On the way, Thomas suddenly asked Arthur: "Why were those women looking at you and even some drooling? You don't have anything funny on your face, so why did they keep looking?" His voice, just like before, was innocent.
He had never seen this kind of reaction before, even with Arthur. As Arthur once had his appearance hidden by abuse, fatigue and a little fat, his beauty was never revealed before. He could be considered above average at best.
But now, with his tall, athletic body, plus a well-defined, angled face and clean, glowing skin, that hidden beauty showed to everyone like the noonday sun. Since he also had money now, his messy, greasy hair had been cut and was now neat and shiny.
Thomas was not ugly either, and could be considered very handsome, as much as Arthur. If it weren't for his Autistic status, the orphanage would have put him on display a long time ago. But because of the mature and magnificent aura Arthur now carried, he stood out more.
Arthur laughed a little at the question and replied, "I think it's because they thought I was pretty! Why? Don't you think I'm pretty enough? Hahaha!"
Still a little indifferent, Thomas replied easily: "No, I don't think you're pretty. You at most look good, pretty to me is the cluster I'm going to build!" At the end of his speech, Thomas' eyes sparkled.
A little surprised by the answer, Arthur just gave a strange smile and let the subject go.
When they arrived at school, they were impressed by the quality of the school space, which was full of trees and flowers everywhere, with squares and some street animals, like cats and dogs, everywhere. It felt cozy and homey for some reason.
The more they walked towards the office, the more they were impressed by the place.
Due to population growth, schools were relocated to fit more people in the smaller space, and therefore had the first and second floors, in addition to the ground floor.
The school had open spaces and was very beautiful. There was a large gymnasium behind the classrooms and next to the gym was the cafeteria, equally large to accommodate the students.
'A great school!' It was the only thought that reverberated in Arthur's mind.
They soon arrived at the school's secretariat and spoke with the person in charge there.
"Good morning. I came here to register for the exam. All documents are here." In a better mood since arriving here, Arthur decided to speak first. His voice was melodic and enchanted anyone who was listening.
One of the women there quickly got up and went to talk to him.
"G-good morning! Have you come to register for the exam? You almost lose it. Let's look at these documents." A woman, who looked a little older than the one who had seen Arthur and Thomas at the previous school, answered them. She was also shocked by Arthur's beauty, but managed to hide it better.
The reactions of the other women there was also like the previous school. They left their mouths open for a while before turning away, a little flushed.
Arthur soon handed over the folder and there were his bulletins, along with his documents and authorization from the orphanage. The woman was a little impressed that he was an orphan, but she quickly ignored it. In today's world, it wasn't so impressive anymore.
Arthur's grades were average at best, as he never really tried hard at school. He was always tired of working and his thoughts were only on how he was going to get the money to feed him and Thomas.
But even so, since an exam was required to get into school, the woman wasn't too concerned about grades.
"Although your grades are a little lower than what we expect from our students, we don't underestimate anyone for that. Please, I'll take you to the exam room. But before that, fill in these documents please."
Arthur soon spent the next few minutes filling out some documents before being taken by the woman to the examining room. Thomas had stayed in the office, sitting on the couch and playing with his smartphone.
The place was air-conditioned and slightly chilly, so he didn't mind waiting there for Arthur. Of course, he was still very nervous and didn't want to part with him, but he was trying to fight these reactions as much as possible. Arthur's help to convince him to stay was also needed.
***
After a few minutes of walking, and Arthur's appreciation of the landscape, they soon arrived at the room where the examination would take place.
It was a computer room, full of government computers and very well air conditioned. The room was also impeccably clean and organized, as it was still exam week, even though it was Saturday.
"You can take any of the computers. The passwords are on the sides." The woman spoke politely to Arthur.
After taking a seat at one of the nearby computers, Arthur soon turned on the computer and looked at the woman.
"Once turned on, you will access the internet and enter the website where the exams are displayed. You will have two hours to complete the exam. There are 50 questions, 20 about mathematics, 15 about humanities and another 15 about general knowledge. Good luck!" The woman soon finished speaking and handed over a paper with the name of the site written on it.
