Morning came far too quickly.
I'd only gotten about three hours of sleep that night, and despite the fact that I'd also slept through the previous afternoon it felt as if I hadn't gotten any rest at all. To say that I was exhausted was an understatement. My head and tailbone were thobbing fit to burst as I struggled across campus once again to the UK History Department. Most of the ice had melted but the air still held a bitter November chill.
When I found my classroom my professor sat me down in a chair not far from the teacher's desk and handed me the exam. After the usual spiel about University rules and the consequences of cheating she started the clock. I hunched over the exam and read the first question.
In Western Europe, a major immediate effect of the Reformation was a:
A. renewed domination of the Catholic Church over the German states
B. greater tolerance of religions other than Christianity
C. decrease in educational opportunities for the middle class
D. decline in religious unity and in the power of the Catholic Church
I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I had no idea what the answer was because I hadn't studied the Reformation. That was the topic I'd meant to go over last night and I had chosen to throw my book against the wall instead.
Idiot, a little voice in the back of my mind hissed. This time the voice sounded a lot like Arthur. I ignored him and shook my head to clear my thoughts, then focused once more on the options before me. I reread the examination question.
In Western Europe, a major immediate effect of the Reformation was a.... What?
I didn't know. I really didn't know. I began to panic then, because I had never been in this position before, where I didn't know the answer to the very first exam question....
I desperately wracked my brains. Think, Ethan, think....
But I couldn't. It was like a fog had settled over my mind and my thoughts became muddled. The letters on the page blurred together until I couldn't even read the words. The air inside the classroom suddenly felt much thicker than it had been moments before. I couldn't suck in enough oxygen Then the walls began closing in on me.
I looked up at my professor. She had her back to me. She was rummaging through her bag. I stared at the back of her head, my panic overwhelming me, still willing myself to just think.
It happened quite suddenly. There was a fleeting pain at the front of my head, like someone was stabbing me in the brain with a needle. Then the pain was gone a second later, and- there's no other way to describe it- it was as if the skies themselves had opened and dropped the textbook answer directly into my brain. It even landed there with a heavy clunk that reverberated through my skull. I jumped violently in my seat, startled, and my professor turned around.
"Is everything alright, Mr. Montgomery?" she asked, peering at me over the bridge of her glasses. Her eyes narrowed when she took in my appearance. I could feel beads of sweat popping up along my hairline.
"Y-yes," I stuttered, rubbing my elbow on the spot where I'd banged it on the table. "There was just- a spider," I invented wildly. "Sorry."
I hunched over the exam paper again.
The answer was D. I circled the letter and moved onto question number two.
During the Renaissance, which development contributed most to the Protestant Reformation?
YOU ARE READING
The Institution
FantasySocially awkward Ethan Montgomery never expected his freshman year of college to be easy, but he has to admit that even by his low expectations things are getting quite out of hand. Because that’s the way things tend to go when you’re juggling newf...
