Chapter 11 Exam and Competitions

• It’s the school’s midterm examination day. The students are all stressed out, including Lukas. He told me earlier that it was the first time he was nervous about exams.
• “I don’t even know what to do,” Lukas shares. “This time, I really feel nervous about it.”
• “Nervous because you might be hated by Alinn forever?” I jest.
• We are in my classroom. Instead of the bathrooms, where students love to escape during their exams, he is lounging here, probably hoping to take a peek at Alinn.
• “Shouldn’t you return to the examination room?” I ask.
• “You are right. I should.”
• Lukas stands up. However, the instant he does, the door bursts open, and Jason appears with a wide grin.
• “Guess what, Teacher Cassie?!”
• I look up at him. “What is it, Jason?”
• “Five of us in the school paper will go to the regionals!”
• “Oh,” I exclaim.
• Lukas leans towards me and asks, “What does that mean?”
• “That means they will write a feature about me in the school paper, and I will also treat them to nice food.”
• “Ha!” he snorts. “You are getting poorer each day.”
• “Life of a teacher,” I say. I shift my attention to Jason and say, “You still need to win in the regionals before you can go to the nationals. Why are you so happy?”
• “Because the five of us? We all got first place in our category.”
• Okay, I will admit. That’s a pretty good result.
• “In that case, we will ask for extra coaching from you,” Jason adds.
• “As you can see, I am busy with Alinn for the science quiz tomorrow. And I have this little mo—“ I cough, and Lukas glares at me. “I mean, I have Lukas to tutor.”
• “We’ll really behave. Besides, this place is quieter than our assigned school paper room.”
• “You have your school paper adviser, right?”
• “We do. But, Teacher Cassie, she’s not like you. She can’t come up with new ideas.”
• “Now, you are just patronizing.”
• “No treats from restaurants, too.”
• I laugh. “Okay, then. I’ll try to find time, but I can’t promise anything.”
• “Thanks, Teacher Cassie! You’re the best!” Jason shouts before he dashes off.
• “Well, I think I will be off too. My exams will start soon,” Lukas says and leaves the room.
• ****************
• The science quiz competition comes with a performance during the awarding ceremony. As expected, Alinn got first place, which means she will move on to the regionals.
• My phone vibrates. I glance at it and see that it’s Lukas, asking if he can show himself today. I groan, and it doesn’t escape Alinn’s notice.
• “Are you okay, Teacher Cassie?” she asks.
• “It’s just Lukas who is pestering me to come.”
• “Uh-uh,” she says and keeps silent. She still hates Lukas. However, I need to do this because Lukas passed all his exams yesterday.
• “You don’t think you can forgive him?” I ask.
• “You’ve seen what he’d done to me,” she answers.
• Well, I did, and it’s very wrong. “I think that it’s not just about the kiss, though. Lukas has done a couple of things that made you angry?”
• We shift our attention to the stage. It is a wooden platform that is elevated by only a meter. When the performers are done, the enormous hall becomes silent again, and with the audience chatters, the hall echoes like a vast empty church. I can also hear the excited murmurs of the students. There are almost a hundred of us coming from different schools.
• “I hate him because he spits on you.”
• I frown. Alinn heard about it? “Ah, that. He went unconscious after that. I kinda lost myself and punched him,” I say, grinning. “Not something a teacher should do, mind you.”
• “I still hate him for having the gall to do that!” She turns toward me, her eyes flashing in anger. “He even keeps on pestering me at school!”
• “In what way?” I say.
• “He’s always annoyingly around, and the other girls are starting to notice me! They also thought they could bully me! You have no idea how much I try to bottle it all in just so I won’t burst into fury!”
• I smile. This girl. We really are alike. “You are being bullied? You know you can talk to me about it.”
• “Don’t worry, I am okay. Bullying is something that I can handle. When I can’t, I might pester you as well.”
• “Like how Lukas pesters you?”
• “Not that way! Sometimes, I imagined drowning him in honey, and then I left him alone on the school grounds so ants would crawl all over his skin!”
• “Ah, you are too angry that you want to torture him?”
• “And do you know what he said?!” she huffs angrily. “He says it’s a great idea! I can be the ant, he says. Better yet, we reverse it. I am the honey, and he will be the ant. Because, according to him, ants eat honey!”
• Oh, that perverted little monster. “I understand,” I say. I pat Alinn’s head, and she starts to calm down. Maybe Lukas is correct. She really looks like an adorable little puppy.
• Once she calms down, I say, “The young man is insufferable, huh?”
• “He is,” Alinn responds this time. Her tone is soft and gentle again.
• I watch as the principal of the host school climbs the stage. Her shoes make a sound against the wooden floor. She expresses a long congratulatory message before she starts with the actual awarding.
• “First place, Alinn Avery!” she announces.
• Alinn stands up, and applause erupts again. She strides towards the stage, and I follow her. Once she receives the certificate, pictures are taken.
• “Alinn Avery will compete in the regionals held a month from now. Further details will be released soon.”
• Alinn takes my arm and whispers, “I think I want some meat today, followed by some delicious, sweet drinks. The ones with chocolate syrup and whipped cream.”
• “That’s pretty specific,” I say. “And I think I know just the place.”