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"I believe your examination scores are already released and posted on the ingress board. Be sure to check your results and come to me if you have any questions for your grades." The professor hands out our test papers and urges us to go outside for our early dismissal.
With the look on her face, Mrs. Evergreen did not want to stick around inside the classroom and wanted to spend her leisure time by herself; well, that was supposed to happen. It was not until she called out my name and asked me to stay put on my seat with a direct and cold glare.
Unsure of what to do, I hold my post and wait for everyone to disappear inside the room. My classmate's eyes were all shifting their gaze, judging me that the teacher had called me once more. But I did not mind at all and focused on the pocket watch with my quivering fingers.
The nightmare in the sea was a tragic event that I had undergone and luckily survived. If it were not for the limited time trapped inside that dimension, then I would have been dead or still drowning right now. And the cause of my death would be laid out a suicide of some sort, not knowing what had candidly happened to me.
Brushing off my trivial comments aside, I stand up and walk directly to Mrs Evergreen. Instead of the usual leer and menacing look, she encompasses me with a cheerful smile.
"You're ranked one-top of the class," She ejaculated. "How did you do it?"
Confused, I placed my bag on the nearest table, and panicky returned her look with a faint smile.
"I didn't know. I was not expecting that I would pass." I truthfully said, still baffled about the news.
She then walks over to where her bag is located and rummages inside. After collecting the notes found in the bag, she reveals my crumpled test paper, with a perfect mark written on the box, where the score should be placed and inscribed.
"You could have cheated, but I highly doubt that." Mrs. Evergreen returns the paper to me, still painted with the smile carved beneath her face.
"Thank you, I guess." I immediately squeezed the document inside my bag and rushed over outside, wanting to look at the school board.
I want to confirm this information for myself, in which I find it very odd that I perfected the test. This event happened for the first time. I knew that I am not intelligent enough to earn this mark. Assuming that I luckily made it thus far, that was still a miracle for me to achieve it. Which is why I wanted to-
-" She really did score the highest in all of our subjects."
It was the first murmur that I heard outside the buzzing school grounds. The moment that my face appears on the gate, all of their eyes look at my appearance. They study my presence, my clothes, my shoes, and my everything. Yet, each of them shares the exact look painted on their faces, thinking about how I cheated on the examination.
"How did you cheat, you fucker!" Brandon, one of the frightening bullies of the school confidently approaches me with his fist curling for a punch.
Thankfully, before he can even land his fingers on my shaking face, one teacher halts the scene.
"Enough of this!" He points out his forefinger, particularly at Brandon. The professor then switches his view and hoicks the strings of my bag, dragging me back inside the building.
"You're coming with me."
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Twenty-five professors decide that an average student, such as I, will retake the examination here and there to fix the problem. They did not believe my claims and insisted that I cheated in my exams despite hearing my side. However, Mrs. Evergreen defends me with all her wits, explaining to them it was an impossible feat.
It was probably because her job was on the line that a student entered the vault where the questionnaires are stored. Without that situation, then I am likely to be a dead rat or pest, anyway.
"I am telling you I did not cheat!" I yelled out as loud as I can while taking the exams at the best of my abilities. They could not look, help, and get near within my vicinity to prove that I am innocent or the suspect.
Miraculously, I completed four tests within thirty-minutes. Four major examinations within half an hour which nobody had pulled off. Not even once.
Amazed, but dubious, the professor takes my exam and examines its content, but only finding himself more surprised at the outcome.
He wordlessly sat flat on his desk and glued himself to the test paper held by his hand. Even the professors by his side were astonished and silent by the time they had read my answers.
"Were you hiding your intelligence all this time?" The director of the school, who had also participated in this trial, walked toward me. He has this peculiar and fascinated look on his face from what he had witnessed. At first, he had thought that this occurrence was a pain in the arse and did not want to take part in this futile disposition. However, once he saw me scribbling down my pen with hasty speed, he snuck around and observed my performance.
"I am enthralled, Ms. Roxanne," Jonathan Miller, the director, said and urged me to stand and step closer on the door. "You may leave."
Without a second doubt, I pack all of my things and rush straight to Maryland Avenue, still bewildered by the fact that I finished and perfected the examinations.
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Exhausted and starving, I lie down on my sofa and sip a cup of fizzy drink and take a bite at the last piece of sandwich left inside the fridge. I was too tired to fiddle on the remote control and spent the rest of the night thinking about what had happened earlier from school.
"What is happening to me," I recall the events while I was taking the test, but never did I expect to answer all the questions offered to me.
The answers instinctively popped inside my head like as if it was the most natural thing to do. The more composite the inquiries there, the more uncomplicated that my brain works.
"This makes little sense at all!"
I retorted and ran upstairs to get my virgin books at the ready. Afterwards, I swiftly splattered them on the wooden ground and read each of its content.
Spending a few minutes of my time to validate my hunches is nothing compared to wasting my life moping around, trying to find such meaning living in this world.
By the time that I have finished reading, I turn the pages and answer some few quizzes.
Four hours passed in the blink of an eye, and the results came to me and a puzzled face. I cannot believe my eyes from what I am seeing. I never tried reviewing any notes, nor had any. However, as I skim through my worksheet, I found out that everything was factual. And I, Roxanne Rodes, can effortlessly understand anything akin to a machine.
"Glorious…" My body flopped on the wooden flooring with the rest of the opened books at my side. It was too difficult to believe in this fantasy at first.
But right now, all that I have witnessed are the truth.
"What is the extent of my knowledge and ability to grasp?" I whispered to myself, hoping to find the answer eventually.
My mind raced and thought of various ways to use this prowess for my gain and eventually earn some pocket cash. Money is not everything in this world, but it is always helpful having a large sum in my disposal for futuristic goals.
Despite my merry thoughts, my body suddenly collapsed on the ground as I bear the weight of my tired brain. Allotting a small amount of time to rest did not slip inside my thought, which had now brought me into this state.
Drowsiness hit me like a truck and forced my system to shut down into a deep and unwavering slumber. I suppose this was fair, given that I overworked myself by studying unrelated topics for the sake of assessing my capabilities.
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Similar to what was occurring to me, I found myself, yet again, in a distorted and unfamiliar place. The entire area was full of nothing but the sea of giant trees that reached the top of the clouds. The faintest gaps of the trees were the only reason that light coming from the sun still shines.
"Where am I right now?" It was clear as day that the place that I have been brought and laid into was a forest. Yet, everything around me was silent and devoid of any living organism. But I highly doubt that Idea, which is clear from the gigantic footsteps left by monstrous creatures behind where I stand.
The trail leads cavernous on the linear path, as if inviting me to head forth and discover the mystery of the chamber.
"Darkwoods," I mumble to myself and describe the surrounding atmosphere.
I look back and forth and study my surroundings, praying that there is an exit hidden among the leaves. Unfortunately, the old and brownish barks are the only things visible in my eyes with the bushes and weeds.
Luckily, after panicky searching inside my pockets, I found my flashlight inside. I am unsure of how to use this device where light still illuminates the road. But it never hurts to be ready.
I search from far and wide, hoping to discover something harmless. And I wish that that substantial being would not want to kill me or use me as a punching bag.
As I proceeded farther toward the dark and scary road, I saw a tavern up ahead with its room lustfully lighted up. I was hesitant at first to come and check its insides because of the fear of the unknown. I have no other choice but to continue my adventure. Thus I ventured forth and see where the trail would lead me.