The Other Side of Darkness

Exams

Episode 3: Chapter 1~3

Merchant of the Deep Sea

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Lev awoke from yet another strange dream. This time, she didn't really remember what she'd seen. All she remembered was seeing Chirithy urging her to run. And something dark and wet. 

"If the trend for the questions is...Option 2 means it's a trick...hmm," Grim mumbled. Lev sat up and was surprised to see Grim sitting at their new table studying. 

Ramshackle Dorm was finally coming together. The ghosts had done an amazing job at clearing away the dust, cobwebs, and old broken-down furniture. They were luckily able to salvage a good portion of the old artwork, so the dorm still maintained it's ancient-mansion feel. However, Lev was able to convince the Headmaster to buy them nice new furniture by doing some extra work and classes, so most of the chairs, tables, and couches were brand-new. 

Surprisingly, Lev found that she enjoyed her new classes even more than her old ones. It was history and potions, so she had a relatively easy job doing the assignments. They were much harder, and the classes were made up of either second or third-years, but she didn't mind that. Riddle was in her potions class and Leona was in her history, so it was nice to see them often ( even though Ruggie took full advantage of being able to dump the chore of getting Leona to class on her). Sadly, she still had to attend the first-year classes with Grim, so she mostly just helped him with studying in those two classes. 

This morning, thought, she was surprised to see him already up and studying. Normally she had to bribe him into studying by brushing his fur or offering tuna. She hopped out of bed and stretched.

"Mornin', Grim!" she chirped. 

"...What? Oh, mornin'," he muttered.

"Are you studying?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Yep!" Grim grinned. "Today's the last day of exams, so you better not drag me down because we count as one student."

"Excuse me? Who's the one taking extra classes?" 

Grim's grin disappeared. "Whatever. Just get ready. I don't wanna get docked points for being late." 

"Fine," Lev sighed, walking into the bathroom.

I wonder what encouraged Grim to study so much.

====Time Skip====

Later that morning, Lev, Ace, Deuce, and Grim sat in their homeroom class, quietly taking the exam. Grim had done the first half of the exam, so Lev was finishing up taking the second half. Because this was one of the classes she was excelling in, the exam was a piece of cake. 

Soon, the bell rang, signaling the end of the exam. 

"Time's up, puppies," Professor Crewel announced. "Put your pens down and pass in your tests up like good little pups." 

They obeyed, and soon walked out after Crewel gave them all a final warning about getting a good grade. Ace and Deuce seemed a little more confident than usual, along with Grim.

Grim laughed boastfully. "Woo! That test was a piece of cake for me!" 

"Big talk for the guy who usually looks like the world is ending after written exams," Ace sneered.

Grim just smirked back. "This time will be different, just you watch!" 

Both Deuce and Ace gave him snide remarks about how they both felt super confident in their scores.