The Test

"Why now!" I cursed as my sticky, squirming, slithery little classmates (to be) intercepted me again, for the millionth time that day. Why are girls obsessed with her? I wondered, while another golden opportunity to converse with her skidded away.

I didn't even know her name yet!

"Ok... you are now officially obsessed with her, my friend," Seb complained.

"Oh yeah? Then you...you...fine I admit I am obsessing just a wee-bit on her," I sheepishly replied, "Look, I know that it probably wasn't her in the dream cuz' there wasn't even a face to look at- just darkness. Still, I don't know man: there's just something about her."

"You don't know that. I think it's just one of your excuses to divert your mind from the test, and pretending your life is a romance novel," He ruthlessly replied, leaving me baffled, as I processed what he said.

The test! It had totally slipped my mind-I was so engrossed in trying to talk to her, getting all worked up trying to get her attention, that I had forgotten about the test! It was exactly what Seb was talking about. I was diverting my mind from the test.

"Oh yeah the te-"

I was interrupted by the coordinator. "Rumi Diego!" She called.

I stood up and walked toward the glass doors that had every eyes attention, which meant that everyone was now also looking at me. Covered with sweat, I slowly creeped into the brightly lit room as if waiting for Armageddon, and sat on the chair facing the computer-as stated in the instructions given to us beforehand.

Perspiration trembling down my cheeks, my senses heightened. I was shivering from the idea of what was yet to come. Then, after what seemed to be a thousand hours, the examination started.

The computer screen lit up, showing instructions written boldly in a bold font; it was a viva (yes! a viva) with different variety of questions ranging from topics like current world affairs to diverse facts about planet Earth. Although I knew the answers, voicing them was tough as the tension in my mind was probably being translated into a squeaky shriek as I spoke.

The second part of the test was to determine how fast attempters can adapt to a certain writing style: a composition was to be written on the topic 'my favourite world leader' with a word limit of 700 words. In association with that, the attempter had to choose his/her best-loved poem and captivate its style in his/her own poem consisting of one stanza (because of the time limit). I found the second part quite easy, as I had always had a passion for reading as well as writing.

I got out from the other side of the exam room and back into the lounge area, waiting for Seb to accompany me.

"Ok, I don't know about you, but that test was super easy," Seb commented excitedly.

"I think talking to her will prove more difficult than this viva," I reckoned. Little did I know that it would actually be much harder than I ever fathomed.

"Let's bet then! If you, at the end of the day, are successful in getting her number, I will give you 50 bucks," He stated.

"Blood punch pact?" I proposed with a confident facade over my racing thoughts about how bad of an idea this was.

"Oh dang sonnnn! Its on!" He agreed with an evil grin.

Blood punch pact was our trademark pact: when one party was absolutely sure that they could win a given bet, they would usually propose it. The person who won would be allowed one punch on the losers bicep wearing a boxing glove. I wasn't scared of it, as Seb was weaker than me, and was so thin that he might have gotten swept off his feet if a mildly strong wind were to blow past him. However, he had never once lost the bet. So, naturally he was confident, but I had years of failure bottled up inside me and my bulky body was totally ready to give a beating rather than take one for a change.

After the test we had to wait in the lounge for a little while. I was scanning my surroundings, looking for the girl of my dreams (you know what I mean). Finally, I spotted her in the right corner of the room, encircled by a mob of girls. I looked at Seb, then rubbed and kissed my right knuckles as I stood up for my march towards victory.

There were pesky students littered around her, trying to chat her up as she enjoyed a crispy bagel. It was impossible to get to her without having to trample a dozen kids, which-to be completely honest-seemed like a reasonable price to pay at the moment.

I tried making small talk while she was enjoying her snack, but noooooo! Someone just had to interrupt me. She was like Helen of Troy; if you wanted to talk to her you would have had to start a war!

Then, I tried catching her attention by speaking loudly in front of her, which turned out to be a major flop; she was just too busy with her new friends. It was tough, but that made me want her more- her number- made me want her number more. After that I just kept following her until an angel in the form of a news, arrived.

"We are going to the second stage of the test, so everyone brace yourself, because it's a group task," the coordinator announced, "The groups will be selected at random."

The coordinator then went on to give each one of us a chit with a number written on it. He would then call out numbers one by one, and the students with the same numbers were supposed to come together in teams.

"What's yours?" Seb asked.

"10, you?"

"Me too! Lessgo!" He exclaimed.

Ours was the last group, and each group consisted of 4 members. However, there were 41 participants, and the extra was none other than her.

