Shake on It

Chapter Five

"Shake on It"
Chapter 5

Standing in front of Hexside's daunting gates was much more stressful when Luz's schooling was on the line. Her mind was racing with thoughts of what she'd leave behind if she lost now; friends, family, opportunity and so much more.

"Okay Luz. You've got this." She took a deep breath, trying her best to calm her nerves as she walked into the school.

The hallways were much quieter than normal, though still not silent. Luz doubted they'd ever be completely noise-free. The passing conversation Luz heard helped keep her mind away from the endless list of terrible outcomes that could happen. Focusing on the voices of people near her, she submerged herself in their conversation.

"You know Amity's going to be first again."

Luz was dragged away from the peace she'd found and thrown back into the chaos in her mind.

"Amity always comes in first. Why did I think I could beat her? I'm going to lose." Luz couldn't shake the deprecating thoughts her brain kept producing. She knew the odds were stacked against her, but she was still going to try.

"Focus on your breathing. In and Out. Calm down." She whispered to herself as she began to navigate the tightly packed hallways to her locker. Finding it, she undid the lock, grabbing her books as fast as possible. If there was one person she didn't want to see this morning, it was her locker neighbor, Minty Fresh.

Luz ran through the crowded corridors as fast as she could, taking care not to trample anyone in her way. Arriving in the testing classroom – which she was surprised to see existed, a room solely for taking tests – she sat down in her marked chair. She put her head down on her desk, wanting to sleep through the exams, for the rest of the year even.

A tap on her shoulder shook her out of her sleep-like state, making her sit up and groan, looking for the culprit who further ruined her mood.

"Can't have you fall asleep before the test, Noceda."

Luz knew who it was without glancing up, the only person who would talk to her like that, in a tone seeped with such disrespect and venom.

"Go away, Blight." Luz said calmly, resting her head back down on the desk.

"I'm in your testing group, I can't go away." Amity replied back, Luz could see the smug grin she had without looking.

"Leave me alone then." Luz fired back, not wanting to deal with the taunting right now. Or ever, for that matter.

"You just seemed so confident you'd beat me, I thought I'd get my last few minutes of bullying in now. Or can it wait until you've left the school?" Amity said on the verge of laughing. She was much meaner than normal.

"Did Boscha give you some tips or something? You're a lot like her now." Luz asked, keeping her tone even.

That quickly silenced Amity.

"I guess she doesn't like being compared to that pink-haired menace." Luz thought to herself as she watched Amity go take her seat on the other side of the classroom.

The bell sounded shortly after, alerting all students of the beginning of their classes.

"Hello everyone." An older man walked in, Luz assumed he'd be the teacher for this 'class'.

"You'll all be taking your 4 core exams today. Each will be 25 questions, for a total of 100 questions. You will have from now until school is over to complete them. If you finish early, you may leave." He said, continuing on, he informed the class of the rules and what would happen to cheaters.