Bravely Courageous

55

"Oh, you caught me. Have fun being bored on a Saturday."

"No, I won't be. I start my internship today at the station."

"Good for you."

"Maggie, go."

---

When she got to school, she joined her friends and they were soon joined but Kira and Malia and the former of the newcomers asked, "Where's Lydia and Caleb?"

"She took it freshman year," Stiles replied.

"Caleb already took it too," Maggie grumbled.

Malia spoke in a hopeful tone. "Does that mean I could have taken it some other time?"

Scott gave her a smile. "Malia, you studied harder for this than any of us."

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna do good."

"Well..." Stiles corrected.

"Well, what?"

"It's do well. Not good."

Malia frowned. "Oh, God. Okay, okay."

"You're doing this because while we're trying not to die, we still need to live. If I survive high school, I'd like to go to college. A good college," Scott told them.

Kira smiled at him. "It's only three hours. We can survive three hours."

"Three hours of panicking nerves," Maggie muttered.

Stiles gave her a small smile. "You'll be fine."

Maggie entered the classroom, placed her thumb on the ink pad, and put it on the answer sheet. The male test proctor handed her a test booklet.

As soon as everyone was seated, the male proctor said, "Please do not open the test booklet until you are instructed to do so. This test is two hours and ten minutes. There will be two 25 minute critical reading sections, two 25 minute math sections, and an essay writing portion that will last 30 minutes. There are supposed to be two teachers monitoring this exam."

Mrs. Martin nodded. "I know. It's Coach. He's not exactly punctual. Um, let me just try him again."

The man, Simon, said, "We have to start. We can ask for his assistance during the first break. You may now open your test booklets and begin."

Maggie opened her booklet and let out a long sigh. She began reading and circled the best answers in her mind.

She heard a crash behind her and turned to see Sydney lying on the ground. Mrs. Martin ran over to her. "Sydney! Are you all right?"

She nodded. "I'm okay. I just got kind of dizzy."

Mrs. Martin grabbed Sydney's arm and looked at it. "Sydney, how long have you had this?"

Sydney shook her head. "I don't know."

"Does it hurt?" Maggie asked.

Sydney looked at the blonde. "Not really; no."

Simon glanced at the trio. "Ms. Martin, do I need to stop the test?"

Mrs. Martin shook her head. "No, um, it's fine. Everybody stay in your seats. I'll, um, be back in a minute. Nobody leaves the room." She left the room.

No one listened. Maggie darted out of the classroom and saw makeshift tents outside. There were cop cars and CDC guys coming and going.

Scott walked over to Sydney and said, "Hey. You're gonna be okay."

Sydney shook her head. "It's not that. The PSATs, the qualifying tests for the National Merit Scholarship. My parents can't afford to send me to college without it."