My life... (Completed)

Chapter 23

It was finally the end of exams. Hana was so busy studying for her exams that she felt so relaxed after the whole thing had ended. Plus, it was her end-of-year exams so she played even harder this time. The moment her last exam ended, she had went home to sleep immediately, declining Carrie's suggestion to go out after exams. Hana had once again refused to go out with her friends. She just didn't want to. She had watched the both of them changed into their clothes and went out of school together. Hana felt a bit envious, maybe she shouldn't have rejected them. But she seriously didn't want to go though. She was now in her own room, enjoying herself. Hana smiled. It's been so long since she's able to relax and enjoyed herself.

For the next week, Hana was still having fun, watching her favorite shows on her computer. But, there's another exam coming up. It was her Chinese O levels. It was especially important for her because it would determine if she could continue studying Higher Chinese (advanced Chinese). And, it would help her in the rest of her O levels next year. It was just two weeks away and Hana still didn't want to start studying yet. She hadn't rested enough yet. Her mum was nagging at her to hurry up and study. Hana just droned it all out. 

One week left to her exam. Hana had just started studying while everyone else was already studying hard for their exams, including Carrie who always seems to have so much free time. Hana knew she had started too late. But she didn't care though. She needed that break desperately. Maybe if she studied even harder during this period of time, she might still do quite ok in the exam. Well, maybe...

Day of the exam. Hana was really nervous now. She hadn't prepared properly and she didn't felt ready at all. Hana went to school around her usual time and was walking to the canteen when she saw Carrie. She was shocked. She herself usually arrived in school at about 6.30am but Carrie, who usually didn't come this early, was already sitting in the cateen, studying her notes. Hana suddenly felt a fall in her confidence. If Carrie turned up so early to study, she must have studied really hard. What am I going to do? I think I might fail! Hana thought as she walked towards Carrie. As she reached the table, Hana smiled and said, "Hi, you're early today."

Carrie looked up and said, "Of course I've got to be early! It's a really important day! I'm scared that I couldn't wake up on time so I came super early. Oh my gosh, Hana, I'm so nervous!"

"Same here," Hana replied as she, too, took out her own notes. 

"Nah, I'm sure you'll do well. You're really good at Chinese. You're in the second best class for Chinese lesson, " Carrie said. "But look at me, I'm in one of those more average classes. I'm really worried and scared!"

"I'm sure you'll do fine too, " Hana said, forcing a smile. So what if she was in the second best class? She could fail too. Why is Carrie becoming more and more like Sasha? Why? Just because she's a little bit better than Carrie at the subject doesn't mean Carrie should look at her as if she was some kind of genius that would definitely ace it. Hana felt even more worried now. Everyone was expecting a lot from her. They were all pressuring her to do well. And it was really getting on her nerves.

After the first paper. The first paper had ended. Hana felt that she had done quite ok. She felt quite confident of her essay. But then, there's the second paper. She wasn't good at the comprehension part at the end. But there was nothing she could do though. There was no way to study for the comprehension part now. So, she sat down with Carrie in the canteen, eating her bread and waiting for the next exam to start. Hana felt even more nervous than before and the nervousness was killing her appetite and making her stomache come back again. Hana always had stomaches when she was really nervous. It always happens. She told Carrie, "Hey, I'm going to the toilet."

"What? Again? But we just went!" Carrie said. 

"It's my stomache. I get when I'm nervous. Call me if it's time to go into the exam hall, "Hana said as she walked towards the toilet.

After the paper. It was finally over. Hana was so happy. She could relax once again and she felt that she had done quite well too. So, Hana went home happily to enjoy her well-deserved break.

***

November. It was time for everyone to get their report book back. Hana hadn't done well this time round. She had failed her physics exam miserably. It was really horrible. Even she herself didn't even expect to score that badly. Her amaths exam was only slightly better, with the usual I-just-pass-the-paper kind of grade. Nothing was going her way. Well, except for her geography paper, which she got an A for. But it was what she expected of herself though. It was her favorite subject anyways and she had always gotten an A for it. But the rest of her results weren't any good at all.

Mr Yee was going to give out the report book, going by their alphabetical order, which means Hana was the fourth one to get her report book. Hana waited nervously for her turn.

"Andrea....(Ang) Yvonne... Bernice... (Cho)Hana..."

Hana went up to take her report book, nervous yet eager to see how she had done overall. She sat down and looked. 

It was no good, no matter how well she had done for geography. She didn't fail anything, save for physics but her grades were bad enough that she was ranked 32/42 in her class! That's like the last tenth place in her class! It was horrible! Hana was never ranked this low before. She was always in the middle ranks. How is this possible?! What was her mum going to say?!

"Hey, Hana! You want to exchange our report books?" Sasha asked.

Of course, Sasha would want to exchange. She was so competitive in her studies. And as expected, she had done really well this time, being one of the top students in school. Sasha was literally beaming with pride now.

"Come on, let's just exchange! We won't say anything after we look at each other's, ok?" Sasha pleaded.

"Okay..." Hana reluctantly agreed.

She gave hers to Carrie and took Sasha's report book. It was really good. Almost straight As, unlike her. She was such a failure...

She took Carrie's report book from Sasha and took a look. It seems that Carrie wasn't doing any better than her. Carrie had failed her amaths, physics and chemistry exams and was ranked 34/42 in class. Well, at least she wasn't the only one feeling sad. At least Carrie would sympathize with her, unlike Sasha.

***

The last day of school was coming soon, something that Hana wanted and dreaded at the same time. 

*** 

Hey guys! This is the last call for any more Q&A questions that you all have. Just type "Q: -question-" in the comments if you want to pose a question for me in the Q&A. Please ask me lots of questions! :)

And one more thing. School is starting soon for me and I'll be like super busy studying. So I most likely won't be doing regular updates anymore. I'll try to post something every week but no guarantees :)