

"Oh my- Are you going to give me a heart attack?! Why do you look like a zombie?" Aunt Emma said. 

I did not dare to respond. I'm exhausted and my eyes are barely open.

I went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, but Aunt Emma stopped me. "Hey, you don't need to cook. Lia had already gone to school." 

Woah, that's the first. 

"Why?" I asked. 

"She said she was going to review in the school library because there would be a scholarship examination later." Aunt Emma looked back at me with a puzzled expression. "Wait, don't tell me you don't know about that?" she asked, pointing her hairbrush at me.  

I was so occupied yesterday that I did not listen to the rest of the class. 

I slowly shook my head. 

Aunt Emma gritted her teeth, "I swear to the gods of heavens if you don't pass that scholarship you will be homeless." 

How am I able to pass that? I didn't even study. But even if I did, there's a 50/50 chance of me passing since I'm not as genius as my great cousin. I rolled my eyes internally. 

"This is the only way you can help me, at the very least. You are worthless!" she yelled.

I almost put my hands over my ears. I plainly nodded my head.

I'm afraid she'll say something again and my ears may bleed. I grabbed an apple and ran to my room to change and prepare my things. 

The door swung open as Mr. Thompson, my advisory teacher, walked into the classroom. "Good morning Class-D." 

Yeah, you heard it right. I'm on the last section. In short, I might not have any chance of passing this scholarship. 

"Today's the day that you guys are going to prove to yourselves that you are worthy of this scholarship given by the M & A Company. They have been giving us this examination every two years for senior students. Make sure you'll do your best to obtain this once in a lifetime chance. But first, let me welcome our visitors." As if on cue, the two visitors entered our room.   

"M & A Company representatives, Mr. Lewis and Ms. Vanessa. They will be in charge of the entire examination. Good luck, students," Mr. Thompson said.

I observed the visitors. Mr. Lewis has a big smile plastered on his face. He looks like a happy-go-lucky type of person. While Ms. Vanessa looks intimidating, She has a straight face, eyeing every single student as if she's reading us. Mr. Lewis looks crazy standing next to Ms. Vanessa. Ms. Vanessa suddenly smiled.

Oh, I guess she's not as intimidating as I thought.

Mr. Thompson left our room and Mr. Lewis suddenly started writing on our whiteboard. 

"There are two parts to this test. First, is the written exam. We will give you a questionnaire and you have to finish answering it after an hour. Second, is reading comprehension. You will line up outside this classroom and enter one by one as we call your name. From the name itself, all you have to do is read what's written on the paper that we will provide," he said.   

My classmates said yes in unison. 

Great, it looks like I will have to rely on my stock knowledge. 

Ms. Vanessa then handed out the questionnaires. "Your time starts now," she announced. 

I immediately read the first question. "A circle of center (-3 , -2) passes through the points (0 , -6) and (a , 0). Find a."  

What? Math again? Ugh. Wish me luck. 

I'm finally finished with the math part after 20 minutes of contemplation.

Finally, English and literature. I can easily answer this since this is my favorite subject and the only subject I can understand.  

"Time check, you only have 5 minutes to answer," Ms. Vanessa remarked. 

5 minutes? I have to finish this quickly. I flipped the page and it was Science. If I'm stupid in Math, of course, I'm stupid in Science as well. I'm just going to skip this part since it will take a lot of time for me to answer. I flip the paper again and the last part is... myth? That's weird. Well, I have a little knowledge here, so I guess this will do. 

"Time's up, pass your papers in front" Ms. Vanessa announced. 

Oh no, I did not answer all the questions, plus I'm not sure of the answers I wrote. I whine to myself as I rest my head on the table. Well, I guess I have no choice but to make it up on the second part of the test. 

As we were told, we formed a line outside our classroom and waited for our names to be called. 

"Samantha Williams" Mr. Lewis called. 

I think Samantha will be able to get the scholarship since she's the top student in our section. 

A few minutes passed and Samantha came out of our room. She looked confident. 

Perhaps she passed. Good for her. 

My classmates are called one-by-one and, as I observed, they all look relaxed, or should I say happy, when they come out of the room. 

Maybe this second part is easy. 

"Alaina Scarlett," Mr. Lewis said. 

Finally, it's my turn. I went inside the room and the two visitors were there waiting for me. I walked until I reached the center of our room. 

"Grab this paper here on the table and read out loud the words written there." Ms. Vanessa instructed me.

I did as I was told. When I looked at the paper, I got confused. It's... blank?

"What's the problem, Ms. Scarlett?" Ms. Vanessa asked. 

I scratched the back of my head, "I'm sorry but I can't see any words." 

Both of them straightened their backs and looked at me seriously. "Are you sure? Please look at the paper again and try to read it," Mr. Lewis said.   

I look at the paper again, wishing that some words would appear on it. I tried to look more closely and observe the paper back-to-back. But to no avail, I still didn't see any words or sentences.

"I'm sorry, I really don't see any words. Maybe you gave me the wrong paper?" I responded.

"Well, then, I guess you're done with today's test," Mr. Lewis said gleefully.

Wait, what? But I haven't read anything yet. Dang it, does it mean I failed both parts of the test?

"Oh, Uhm okay," I said before I returned the paper to the table.

Ms. Vanessa was staring at me, so I returned her gaze, and she smiled. "Take care," she said.

I was stunned.

"Thank you Miss," then I left the room with a heavy heart.

As I was walking down the hallway, I couldn't help but think about the test.

I can't believe I'm this dumb.

Maybe they used a glow-in-the-dark pen? Perhaps that's why I can't see anything, or is this some kind of prank?

I don't want to go home at a later time. Aunt Emma will probably throw me out on the street if she finds out I didn't get the scholarship. Well, luck is not really on my side.

I went to the big window and stared at the sky. Mom, Dad, it's hard to be alone. I hope you guys are doing well wherever you are. Give me the strength to continue moving forward because I'm getting sick of living. Your daughter has no friends or family to call. Am I cursed?

I silently chuckled at that thought. I closed my eyes as I tried to relax my mind. I wish for better days to come.