Maddox Academy: Grievous Beginnings - Wattys 2022 Shortlister

Chapter Sixteen - Photographing the Small Moments

"And that is the end of your final examination. Please put your pens down."

Pens clattered throughout the room and I promptly put the cap on and dropped it onto the desk. The paper stared back at me and my mind went back to all the silly mistakes I may have made or answers that could have been better. I looked at the spare sheet of paper beside me, the scribbling that covered it and the holes that had been caused by pushing too hard with the nib of my pen. My hands were covered in ink.

"Thank you and congratulations on completing your last examination. You will receive your results next week. You are dismissed," Miss Collins said.

I scrapped my chair against the floor and stood up, swinging my bag onto my shoulder and dropping my ink and pen into it. The girls filed out of the room with me close behind, stopping just before the door when I realised I had left the scrap paper on the desk. Miss Collins picked the exam paper and the spare sheet with it and I had no chance to salvage it. I never wanted anyone to see what I wrote on those sheets. It was far too embarrassing.

The girls ran down the stairs and poured out onto the grounds with the students who had finished their exams before us. My eyes scanned those sat on the grass or leaning against a tree in search of Katie and Jo whose exam had finished half an hour before my own. I spotted Katie lying on the grass with her arms tucked behind her head. Her eyes were closed, and she had stacked her feet on top of each other to rock back and forth. Jo sat beside her, creating a daisy chain out of the few flowers that had started to appear.

Katie opened one eye when I dropped my bag beside her, smiling at me as I took a seat. We hadn't spoken about the comment she had made at the start of the week, but it kept playing on my mind. I hadn't meant my comment to come across as insensitive, I just never understood the need for people to obsess over the exams if it would only cloud their judgement. Due to the exams scattered throughout the week, we hadn't had much time to talk at all. All our time went into studying.

"How'd it go?" Jo asked, looking up from her daisy chain.

"Alright. I think. I know I made a mistake in the essay, but I can't change it." I shrugged my shoulders and pulled out the bag of lemon sweets, popping one in my mouth.

"At least their over now. Back to normal classes and Parents Day next week. Your parents are coming, aren't they?"

"They should be. I spoke to Michael the other day and he said there shouldn't be any issues."

"So, we finally get to meet the people who created a super-human?" Katie asked, laughing slightly.

"I suppose you will."

"Good. I have questions."

"That sounds ominous."

"I know, that's why I said it."

She unstacked her feet and lightly knocked my knee, closing her eye and taking a deep breath. Almost all the Maddox students were sat on the grass with some of the teachers lingering nearby to make sure no one got into any trouble. The stress that had leaked out of the walls for the past week had faded and everyone appeared so much more relaxed than they had at the start of the week. Everyone seemed far more relaxed, even the teachers didn't seem as stressed as they had been.

For a week everyone seemed on edge. All anyone could talk about was the exam planned for the next day and the questions they were studying that evening. That had all faded the moment we had walked through the entrance and out onto the grounds. Instead, discussions were centred on the weekend and their plans for the upcoming Parents Day. Some were discussing buying something new for the occasion or whether it would be worth cleaning their dormitory.