Chapter 2, The Big Test

Katherine Garcia goes for the big test to try and get into the notorious Hex Academy, a school that is really big and captivates her from the first sight of it.

A week flew by. After my running out on my parents, I returned once I caught a glimpse of the new school I had a chance of going too. It’s large buildings and towers were really nice, and it brought me in just like my parent’s had hoped. Tensions were still there between me and them, but it was dying out. They were my mother and father, doing what they had to and what they thought were best.

Even if I hated the island, I struggled to understand it fully. My mother had always hated living in cities, but there was a neighborhood evolving into a small city all around us. Now, she is doing it for my father, and claims that it is also for me. It hurts her to know that I hate the island, that I hate everything about it.

The only thing that was on my mind was school, though. In an hour, I’ll be taking the tests to try and get into Hex Academy as a student. The morning was filled with eggs and toast for breakfast, and my father reassuring me that I’d do great on these tests. My mother had a worried look to her, however. She was more realistic and knew my past test scores whenever a big test came back. This time, I really wanted it. And a whole week studying my a*s off made me feel like I could pass any test and write four essays in a row.

Okay, so maybe not that many essays. I hate essays.

My mother drove me down to the testing building. It wasn’t in the school, and their excuse was not to scare me or pressure me with the scenery around me. The place I was taking the tests was small, and looked as big as a shed from the outside.

“You’ll do fine, Kate. Good luck,” she told me. My mother gave me a peck of a kiss on the cheek and shooed me out of the car.

I walked to the door and opened it. The inside was bright, really, really bright. My eyes instantly closed, squeezing tightly. As they opened just a bit, I could see the white walls.

“Bright enough? The janitor just installed new light bulbs in every light fixture,” said a woman’s voice off to the side. I opened what I could of my eyes, still not bringing them fully opened. She was wearing a black suit, with a matching skirt. Her blonde hair was pulled and twisted into a messy bun. Her glasses made her eyes look big from my side of them. “Take a seat when you’re ready.”

“I think I am at the wrong place. I’m supposed to be doing the test for Hex Academy,” I told her. There was one seat in the tiny room--shed. The woman waved me to the seat while she was sorting through papers. A giant packet of thick papers slammed on top of the desk as I slowly scooted into the desk.

“No, you’re in the correct location.”

It sure didn’t look like it. Was I the only one taking the test? The woman was staring at me, eyeing me from her desk. “Can I begin?”

“Go for it.”

The test packet looked like it was easily one hundred pages. Every twenty five pages was a new subject. Back in New York, there were SATs to take, and they were a big deal. I never signed up for the practice ones, but I wished I had after seeing this test. First up was the English part, writing, and essays right away. It was to test your logic in the questions and tire you out with writing down long answers. But not me. I took this at my own pace, and I filled it out very carefully.

An hour into the test, the woman stopped me. She let me get up and stretch, take a break, and walk around the building twice. It wasn’t that big of a walk, maybe a minute to circle the entire room.

I closed the test packet and pushed the answer sheet forward. “All done.” The clock over the chalkboard told me it had been three hours since I started. Very easily the biggest test of anyone’s life.

The woman picked her head up off the desk. “I hate these tests,” she said, coming from around the desk and taking my answer sheet. Quickly, she looked it over and let a small smile tug at her cheeks. “Very nice, Miss Garcia. Go home and we will call you a little later with the results.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

~~~~~

Two days later, the woman from the test called. She went over with me, very slowly, each part. On the English part of it, the first twenty five pages, I had been scored a seventy-five. Which to her wasn’t bad, but it made me worry knowing that I had to have an amazing ending result. The next section, Math, I unfortunately scored a fifty on. It was never my best subject, but I didn’t think I did so bad. Third, Science, my strongest subject landed me a big ninety-five. She didn’t let me forget that the science part might have saved me. The last quarter of the test was dedicated to the study of the occult, and what I knew about supernatural things.

It was really weird going over it the other day. Before the move, I liked reading. Now, I couldn’t manage to stay seated in a house that didn’t feel like home. There was nothing to do but I found the littlest things to do to occupy myself.

I scored a surprising eighty-five, which let me pass the test by the skin of my teeth, as my father put it. Whatever that meant, I didn’t care. I passed the difficult test to get into Hex Academy, and I started tomorrow.

Hex Academy, here I come! Katherine Garcia is in the house--or school, as it would be.

Author's Note

I realize this chapter may be a little sloppy, and I am sorry.