Claire groaned, on the threshold of waking up from her sleep. Something had poked her in the sides.
'Five minutes...' She thought about mumbling, but never got down to it.
"... her up…" Her groggy head thought she'd just heard her geography teacher. A dream about school, huh? That was new.
She turned her head and it felt someone turned on the lights. So bright. Uncomfortable. She clenched her eyelids up, but the light didn't let up, still staying just as bright as it was.
It went dark again. Maybe someone turned the lights out again.
"Claire!" A sound that sounded much like Jerry's echoed in her ears. But that can't be, Claire was in her…
Oh no.
Claire opened an eye. Jerry stood in front of her, edge lit by the window behind her and she was in her school dress.
"Wake up, she's getting mad!" Jerry whispered, glancing sideways towards the front of the class.
Claire's heart raced. She was in school. Of course she was. She jumped up into a seated position. She wasn't even lying down, what made her think she was in her bedroom?
She looked forward at her teacher, who just gave her a look that screamed "I'm disappointed" and turned towards her desk.
She lowered her head and breathed a sigh of relief. Miss Soma, her Geography teacher, was one of the most grumpy and strict people she'd known, and one could tell with just a single look at her face - Sharp eyed, perpetually frowning and painted like one of those dolls from a horror movie. And Claire did feel like she was part of one - Like her monstrous teacher would single her out and rip her to shreds (verbally, of course) in front of the entire class any minute now.
But all she got was that look. The demoness must be in a good mood today.
"Alright then." The nightmare declared. Jerry hurried back to her seat. "Now that I have everyone's attention," Claire saw those seething hateful eyes turn her way for a moment. "We'll be having a surprise test today."
Claire��s heart skipped a beat.
"I hope none of you slacked off and that you've all revised all the notes from last week."
The heart skipped another beat, then started beating faster to make up for the skips.
"You only have this half hour." Satan's favourite teacher followed that up with a smirk her way. She hadn't singled her out in the beginning because she was sure that Claire would fail this test, and Claire was sure of it.
Now she had to score well, else she'd get a taste of hell.
Claire turned to face her pen. She and Jerry had to skip the last two days of the week as both of them had caught a bad cold. That night at the convenience store, Claire had delayed the two of them enough so that the rain didn't ruin their ice creams.
She might have also convinced Jerry to play in the rain with her. Right after the ice cream. While one of them was wearing a woolen sweater. And the other a woolen coat.
Needless to say, they got sick, missed school, got grounded and now it seemed like Miss Maso- uh, Miss Soma wanted to add to that list.
A paper stack flopped onto her desk, knocking the pen she was still staring at out of her hands. The exam sheets. She took one off the stack for herself and passed the rest over to the desk behind her.
"Psst- Hey!" A whisper came from the desk in front of her. Joseph - she remembered he was the one sitting there today. Claire inferred he'd likely say something along the lines of 'I'm hopeless! You're my only hope!' when she'd look up.
So she looked up. Just as she had suspected, he was sneaking her a glance, grinning with a thumbs up hidden behind his pen case. He didn't say anything else, but that was enough of a hint to figure out that her inference was right.
Claire checked her surroundings in the hope that there'd be someone there who could help her.
Only to confirm her disappointment.
To her left sat Jerry, who was just as oblivious as she was.
To her right sat Kyle, her supposed stalker, whom she'd never seen cheating. He wasn't very smart, just stubborn.
In front of her was the cheater lord, Joseph.
And she was too scared to get caught to turn around to ask Benni, the only one of the five who had any hopes of making it through this test alive.
"Anyone who didn't get the sheet?" Her teacher inquired in a stern tone.
"Good," She continued, seeing as no one raised their hands, "You can start now. You have half an hour."
The room devolved into a cacophony of the sounds of turning pages and pens on paper. Claire turned her sheet over and started reading the questions as well.
As expected, she knew nothing. Most of the questions were from the classes she'd missed, and the ones that weren't were obscure enough that she couldn't remember the answers.
"Why is this so hard?" Benni's quiet voice echoed her thoughts.
The next half hour was a mess. Claire couldn't do anything but stare at her exam and Jerry seemed to be doing the same. Apart from a couple of her peers, it seemed like everyone stopped writing not ten minutes into the exam.
Joseph kept asking her for help. He constantly gestured for the answer of one question or the other. Claire would always try and convey that she didn't know the answer, but Joseph didn't get the hint.
Eventually she just got tired of it and made answers up to give him.
In the end, Claire was only able to mark down five questions out of 20. One of which she'd miraculously remembered, two she'd been able to 'get help' with, and the last two were just the same made up answers she'd given Joseph. Needless to say, it was a flunk.
The teacher ordered them to stop writing and collected all of their tests. She was going to check them during the remainder of class itself.
The wait was filled with anxiety and regret. Some students attempted to discuss their exams, but a glare from Miss Soma was all it took to shut them up as well. One of her classmates, Leon, even got sent out of class for whispering. "The answer to that was B!? I almost had that!"
Her teacher looked angry as opposed to her usual disappointed expression. The entire class was about to go through hell, and they all knew it.
Claire shot a glance over at Jerry, who responded with a nervous smile, and a gesture akin to a blade slicing through her neck. Claire barely stifled her groan. This was not going to be fun.
"I should give you all a zero in the internal assessment." The executioner gave her verdict. "Is this how you give a test? Do none of you study?"
Her voice was monotonous, but somehow venomous at the same time. It was a dangerous combination. Claire shivered.
Miss Soma stood up and tossed the sheets onto her table.
"This." She pointed down at the sheets. "This is what all of you think of me? You think that I'm teaching you all for show? That all of you deserve to get by this class without putting in any effort by yourselves?" Her last sentence was accompanied with a glare towards Claire, who couldn't help but gulp in response.
"This class disappoints me." Her glare travelled across the room. One could almost hear the collective heartbeat of the students.
The teacher turned back towards Claire and ordered. "Stand up, Miss Seneth."
This was what Claire was afraid of. Being singled out and yelled at. She couldn't help but think this was unfair, but she knew it was her fault. She gulped and looked down, her breathing jagged.
"I said STA-"
The world went dark. An almost deafening amount of noise permeated through Claire's ears.
She blinked. She had her head down. She had moved back in time.
She looked up, trying to steady her breathing. Less than fifteen minutes till recess ends and the geography class begins.
Fifteen minutes to change the class's fate.