Vallen: The Marking (Vallen series #1)

Chapter 48

"Alaric Hugo Lauwers." Professor Woodville read out next. By the time he had reached the L, half of the cafeteria was already gone. We received our test results one by one in a closed envelope. No one was stupid enough to open it in a full cafeteria with teachers present. Alaric walked over, received his envelope and walked right back out. I knew that he was heading to my room. That's where we had decided to meet up.

"Eldon Kellan Lauwers." Eldon winked at me and headed over to Woodville. He wasn't as stressed about his exams as his brothers were, though he hadn't exactly told me why. I thought I could see Woodville say something to Eldon, but he gave no response and walked out too.

"Darius Harlan Lauwers." Darius was the last of the Lauwers to leave my table. The stress of his exams had caused his relationship with Rosine to fall apart. He looked nothing like the confident senior I had first met him as. Like most seniors, he was shaking when he got his envelope. I wasn't entirely sure if he would make it to my room.

There were quite a few students in between me and the Lauwers. I got more and more impatient. They would totally open their results and not wait for me, I was getting more and more sure of that by the second. 

"Eira Lovell." Woodville finally said. I nearly sprinted over to him. He handed me the envelope silently, which I took as a good sign. If I had done poorly I am sure he would be gloating. 

The moment I left the cafeteria I did really start sprinting. I ran through the hallways, occasionally catching glimpses of either laughing or crying people. I spotted Aeneas talking to Broderick, both with smiles on their faces. 

I took the steps in the girl's tower two at a time until I finally burst into my room. Darius was sitting next to Eldon on my bed, while Alaric was sitting on the empty one. I still hadn't gotten a roommate. Not a lot of people die in their first year, that would start becoming a bigger threat in our second year. I wasn't worried about it for myself, I knew I would die, but I did worry for Alaric. 

I quietly closed the door behind me and sat down next to Alaric. Only Darius' envelope was blue, to show that he was a senior. Mine was just regular white, like they had sent someone down to Target to get a bunch. 

"Who goes first?" I asked. Alaric and Eldon still hadn't entirely made up, but they could manage being in the same room together. All eyes immediately switched to Darius. He had the most riding on this. 

His hands were shaking when he opened the envelope. He let the blue fall onto his lap and took a deep breath before folding the paper open. The Vallen grading system was quite easy. Each subject was scored somewhere between zero and ten, with five and a half being a passing grade. If Darius wanted a great job, he would have to score higher than an eight and a half for all his subjects. 

"Lower than what I had hoped for." He admitted, after the silence dragged on. Eldon was looking at the paper over his shoulder.

"Eight average." He said. "That's good Dar, really good."

It was great, but not as great as what he had been wishing for. I think we all knew that after a day or two he would be proud of himself, he did still score high. He had just been hoping for more. 

"Open yours." Darius finally said to Eldon, folding away his test results. I could physically see him put aside his own disappointment to focus on his younger brothers. In a way, he looked more like himself again. 

Eldon ripped open his envelope. His hands weren't shaking, but he did look more focussed and less in a joking mood than he would usually be. His expression remained blank as I watched his eyes go down the list. 

"7.3 average." He said. "I fucked up German, but that was to be expected. Swilthin niced me with a nine for archery." Eldon looked through his grades some more, occasionally pointing things out to Darius who smiled along with him. I noticed how Alaric was getting more and more on the verge of tears beside me, so I cleared my throat.