Exam Preparation (Short Story)

April 25th, exams start in May. I’ve been preparing for this since last year, I’ve spent countless nights staying up when I can and studying, whilst also working a part-time job to make sure I have enough money for food the next day. Maths is the first exam, I should be fine, that’s my best subject, I need to get an A in maths which is around 70%, 1 paper, 150 marks, 80 questions total, if I get anything less I’ll have to retake.

April 25th, even if I fail my exams I’ll just take over the family business, not that I’m going to fail anyway, I don’t need to study I just pass without any need. First is maths, that guy always gets the top marks in maths, I’m always second, he gets so stressed about them despite the fact he is better than me.

When School finishes I’ve got to go to work till 8 pm, then I can study till 4 am, 3 hours of sleep should be enough for me, I’ve survived on less before.

As usual, I’ll be picked up from school and then taken to the family mansion, I’ll study when I get back, I need to try and beat that guy this time.

The first exam started, it was a three-hour exam, I sat behind the guy who always gets high marks, maybe I’ll be able to see his answers, I’m sure they can help me.  

…

Halfway through the exam, so far I think it’s ok, I felt sick right at the start, but after the first few questions I feel better.

Three hours is more than enough time to do the exam, behind me is that guy, he looked pale earlier, I don’t know why he is worried, he will probably beat me.

Halfway through, I’ve only got a few questions left, once this is done I’ll rest my head on the table.

“There are 30 minutes left”

Ah, 30 minutes left, I’ve got two questions left, I can do this, it should be fine, I just need to focus…

30 minutes, I finished about 10 minutes ago, I think the guy behind me is still going, poor guy, stressing for no reason, I’m sure he knows he will get top marks.

Still got a lot of time left, I guess I’ll sleep for a bit.

Okay, those last two were tricky but I managed to do something, I should go back and double check all my answers, I don’t want to have lost marks cause I’ve missed something.

…

The exam ended, results will come out in a few days, but I can’t stay and check what everyone else wrote, I need to get to my part-time job, maybe I’ll message someone to check to see if we got the same answers.

The exam was surprisingly hard, normally I would leave straight away, but I want to see what the others got, the guy behind me had to run off, I wish I could have asked him how he did.

…

The results are out today, as usual, everyone is gathered in front of the board to see where they placed.

…

I knew what to expect, just like I said, that guy got first place, but I got fifth.

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Slippy’s Comment:

So, this is the first thing I decided to post, I believe I originally wrote this in october of 2018, the original premise was about how you shouldn’t care about what others get, you don’t know what some people go through to get the grades they have whilst some people can easily achieve them.

I didn’t plan to release this as I feel like it is really bad plus it’s only a page long, but I still wanted to share it as it can be used as a way to see how far I’ve come in the future. Don’t be afraid to share things you think are bad, everyone starts off the same, but with time and practise, you’ll get the results you want.

Thanks for reading.