I sighed and began to answer the questions. There was no one to ask for help as everyone had different questions. I finished attempting the easier questions and laid my head on the desk, waiting for the time to elapse.
We ended the exam and went back to the main hall but we still weren't allowed to converse with our parents.
I sat down looking around, as I wasn't familiar with any of the candidates.
"Elsie Williams" I heard a person call my name.
I turned around and saw Victor smiling at me as he sat down beside me.
"Victor, you are also here." I was surprised to see him.
"Shouldn't I be here?" He asked me sarcastically.
"Aaah aaah, it's not like that noww. I know you wrote the entrance exam but I don't know if you passed the exam or not."
"It's ok. I am not offended."
"They should get this done with so I can go home," Victor said.
"Why are you in a hurry to go home?" I asked him.
"Because I know that I won't be admitted. I wrote utter nonsense in the aptitude test and I nearly missed the fifty percent pass mark in the entrance exam."
"I don't get it. You sound as if you don't want to be admitted."
I was surprised by his statement. Victor was a brilliant student and shouldn't find it difficult to pass the exam.
"My father wants me to school here but I don't like this school. The only way to escape it is by failing in the interview." Victor explained.
"If that's the case, why go through the stress of writing the entrance exam and passing it?" I asked him.
"If I had not passed the entrance exam, my dad would have killed me and it would have ruined my chances of going to stay with my uncle in another state and studying there," Victor explained.
"But wait why does it feel like I am being interviewed?" Victor chuckled.
"I was only asking because I was curious." I laughed.
"Eheen, Victor do you know why we aren't allowed to see our parents yet?"
"They are still grading our scores ad those who pass the test will be interviewed orally before the final result is called out."
"That will take a lot of time, Don't they care if we get hungry?" I grumbled.
I wanted to ask Victor more questions but I didn't do so. I didn't want to be nosy and pry into his privacy.
It seemed as if the examiners heard me grumbling. They served us snacks, doughnuts and fruit juice including our parents. Some people even said that students of the academy are also given the same snack on Saturdays.
About an hour later, An announcement was made. Successful candidates in the aptitude test were to be interviewed and those who didn't make it were screened out. We were about nine hundred candidates but after the test. We were just five hundred. It dawned on me that getting the scholarship wasn't the ultimate but passing the interview. Some candidates who were offered scholarships were also screened out.
I was glad I was still in the game. Victor passed the test and was very angry that he vowed to make sure he fails the oral interview.
"Elite Academy is not that bad, why don't you want to study here?"
"Studying here means I'll still be close to my dad. He's too strict and doesn't treat me well. My mom works in the same state as my uncle and I'll get to see her often."
Victor replied, sadness evident in his voice.
I felt bad for Victor. I already knew that things were not well at home for him and that his parents were separated, but I never knew it had gotten so bad like this. Victor's father was the chairman of the PTA in our school before we graduated. He was a stern-looking manner who always meant business. We all thought that was his approach to official matters without knowing that Victor was suffering inside.
He was always the first to come to school and the last to leave the school, while other students skipped classes after exams, he would report to school every day without fail. Turns out the school was his safe place.
I thought hard about how to talk to him without making it seem as if I was pitying him. All he needed at this moment were words of encouragement.
"What about your younger sister? Where's she now?"
"She's with my mom."
"It's been a while since I last saw her. I know you miss her a lot."
"I don't miss her for anything. She's just a little pest." Victor chuckled.
"It's all good that you get to reunite with them and have a breath of fresh air," I said to him.
Our conversation was interrupted when the oral interview began. Once called, the person is meant to meet with the assigned interviewer, and for those of us who were given scholarships, the principal interviewed us himself.
"Elsie Williams, report to the principal's office."
I followed the examiner who led me to the principal's office. It was in the same building but in another part. It didn't look like an office because it just had a table and chairs.
I entered the office and met face-to-face with the principal. He was dark and his hair had specks of grey all over it, his nose was flat and wide and he had the demeanour of a disciplinarian. He was sitting down so I couldn't tell if he was tall or short. He was also wearing a bottle lens spectacle which he kept adjusting from time to time.
"Good Afternoon sir, " I greeted him.
"Please have a seat,"
I sat down on the chair in front of him.
"Can I have your files?"
I handed over my files to him and sat down again. He immediately began going through them one by one taking a bit of time.