"Midterms - Part 2"

At Toyohashi Kita Prep School, the midterms are split into two days. With mathematics and science being on day one, and history, English, and health on day two. As our teacher gave us the green light to begin the exam, all you could hear was the sound the pencils against the desks. Tension in the class was extremely high, although many of us were prepared, no amount of preparation could ease the stress of the midterms.

"Class you have approximately 120 minutes for the test."

The teacher said to us as we starting reading through the test. Before starting, I flipped through to packet to examine it first. The exam packet had 75 questions covering both math and science.

"This is okay, this is what we all worked hard and studied for..."

I thought to myself as stress filled my mind. Although I was extremely stressed, I took a breath to calm myself down as I began. As I looked at the questions, the one thought that went through my mind throughout the entire duration of the test was:

"If you don't understand what the question is asking, go with the answer that makes the most sense to you."

This strategy is what I always have used on every test I've ever taken. Most answers will most likely be correct if you picked it because it was the most sensible option. I looked up briefly to observe the other students in the class, everyone I looked at were completely zoned into the exam. I felt confident in day one of the midterms because science was my strong suit, mathematics shouldn't be to difficult either. These two subjects are very similar to each other, so I also kept that thought in my mind. 

"Sensei, can I go to the restroom?"

One student had asked, breaking the complete silence that was present.

"Yes you can, please make sure your packet is closed, and take the hall pass."

As the student walked to grab the hall pass, every student watched, as it seemed to break some of the tension. But damn... the silence in this classroom doesn't help my nerves. It was like the a feeling of life and death, as if the tiniest mistake would be grave. Looking at Takada, Ryu, Hiyori, and Seira, they looked calm, but I could tell that they were stressed. I looked back down at my paper as I answered the questions that I understood first. The test had a few questions that I couldn't understand, but I didn't let stress me even more.

"60 minutes remaining."

The teacher suddenly said, as the class filled with sighs. Everyone's pace in the class started to speed up as some people struggled to find the answers to the test. I could tell that some people were simply guessing for many of the questions. But, it didn't concern me... it wasn't my grade that would be affected. The teacher walked around the class, observing students to make sure no cheating would happen. As I neared the end of the test, my nerves skyrocketed. The questions towards the end of the exam were completely different than anything else we had previously went over. But, as I looked closer at the questions, I realized that wasn't the case. It was simply the way that the questions were being worded and organized.

"This is so nerve-wracking..."

I mumbled quietly to myself, as I desperately just wanted this to be over.

"30 minutes remaining."

The teacher said bluntly.

"What?!"
"Already? It feels like it has only been a hour!"

Many students were surprised with how fast the time seemed to be passing by, but for me it was the complete opposite. Since I had kept watching the clock, the time seemed like it had stopped. The remaining 30 minutes though, seemed to fly by in an instant. As the teacher went back to the front of the classroom and said:

"Alright students, pencils down, and please pass your exams to the front of the class."

Everyone was relieved as day one of midterms was now over. As everyone passed their tests up to the front, the class filled with the chatter of nervous students.

"Finally! That was so damn stressful..."
"Right? I felt like pulling my hair out the entire time!"

As the exams made their way to the front of the class, the teacher explained how we were free to head home for the day. But she also emphasized how this was only half of the battle, and to continue studying for tomorrow. As many students sighed in annoyance, my study group already made plans to go to lunch to study and hang out. As students quickly funneled out the classroom, our group decided to go home first to rest before lunch.

"I'll see you guys in a couple hours okay."

I said waving to them as I left the school.

"Alright, we'll be there."

The others said as we all went our separate ways. When I got home, Eika was the only one there as my father had work.

"You're home early."
"Midterm days are early release."

That was all I said as I walked up to my room. As I reached my room I had the feeling that I was being followed. I turned around to see Eika staring at me.

"What do you want?"

I asked with a slight attitude.

"Nothing..."

