The Gifted [INDEFINITE HIATUS]

5 • Elayne

This chapter is dedicated to Farhana1122 for the incredibly sweet message she sent me. Thank you so much! You really made me smile. :)

My parents are still at work when I get home. Thank god for that, because I don't think I will be able to face them just yet. I mean, sure, they reassured me over and over again that as long as I did my best, they didn't care about my actual results. But I didn't do my best, did I? How can it have been when my paper caught on fire in the middle?

The most agonizing part is that the test was almost over. It was almost over, I only had that one question left, and I did the exact opposite of what I should have done. I should have ignored it. I should have brushed it off and accepted that I wouldn't get it right. What does it matter, anyway? I'm aiming for a job either in the arts or humanities, and the question was math. I could have missed it and still gotten a good job in my preferred field of study.

Technically, there isn't any proof that the fire was caused by me. I know, however, that people will have no choice but to assume that it was my fault. Who else could have done it? Who else was close enough?

If some random kid I didn't know had managed to get their paper set on fire, especially after being visibly frustrated with several of the questions, I would probably be a bit suspicious. I'd think that they tried to sabotage their own test so that they could be given a retake and a chance at a better score, along with more time for preparation. Which is obviously something I would never do, but the officials don't know that.

The question is whether they will find sufficient proof that I was not responsible for the fire. Then, it will be a matter of whether they will allow me to take it next year, as a sixteen year old girl, sitting in a room with dozens of kids who are in the year below me and have had one less year of their lives to prepare for a test that would greatly impact their future.

Fat chance.

Though I can't, and I don't want to, suppress the slight glimmer of hope that they will indeed go through with that course of action.

But... My mind starts racing. They can't use that solution for an entire room filled with almost one hundred students, all of whom missed out on the last two minutes or so of the test because of that one girl. Can they?

Maybe two minutes isn't very much. But I know that testing irregularities are taken very, very seriously when it comes to the Examination. I'm nearly positive that some sort of retake will need to happen, but the question is whether I will be allowed to take it. It really all depends on whether or not it's decided that I'm guilty of that fire. But then again, that's a very big if...

I clamp down that thought. I don't even want to consider it. I will get a chance to retake the Examination, one way or another. If I don't, I'll be homeless, jobless, and without any way of supporting myself as soon as my parents retire and are no longer able to financially support me. Basically, I'll be screwed for eternity.

No, no, no. Think positive thoughts, I tell myself. Think positive thoughts.

I am positive that I will not get to retake the Examination and I will be a hobo for the rest of my life.

"Shut up!" I say out loud, pressing my fingers to my forehead. Then I wince, realizing that if anyone saw me right now, they would think I'm nuts.

I should be trying to confirm that the other kids in my room will have a retake. But I don't think I can handle hearing the bad news if things didn't end up going in my favor. No, I think I will savor my ignorance for a little while longer.