It was a boring day and Helix sat at the back of the room with twenty-seven bewildered classmates, faced with a stack of test papers. Scratching their heads, tapping their fingers, writing and erasing their answers repeatedly.
They were working hard, those students. And they looked tired. Even the class rep, Kitty, appeared to be dozing off—Helix had counted three yawns from her so far.
It was no surprise, they had probably stayed up all night studying. Although in his opinion, Kitty shouldn't have to worry so much—she usually got a B or even an A without much effort, it seemed the pressure of exams was getting to her too.
For those who were too busy wasting time instead of studying like Helix, it wasn't uncommon to hear a whisper, "Hey, what's number three?" or to see a piece of paper fly through the air while the teacher wasn't looking. Even the girl next to Helix had a hidden textbook behind her skirt, very creative.
Her friend who had nothing better to do would sneak a peek every time she opened her book, hoping her skirt would ride up and reveal what was hidden underneath.
As for Helix? Although he couldn't answer like the others, he was more relaxed. Humming a tune, observing his classmates or daydreaming and gazing out the window.
He actually could be doing something. His friend Aegist is master at cheating and he had told Helix before, some trick to pass an exam. He told Helix that he could simply write on his desk with a pencil. All the formulas or anything that might come out on the exam. It's safer than directly opening a book because it can be covered by the answer sheet. After the test was over, he could just erase it. But Helix didn't do it. He was too lazy to do it.
The teacher who supervising the class looked at his watch and said, "Ten minutes left."
Helix gazed lazily at the answer sheet on top of his desk. He didn't care that much, but at least he had to write something. In his first year, he left several answer sheets blank and it caused him a lot of problems. He didn't want that to happen again. Too bothersome.
If this was a multiple-choice question, he would try his luck by rolling a pencil with each side written with letters. Or he could just choose randomly. Unfortunately, this is an essay.
As he was about to writing random things on the answer sheet, his hand, wondrously, moved on its own to answer the questions.
He once saw a TV show that showed unusual things—don't ask what the name of the show was, Helix don't care enough to remember—there was a rare and strange phenomenon.
Have you heard of someone touching a woman's butt and he said his hand moved on its own before getting a slap on the cheek?
Don't immediately judge him as a liar, because he might be telling the truth.
They call it alien hand syndrome. Yeah, alien. It's a weird condition where your hand moves on its own without your command. As if it was moved by an alien.
Helix believe that's what happened here. And he was far luckier than those who ended up getting slapped, because what happened to him, his alien hand, made his hand answer the questions for him.
He don't know the answer, he haven't even read the question, yet his hand writes the answer that looks correct. Even if his hand writes a little wrong letter, it'll be erased and replaced with a new one. A true perfectionist.
"Five more minutes," his teacher said.
Some students had already started collecting their answer sheets.
Yeah, yeah, you guys are smart, Helix thought. No need to look at us and smile in that annoying way.
Kitty also stood up from her seat and handed in her answer sheet. It's fine if it's Kitty.
Helix looked at his own answer sheet. His hand was writing quickly. It had already filled out ten questions. And it kept moving until half of it was done.
Helix hand was racing against time. He don't know why he started to panic even though he usually don't care even if he don't answer half the questions at all.
"Time's up," his teacher said, clapping his hands. "Put your pen down. Collect your answer sheets at the front."
My hand was still filling out the last question.
"Helix," his teacher said, "put your pen down."
Okay, okay, seeesh, Helix thought. Why is everyone so obsessed with being on time? Being a little late won't make a difference, right? Besides, his hand is not usually like this and wants to do the questions. At least give his hand a chance.
Helix hand finished filling out the questions and he stood up, handing in the answer sheet.
Okay, his task is done. He turned and was about to leave.
"Helix," his teacher said, looking at his answer sheet.
Helix sighed. What now? He thought. Don't tell me she knows I didn't answer that question? Hey, why do I have to feel guilty? It's not like I cheated or anything.
Helix looked back and said, "Yes?"
"You forgot to write your name," the teacher said.
He quickly grabbed it and wrote his name.
"Be more careful next time," his teacher took the answer sheet from his hand.
Helix shrugged. Sure. Whatever.
And he walked away.
***
The strangeness of his hand did not end there. The second test after recess also had the same thing happen. This time it started exactly when the test paper was distributed.
Perhaps because his hand didn't want to be in a rush like before? Who knows, but as soon as his hand finished filling out the questions, he still had a lot of time.
If Helix turned it in right away, they would be suspicious since Kitty and the others were still busy filling out the questions. So he spent the rest of the time by doodling in his book.
The next day it happened again. Like yesterday, as he sat at his seat, staring at the next test questions, his hand acted out again. His hand moved as if it had a mind of its own, filling out questions he didn't understand as easily as pointing a finger.
It continued until the exam days were finished. Strangely, after that, his hand never wanted to move again. Helix had no control at all over this alien hand of his. When he tried to force it out -- sitting at the study table, doing something he usually did not do -- he stared at the notebook and ballpoint pen in his hand, but nothing happened even though he waited for hours. In the end, he just drew a stick figure fighting with a dragon.
***