"Thank you very much! Just a question. If I finish the exam sooner, will I have to wait here until the two hours is up or do I have to call you?"
"As soon as you finish the exam, a notification will arrive at the office and I will come to check everything."
"Ok. Thanks again!"
So Arthur was left in the room alone while he waited for the computer to turn on.
'It seems they value student integrity. I'm here alone and I might as well cheat on exams.' Shaking his head as he sighed, Arthur soon put his imagination to rest and concentrated on the computer.
Shortly thereafter, Arthur had already accessed the site. He put in the information he needed and also the access code for the test, which was also on paper with the website.
Once he searched the site for a while and found the proof link, he clicked on it and was redirected to another page.
It was a simple page, but the math questions, which were the first ones, were displayed there and a timer at the top of the page.
After seeing the content of the questions, a smile appeared on Arthur's face.
'They are basic subjects of elementary school, as well as some advanced. I may not have tried hard during exams, but I still remember everything. Just the laziness that wouldn't let me complete the questions.' A goofy smile appeared on Arthur's face and he began to answer questions, no matter how difficult.
The questions covered elementary school, such as functions, minor equations, fractions and a few other things. But regardless, Arthur answered them all with just one thought.
As he said, the only thing that kept him from getting good grades was that he was tired and too lazy to solve the bigger questions that were worth more points, answering only what is necessary.
But with his high intelligence status, the answer would come quickly and he just marcked the right answer. It was easier than taking candy from a child.
It was like this throughout the math test, as well as the humanities test and finally the general knowledge test. Arthur took a total of 10 minutes to answer everything, as he sometimes got lost in thought about one issue of the questions, imagining much more than he should.
'Was this supposed to be so easy? Or are they kidding me?' As he sent the test for evaluation, Arthur finally relaxed in his chair and waited for the woman to come again.
A few minutes later, as stated, she appeared. But on her face there was only disbelief.
'How did he end so fast? Did he even think something over before answering the questions? Or did he just give up after seeing the difficulty?' Trying her best to hide an expression of disbelief and even a little anger, she quickly approached Arthur.
"You can leave now. If you pass the test, we will call you with the results. Have a nice day!" Losing some of the grace she had when talking to Arthur, the woman didn't even want to look he in the face. She was indignant with the lack of consideration that this boy in front of her had with the school, making her waste time.
Arthur just nodded and left silently. He obviously didn't lose the expression on the woman's face and his skill was used as well, so he already knew what she thought and felt. But, only time will tell if she needed to be angry or not.
***
After bringing his brother back, Arthur and Thomas soon left school to return home with a taxi.
At the office, the woman who accompanied Arthur came in and didn't even speak to anyone before sitting down in front of her computer and pulling out the freshly taken exam.
The women in the office logically noticed his expression and asked.
"Marta, what happened? Did your boyfriend piss you off again?" A middle-aged woman who was there spoke while she laughed a little.
"To be honest, I think you should break up with that guy. You're still only 20 years old and you've already been hired by the state. Your future is limitless and garbage like that man will only hold you back. Look at your face, looking even older!" Another woman who was there also spoke. She seemed to be more intimate with this woman Marta and gave direct and rough advice.
"Shut up! Even though he pissed me off this morning, it's not about him. Do you remember that cute boy who walked in here a little while ago?" Her voice was irritated and she got even more when she remembered what her boyfriend had done.
"And who wouldn't remember that flawless face? I almost fell in love just looking at it!" One of the younger ones there immediately raised her voice.
"And did you see those eyes of his? I almost melted when he stared at me slightly!"
The room was soon filled with praise for Arthur's beauty and demeanor, and the woman Marta only got angrier. She decided to ignore the women and soon began to mark Arthur's exam and check his score.
After a while, the expression on her face began to relax and her annoyed expression began to change to shocked. When she finished looking at everything and looked at the final score, she was already looking completely shocked, her chin almost hitting the table.
"50/50?? Did he grade the exam??" Her voice unconsciously came out and announced Arthur's score to everyone in the office.