"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.

We just sat in silence. I listened to the birds as they tweeted away in the trees, something we rarely heard in London. The few leaves on the trees rustled in the wind and the few strands of hair that had escaped my plait hit in my face. With the school day done, I tugged on the end of the ribbon and ran my fingers through my hair to smooth it out. It immediately got caught in the wind and blew to the side, moving directly in front of my face.

Beside me, Katie pushed herself up and crossed her legs. She shuffled behind me and I felt her hands tug through my hair and pulled the front of it back from my face. I didn't know what she was doing, but I let her continue. Her fingers moved delicately through my hair and she tapped me on the shoulder for the ribbon. After handing it over, her fingers raked through the hair on the top of my head and collected it at the back, tying the ribbon in place.

"There. That'll keep it off your face," she said.

"Thank you," I muttered.

She smiled. "You're welcome. I need to apologise for what I said on Monday, it wasn't fair on you."

"It's fine. I get it. Exams are stressful, you have no reason to apologise."

"Yes, I do. I shouldn't have let my own stress get in the way of our friendship. I know you were just trying to help. Perhaps I should have listened to you, spending my time before every exam reading a book just made it worse. You were right."

"Did you just say what I think you said?" Jo gasped, placing a hand on her chest. "Katie Wilson admitting she was wrong? That never happens! Who are you and what have you done with the real Katie?"

"Ha-ha, very funny, Jo. It's true though, I should have listened."

"If only we had something to record this auspicious moment on! It would go down in history as the only moment Katie has ever admitted that she was wrong and someone else was right." Jo laughed.

"Why don't you go get my camera? I promised Grandmother I'd take photographs this year and completely forgot about it. Now sees a good a time as ever."

"Alright, I'll be back."

Jo handed Katie the chair she had been making and stood up, brushing her hands over the back of her school dress to get rid of the grass. Katie shuffled from behind me and I watched her play with Jo's daisy chain. She took my left hand and laid it on my lap, taking the two ends of the chain and tying them around my wrist to form a bracelet. Her fingers danced over my skin, causing it to tingle.

She smiled and swung her body around, laying down with her head in my lap and staring up at the clouds. I ran my hand through her hair, my fingers getting tangled in the curls. At the moment, I felt calm, at peace with everything and as though nothing really mattered. I wanted to stay in that moment for as long as possible, just the two of us sitting in silence. Just existing with one another.

With Katie, I didn't feel as though we had to speak to one another to explain ourselves. We just existed together without the added need of small talk or anyone else to be with us, we were fine on our own. My heart hammered away in my chest and my skin feeling all tingly and strange. Just like before, my mind was blank, and I could think of nothing else than just being with her.

Katie closed her eyes as I continued to play with her hair, my eyes darting back to the daisy chain that sat on my wrist. She had been so delicate when she tied it and she had that little crinkle on her forehead that often appeared when she was concentrating too hard on something. I fought back a smile.

"I've got it! Jo called. I turned and watched her jog down the front steps to join us, wishing she had stayed away a little bit longer.

"Is there any film in it?" Katie asked, opening her eyes and rolling her head to the side.

"Yes, I checked."

"Excellent. I don't know what I'm supposed to take photographs of, though. She said she wanted to see my time at Maddox but it's just schoolwork and studying. Hardly anything worth photographing."

"I disagree." Jo lifted the camera up to her eye and aimed it at us, clicking the button. "There you go, photograph number one."

"I'll have to dig it out for Parents Day as well. Oh, and the project presentations. That should be good fun."

"Easy for you to say, you don't have to get up on a stage," I said.

"Are you nervous about it?" Katie sat up and turned to look at me.

"Wouldn't you be? I hate doing that kind of thing."

Ever since I could remember, I hated getting up on a stage and having to address a crowd of people. There was something uncomfortable about feeling that many pairs of eyes on me, judging my every move and just waiting for me to slip up. When I had received the letter telling me about the presentation day, I flat out told Dad that I didn't want to go to a school that would force someone to do such a thing. He said I was being silly.

Exams I could handle, overly complicated history questions and detailed historical timelines were a breeze but talking in front of people had always been a mountain I couldn't conquer. It almost felt as though I was Sisyphus being forced to roll that boulder up the side of the mountain but letting it go right before I reached the top. Public speaking would always be my enemy.

"I never put you down for having stage fright," Katie said.

"It's the eye contact, it unnerves me. I've never been good around people anyway. Back at my last school, I had one friend and the only reason we became friends was because I offered to help her learn English. I mean, I do speak to other people in my class, but I wouldn't call them a friend. Not like Janina."

