Page 141 of Fervency Love

“I don’t know what to say.”

All eyes are focused on her now. We are expecting some kind of answer. Maybe most people in the class don’t give a shit because it was the parents who paid for the party, but I care. It’s just annoying, that kind of amateurishness. There was better food and drink at my New Year’s Eve party.

“Do you all think so?” the teacher asks, looking for a way out of her predicament.

“Well, actually, yes. We agree with Abigail.”

“Well, in that case, I’ll pass on your comments. Now let’s start the class.”

I can see she’s unhappy. She didn’t expect that kind of answer. But what can you do? It was the truth.

Chapter 71

Abby

Today is the language exam. I have carefully sorted cheat sheets in a special pocket in my jacket.

“There you are!” Nikki cries out as she and Catherine join me and Mandy at the underpass. We’ve come here to smoke. It’s rare for anyone to walk through here since they made the crossing above ground. “So, how’s it going? Are you ready?”

“Yeah,” I offer uncertainly.

“Good luck, then!”

At the entrance, we draw our seats.

Mine is the first bench right in front of the invigilator.

Fucking hell! I’m screwed. The worst possible spot. How could this happen? What am I going to do now?

Once everyone has taken their seats, the girls send me sympathetic glances. I read the topics. Easy-peasy. I know which one I want to write on, but I’m not going to write anything if I don’t pull out a cheat sheet.

The second hour passes. I have very little time left.Abigail, get a grip right now!Think!My subconscious puts its hands on my shoulders, tugging me in all directions. Okay, it’s time to get my shit in order. I get up, hand in the paper, and go to thetoilet. I leaf through the pull-outs and find the right ones, with descriptions of the readings I want to build on. I tuck them into my outside pockets and return. I pick up my papers, sit back down, slip my hand into my pocket, and pull out the cheat sheet. I put my hand in front of the paper and unroll the scrap of paper, copying everything that might come in handy. I deftly turn the paper the other way. Some of the notes are already smudged from the dampness of my hands, but I’m still able to read most. I finish transcribing, hide the pull-out, and produce another one using the same method.

Just as I am about to place my hand on the table, one of the invigilators gets up and takes a walk. He looks around the benches. I freeze for an instant. He walks past me. As he takes his seat, I scribble down the contents of yet another sheet. Damn, his walk has taken up precious minutes! When I think I’ve got it all down, I take to writing the final text. With an hour and a half left, I don’t have any more time to take notes because I won’t have time to transcribe them. Fortunately, transcribing what I had on my pull-outs, I learned everything I needed to create my own interpretation of the topic.

The invigilator announces that there is only a quarter of an hour left. I’m desperate. I only have four pages done. Yes, written clearly, with no errors, but four pages is four pages. Too little. I had eight on the mock exam! Four is the bare minimum to pass, and I have to get an A. Otherwise, I’m screwed. I’ll never pass the oral exam, there’s absolutely no chance of that. I’m on the verge of a nervous breakdown when the invigilator stands up and tells everyone to put their pens down. I hand my paper to the teacher and say,

“It’s bad. I only have four pages.”

“Abigail, sometimes four pages is enough to exhaust a topic. Spelling also counts, as well as other things. Don’t worry about the extra pages.”

“Thank you for that, professor.”

On the plus side, she is the one who will be checking my work. I like her the most out of all the teachers because she has an open mind and is here out of passion. She loves what she does and will probably actually take into account the exhaustion of the subject. Now, all of a sudden, I think it will be alright.

“How was it, Abigail? You were so fucked!” Nikki squeals.

“Jeez, I wrote nothing for the first two hours.”

“Oh shit, and what did you do? You did write something, didn’t you?”

“What was I supposed to do?”

“But you managed to pull it off?”

“Yes, but I’m bummed, because I only got four pages.”

“How did you manage go check your cheat sheets?”

---