That was all Eika had said before turning around and walking down the stairs. I wondered what that was all about, but I didn't really care enough to let it bother me. I laid down in my bed to take a nap, as I was wore out from the last couple days. When I woke up a couple hours later, I put on some shorts and a t-shirt so I could meet everyone for lunch. We all decided to meet up at a ramen shop for lunch. I was the last to arrive as everyone else already found a table.

"Shiro! We're over here"

Seira had say excitedly. As I sat down, instantly we started talking about day one of the exams, and how stressful they were.

"Jesus man, those science questions were something else huh?"

Ryu said as he stuffed his mouth with ramen. Everyone else laughed and agreed with him.

"Yea, the science part it was definitely harder than the math portion."

Takada had said, before following up with:

"On the bright side... at least the harder parts are done now. Health, history, and English shouldn't be nowhere as challenging as today was."
"Oh man I hope so! I don't know what I'd do if they managed to make day two harder than what today was..."

Hiyori had said. By looking at her face, I could tell how nervous she was about the midterms. After all, while we were studying the pass couple days, she struggled the most with a lot of the content. But at her core, I know she's a hard worker and probably did just fine. While we were at lunch, we didn't talk too much as we still were looking over our notes for tomorrow. We left the ramen shop about an hour later, as most of us were really tired. As I got back home, my father was back home. I could hear him and Eika talking in the living room. They hadn't noticed I made it home yet as I listened to their conversation from the stairs.

"Eika, have you been trying to improve your relationship with Shiro?"
"I want to... but I don't know what to possibly say to him. I know he hates me, and I don't blame him for that. I was so terrible to him for so long..."
"Yea... we both have neglected him, as his father I'm ashamed..."

I didn't feel like listening to the rest of that conversation, so I quietly went up to my room and closed my door. Once the morning came, when I went downstairs, they both had already left for work. In the kitchen, a small breakfast was on the counter. I had no idea who had made the breakfast, but either way, I ate it anyway. Arriving at school was once again met with high tensions, as many students didn't study for this part, expecting it to be easy. Before walking into class, I met up with my study group as we gave each other words of encouragement before the exam.

"Students please take your seats and just like yesterday, please clear your desk of all notes and other devices. For today's exam, you will have 90 minutes to complete the 50 multiple choice and 3 short answer responses."

This was exactly what I was expecting for this midterm. But I couldn't say the same for my counterparts, as many students looked even more pale than yesterday. As the teacher passed the exams out, the packet was noticeably lighter than yesterday. I had a wave of confidence come over me as I found these subjects easy to understand.

"Students, your 90 minutes start now. Good luck to everyone!"

Once started, any noise in the classroom instantly ceased to exist, as everyone concentrated heavily on the exam. Day two seemed to breeze by at a much quicker rate than day one. I had one thing in my mind, pass. I wanted to do my best for everyone that supported me these last couple of days. These last two days have meant an awful lot for me, as for once, I finally felt I belonged somewhere. Many of the questions on the exam, were simple questions that when over the basics. While other questions further dived into more advanced topics that we've went over before. For the short answer questions, we were asked to write a paragraph with the prompts we were given. As I focused heavily on the exam, I lost track of time as the teacher suddenly said:

"15 minutes remaining."

From the reaction that the rest of the class, I could tell that just about everyone also forgot about the time limit. Many people were getting stressed, as I saw some students speeding through the answers so they could finish on time.

"Time's up! Please pass your exams to the front of the classroom. After that you may go home. Exams will be graded by all the teachers, as we check for signs of cheating. The scores for the exams should be posted by the end of the week. Thank you all for your hard work, and I wish you the best on your test scores."

Sighs of relief spread throughout the class as students were happy it was finally over. As I was walking out the classroom, Takada approached me and asked:

"We're gonna go to the arcade to celebrate midterms being over, you in?"

I nodded almost instantly, I don't remember the last time that I actually went to an arcade. I was excited to go to one.

"Who's all going with us?"
"Everyone in the study group... and I think a few other people from class will come"
"Oh okay."

I said, masking my disappointment at the mention of other classmates. As I thought about it more, I thought to myself:

"Well... I'll be with my new friends, nothing should happen if they're here as well."