"Really? I never would have guessed. You were fine with us from the beginning and I didn't think you struggled with anything, except sewing."

"That was different. You're easy to talk to, most people aren't. I don't know how I'm going to do this presentation."

"We'll help you; it'll be fine."

Katie smiled at me and lightly nudged into my side. She took the camera from Jo the moment she sat down and turned it on me before I could say anything. She clicked the button and grinned before turning the camera on Jo and doing the exact same thing. I looked at my lap and spun the daisy chain around my wrist as I tried to push all thoughts of the presentation from my head.

We had months to go before I needed to think about it, and I didn't want to focus on it any longer than I had to if I could help it. The more I thought about it, the more nervous I became, and I knew I would end up a juddering wreck when it came to my turn to step out on that stage and address my entire year group and their families. I wasn't sure how Katie could help. Michael had tried countless times, but nothing had worked, I just hated being the focus of everyone's attention is I could help it.

The afternoon passed out on the grounds with Katie occasionally taking photographs and Jo knotting more daises together until she had picked almost all the ones around us. I watched the sky change from blue to a purple haze as evening set in. Clouds gathered above us in little patches, almost like cotton. A hazy mist set in, covering everything but creating an almost warm glow with the help of the evening sun as it disappeared behind the trees.

A cold breeze set in and after a little while we gathered up our bags and returned to the main school. Some of the girls remained outside, lying on the grass and basking in the sunlight before it faded completely. Katie and Jo went to drop their bags in the dormitory before supper, but I lingered in the hall to make a telephone call. I had promised Dad I would telephone when our exams were over.

I dumped my bag on the bench and put a few coins from my pocket into the box. After putting in the number and addressing the operator, I listened to the tone before someone answered.

"Hello?" Dad asked.

"It's me," I said.

"Ah, hello, Flick! I take it from the timing that you have finished your March examinations?"

"I had my last one this afternoon."

How did they go?"

"Well, I think. I won't know until next week. We get the results on Parents Day so only time will tell."

"As long as you did your best, I'm sure that is all that matters. If you put everything you had onto that page, then you shouldn't have to worry about it when it comes to results."

"Are you coming to Parents Day?" I chewed on the skin around my nail.

"It's still in discussion. Your mum doesn't think it's a good idea since I'll be attending the project presentations. She said to telephone on Friday and you'll know more then."

"Alright. If I can remember."

"You will."

"Any plans for this evening?"

"Just supper."

"I won't keep you then. I'm sure you did great with your examinations."

"Thank you, Dad."

"Goodbye, Flick."

I muttered a word of goodbye and put the receiver back, sighing and sitting down on the bench beside the telephone. Dad coming to Parents Day had always been an uncertainty. The travel from London to Maddox would have been tiring and there were a lot of extra factors to contend with, including the weather. If it was too wet, then he wouldn't be able to use the wheelchair and he could only go so far with his cane. I knew it to be more likely that he would attend the presentation day since we had better weather in the summer. Sometimes.

Still, with Michael and Mum still planning on attending, I could be glad of that at least. I thought Mum would have to work, but if she had the day off and come then I wouldn't be alone. My biggest fear had been no one turning up and me being the lonely one on Parents Day with no one to have a picnic with. I took my pen from my bag and tore a small strip from the paper bag that held my lemon sweets, writing a note to telephone on Friday.

Facts, I could remember. Dates of upcoming events had never stayed in my head all that long and I usually had to write them down so I wouldn't forget. Mum used to keep a jar full of important dates, so I always knew where to look if I forgot something.

"Did you speak to your dad?" Katie asked as she and Jo emerged from the top of the stairs.

"Yes. He wanted to know about the exams."

"My dad gave me a lecture when I phoned after our last exam. Nothing like the added bit of pressure." She rolled her eyes.

"A lecture? After you just finished your exams?"

"He gives the same one every year. He expects nothing shy of perfection, he should know by now that it isn't going to happen. My sister never used to telephone after exams; she didn't want the lecture."

I furrowed my eyebrows and picked up my bag, swinging it onto my shoulder. Katie seemed so relaxed for someone whose parents appeared to be obsessive over good marks on exams. Had it been me, I would have spent every waking hour studying to make them proud. Dad always told me to do my best and I still did everything I could to make sure my marks were good. If I had been in Katie's shoes, I didn't think I'd be able to cope.

~~~

First Published - July 18th, 2020