Chapter 66: Chapter 67: Struck by an Arrow
"Exams' tougher than expected" Mari complained as the four of them headed home.
"Yeah it is" Nathan said and looked down at the ground they were walking at and kicked some pebbles out his way.
"How'd you do Joy?" Mari asked Joy, who was spacing out and thinking bout something.
"Oh, I did just fine" she said and hugged the paper bag she was holding. "But it is such a drag to check 2 exams on one night."
All of them were holding paper bags which contained all their classmates' examination papers with their own already checked.
"It's a relief that I got a perfect score at Math." Nick said and held his head up high. "Joy, you should be worried now. I might be able to defeat you now."
"Good luck with that" Joy replied and nervously laughed at his confident declaration. "Too bad Physics and Ethics came to me. This is unfair. You all only have one test papers to check."
"Do you want me to check the other one for you?" Nathan asked but Joy just smiled at him - which made him blush feverishly- but it was a nonverbal cue from her that she'd be okay. "Come to think of it. What's your score on the tests?"
"Oh," She was about to answer when the three of them surrounded her and gave intimidating atmosphere around her, and she was forced to give them what they want. She handed them the test papers and they saw hers on the front.
[they were muttering 'how many percent? how many percent? how many percent?!']
They slowly lifted the paper and they tried to prepare themselves for something they knew would come to them. They knew already what they would see but they still wanted to make sure that what they were expecting wouldn't actually happen. They lifted it from the paper bag slowly and steadily until her name popped out. They breathed hard at the same time as Joy turned around and blushed because of embarrassment.
"You know we should head home no-"
"WHAAAAAAAATTTTTTT?!!!!!!!"
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
"The hardest exams for us were the physics and ethics so why does this paper have a hundred percent mark on it?! Why?!" they all came to her and confronted her not because of shock, but with amazement knowing that the human in front of them never touches notes.
" I reviewed this time!" Joy defended herself and tried to maintain a safe distance between the four of them because they were all coming at her like hungry beasts wanting to devour her.
"How many days? Hours? Weeks?"
"When I borrowed your notes toda-"
"that was the only time?"
"Yes. That was the only t-"
"Nathan, my Mari. You know what to do." Nick instructed them like they were some army and he was the general. However, the two nodded and gestured a roger sign with their hands.
"What are we doing?" Joy asked them as they were searching for something but they just ignored her. At last they came to an empty bench before their gate at school and sat. They searched for her paper and took it out. Fallon, who was trying to avoid social interaction by walking fast saw them and hurriedly approached.
"I got the Lit exam." She said and took out a paper. "I already checked it. All of the people at class scored high. Nick, 98. Mari, 98. Nathan 100- same as Joy."
"How many did you get?" Mari asked as she was checking the test paper.
"I got 99." she said sadly but she doesn't have the the time to dwell on her loss. She immediately helped them check paper.
"You are really doing this guys?" Joy asked them but they were all uninterested with what she was saying.
"I finished checking her Math. Fallon, count it. I'll check yours." Nick told her and she took it without a doubt as Nathan and Mari were already counting.
"She did not make any mistake in Math!" Fallon wasn't astound but she was in fact amazed by her feat without reviewing at all.
"And in Philosophy too!" Mari said and tried to count again.
"She got 2 mistakes! She really got 2 mistakes out of 100!" Nathan shouted. All of their dark mood had lightened up so badly that all of them- including Joy looked to see. "Two mistakes in World History!"
"So Nathan's average at exams was 95.4 because he miserably flunked history. Mari's average was 94 for flunking Philosophy. Nathan's average was 97. My average is 97 because of my history and Joy's average is 99. This genius really gets on my nerves!" Fallon shouted as all of them nodded in agreement." Hey what's in your head? Give me some!"
"What? Many things can still affect our grades right? Like performance at others. R-right?" She tried defending herself from the wolves and upon hearing the words, they seemed to have calmed down.
"Yep. You are right about that." Fallon said. "However, Nathaniel, I didn't know your abilities can catch up to me."
"What did you say?" Nathan asked her in a calm manner, as if he never heard her. Fallon rolled her eyes and with that, they all decided to go home but her route wasn't the same as them so they parted ways.
"So we'll have a full week of vacation right?" Mari said as they reached the wooden bridge.
"I'll be training my focus at that time and I will visit your house sometimes." Nick said and winked at Mari.
"Stop that." she said and bumped his shoulder.
"So, you Nathan beat me into a pulp this exam huh." Nick told Nathan who was looking at the sandwich on the zip lock.
"That's just so expected." Nathan replied.
"Shouldn't have let you have that sandwich. I should have eaten it!" Nick teased and Nathan just blushed.
However, they noticed late that Joy stopped walking already and they were all getting ahead. They looked back at her as she stood up on the wooden bridge, looking at the setting orange sun.
" Hey are you okay? " Nathan asked and they approached her.
"Yes. I am okay but I think I was struck by something. It came fast- like an arrow- and it hit me straight on my heart. It purged me." she muttered. Mari came closer to her and tried to touch her shoulders.
"What arrow? What struck you?"
"Suddenly, it became so painful" Joy replied and looked down.
"Are you mad at us because-"
"No. This is just me. It happens all the time. I think pain just struck me here." Joy said and held her chest tightly. "I'm okay. Let's go home! It's gone now."
"Are you sure?" Nathan asked with concerned eyes.
"Yes. Sorry for ruining the vibe." she said and they all walked to their homes slowly and wandering what just happened because they a felt the same way as she did.
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