Damien would never be able to learn and memorize everything that was taught in school. And as far as she know that Damien is bot particularly a good student.
Thank you. He said, smiling warmly at her as he took the papers. The poor girl froze for a moment, slightly stunned. For some reason, it felt like Damien's smile was more charming and infectious than usual, being the kind of girl that she was. Yvette had never believed in love at first sight. And yet, at this moment, she found herself reconsidering the idea.
Maybe it wasn't impossible to fall for someone in such a short amount of time after all. Surely no one would be able to resist that smile. Her heartbeat quickened, and she felt her cheeks and neck heat up. Thankfully, Brian decided to change the conversation. Damien, let's go home together after school from now on.
Damien nodded, and the three boys said their goodbyes to Yvette before heading home. Damien went back to home, without noticing Yvette red flushed face. The first thing Damien did when he arrived was to take out the papers Yvette had given him. When his parents saw this, his father heaved a long sigh of relief. Finally, Damien is studying so hard. This is a huge improvement.
Selena walked up to her brother carrying a bowl of soup that their mother had prepared earlier. Study hard!.. Brother.. It's almost time for the SATs. Micaela remarked with some worry. Are you sure you can handle it? Damien only had one month left to cram everything into his brain. Nobody else knew of his newfound skills, so they were understandably anxious about how he would accomplish that feat.
The results don't matter as much as the effort he puts in. Henry said as he smoked a cigarette, his eyes looking far into the distance. As long as he works hard, everything will be fine. I know he'll do well enough to get into college. But if he doesn't… Then he can just retake the test next year. The next morning, Brian and Terence showed up at the door to walk to school with Damien.
It was just like the old days, as if he had never transferred or gotten expelled. The three separated at the gates of AzureHill High School, and Damien walked inside by himself. He headed straight for his classroom, where he found that only a few students had shown up. Some were studying at their desks, but most of them were using phone and chatting with each other, while the other is eating their breakfast.
Only a few is studying it can even be count on hand, Damien went to his seat and opened his books. He delved into his notes, memorizing vocabulary words and mathematical formulas. His quiet, serious concentration was definitely out of place in a room filled with students squabbling and chatting amongst themselves.
When the bell rang, Mr. Brown walked into the classroom. He was their homeroom teacher, and he carried a thick stack of papers. As it turned out, there would be a round of practice tests that day. For a few weeks during the fall semester, the faculty basically stopped teaching any lessons. Instead, school hours were dedicated to practicing for the SAT's.
Instead of teaching, instructors administered practice tests for their subjects in each of their classes. This went on for three days straight. Then on the fourth day, students took a full length practice test. On the fifth day, they did a review, and then the cycle would repeat. Supposedly, the teachers would explain the answers once the tests had been corrected and returned.
This was supposed to prepare students for the real tests later in the year. As soon as Mr. Brown finished briefing them on the process, the class dissolved into loud groans and muttered complaints. That is, everyone except Damien. Unlike his classmates, he was so excited that his heart thundered. He had done his fair share of practice tests by himself, but it wasn't the same as taking an actual practice test with other students.
Finally, he would be able to get a clear gauge of his progress. Damien was determined to go all out, even if it was just a mock test. When the exam commenced, he carefully filled out his test. His brows were furrowed in concentration as he went over each question fastidiously, making sure not to miss a single one.
Time passed without him noticing, and he finished checking over the last question just as the bell rang. He watched in anticipation as Mr. Brown collected the papers and carried them out of the classroom. He was looking forward to the results. Mr. Brown trudged to his office without a trace of urgency whatsoever.
Each year, the outcome of these practice tests was the same. He taught English, and even the students at AzureHill who got high scores on the verbal sections of the SATs didn't stand a chance because their math scores were so low. And even those who got high scores for Amberfield were mediocre compared to students at prep schools in the area.
His best student was a boy who always got -A's in English, but had C's and D's in math and science. How can any of these student ever expect a good university.
While grading the first half, he had recognized the names of the students who did well in his class. But when he flip the last, his shock expression could not be hidden.
T-this? He narrow his eyes, The new transfer student? Damien? How could he got this high, All his best student only gotten atleast 40-60% correct answer. But this is 90% correct answer, How could a expelled student got this high score?
Did he cheat? As Mr. Brown thought this Possibility, His eyes show a glint. How dare he cheat? Mr. Brown think everyway to cheat, But he couldn't think of a way.
And so after the first period, He called Damien to his office. Damien had a calm and curious expression wondering why Mr. Brown called him, wondering every possibility, but everything dissappear and became clear when he reach the door. He knew he hadn't done anything wrong so he wasn't even a least bit worried at all. Mr. Brown ask him to sit down and proceed to sip his coffee, A Few seconds later, Mr. Brown finally talk it's was calm and questioning. Did you cheat? When Damien hear this, he frown in confusion. Excuse me? He hope that Damien would confess truthfully and honestly, But when he hear Damien word, He was disappointed.
This was Mr. Brown hated the most in his whole life, That when a student had cheated. Damien presume that he done quite good but when he hear Mr. Brown that he cheated. He got quite confuse for a moment and realize that Mr. Brown might find out he was an Expelled Student of Amberfield.
Mr. Brown Slammed his coffe cup on his table, some of it spilled on table, and said in low and threating. "I don't like student that cheated. And you might know this already, A Student who cheated don't go to a good universities you might even not be accepted, Damien" after saying this, Mr. Brown ask Damien to leave.
Mr. Brown wasn't convince that he didn't cheat, Even after Damien leave, he keep thinking every possibilities. Something just wasn't right, While Mr. Brown was Thinking, Suddenly the math teacher piped up. Did you say Damien a got 89 out of 100?
Mr. Brown nodded, and quickly said. I don't think he did it on his own. He was expelled from his Amberfield recently, I check his file. He never got a score that high, He was scoring around 20-30 out of 100 on all section up until now, He couldn't improve in just a few days can he? He must cheated, The other teacher nodded in agreement. He understood Mr. Brown suspicion, It was quite rare for a student improve in short amount of time, But Damien got a almost perfect score. Even in a Top School like Amberfield, It was one of best. Let alone AzureHill. When the Bell rang, Damien is walking out of school gate, Mr. Brown suspicion hadn't worried him at all. If anything it boost his mood on findout he gotten a high score.
Damien smile and remember in Amberfield, There was once a beauty that always came to court to watch a basketball, when she came to court and all boys in court was full of energy, and tried to show off in anyway, She was one of School Beauty in Amberfield. Vanessa Cross, There is a time that he saw her smile at one of his friend, without a fail, the poor boy would go through the rest of the day with a stupid grin on his face. Vanessa's Charm was potent, Even Damien wasn't immune to it. Though it doesn't matter now, it was all in past, he didn't even know when he could meet her again. Damien stop thinking about it and start walking home to study and rest for the SAT.