"I guess this will be the deciding moment, eh?" Seb taunted.

She was given a choice to choose any group.

"May I join group 2?" She asked, her voice sweet and soothing. If she had decided to ask for the moon, the judges would have probably given it to her. She probably chose that group because it was made up of only females. They were like protestors with banners written: NO MEN ZONE.

"Hi, I'm Aliza." I overheard her, a sweet honey like voice introducing itself to her group members.

"Well, there goes anotha one! Rumi, now what?" He sighed in relief, and rubbed my utter defeat off on my face- proud of his DJ Khaled reference.

"The day is young, and I shall not surrender!" I answered confidently, but in reality, I had no ideas left. Yes, I didn't because I had tried everything (at least from the list of things that I was not too shy of doing) before the group test.

We were all assigned tables which each had a piece of paper with a group number taped to it. All the instructions and apparatus were neatly laid out in front of us. Nonetheless, I was still too caught up in my thoughts: who was she? Why was I acting this way? Was this love? Oh Hell no!

"Hey! Rumi! Concentrate right now, you can conspire against me later." Seb quickly interrupted my day dreaming session.

I had clearly forgotten the task at hand. Our group, which was comprised of: Seb, a red head named Joshua, his friend Paul, and I had to prepare a presentation on famous Dutch painter, Vincent Van-Gogh, in under a hour without employing the internet for help. Luckily, I was a total geek when it came to Vincent Van-Gogh, as his life story intrigued me quite a lot and his work always had a special place in my heart.

"You know, you are our best bet for this project," Seb expressed.

"Oh, umm... a Vincent fan?" Joshua asked.

"Great! We can do this!" Paul proclaimed.

"Ok, so it's obvious we are going to base our presentation on his most famous painting: 'The Starry Night'," I suggested. However, at the time I knew that even if I had chosen any other painting, the answer would've been the same: blank nods.

With that little group discussion, we started working on our project, and the hour passed by in a heartbeat. I was quite happy with the result, I couldn't wait for our turn to present. Soon, the presentations started: each group presented projects on the artist assigned to them.

"Group 2," the coordinator called.

The group moved towards the coordinator and got ready for their presentation. It was on Edgar Allan Poe. I so wished to be in their group; not just because of Aliza, but also because I loved Poe and his poems: Lenore, The Raven, Annabel Lee-I could go on and on. Then the time flew, and I thought of only this and nothing more (sorry, had to bring a raven reference).

The coordinator called our groups name, which sent a jolt down my spine as I suddenly became aware of my surroundings. Surprisingly, we were well coordinated, and the judges were quite impressed by our group. Hence, they told us that we were safe. We had no idea whatsoever of what they were talking about.

It turns out we had been accepted in the academy, which meant we didn't need to participate in the last test: the third stage before admissions. Every year the most exemplary group or individual students were given this privilege; the delightful turn of events took us off guard. With no time for me to react, the other three lifted me up on their shoulders the second we were alone in the lounge and gave me three cheers to show their gratitude. Paul, with his quirky smile, dark skin, and black curly hair, was the most energetic of the trio.

Not long after, the other groups spilled in from the door in front of us. They were followed by the coordinator who bore robotic smile which made her look like a female Frankenstein.

"Group 2 and 3, thank you for participating, you may attempt again to qualify next year," she reported in a bland tone, "Congratulations to the others for being chosen as the new annual batch of G.W.A."

We were bamboozled, as we didn't know that the third stage was also based on team work which led to the hopes of TWO whole teams being crushed.

"Wait, this can't be happening: she's GONE?! Now what?!" I shouted, bewildered by this unfair development.

"Miss Aliza, you may stay, as the judges think that you should be given another chance for your commendable speaking skills and contribution to your team," the coordinator said. It was a miracle! The gods were on my side for once!

"Well, that was the worst anti-climax," Seb murmured in a sulky tone. Although the disappointment on my face had vanished for a few seconds, it came back in a flash. I couldn't let him win, no matter what!

We continued walking down aisles of smooth white marble, and pillars of redwood that were standing tall, perfectly fitting in contrast. They were perfectly carved with intricate designs that increased their beauty ten fold. We came to a halt when we reached the golden gate from where we had first entered.

This was my last chance: would I get her number or would I get shot down like a Piñata?

"From here I will escort you to your dormitories; girls on my right and boys to my left." She gestured showing her arms.

"Rumi in the middle." Seb snorted.

"let's get our baggage." Paul suggested.

This was it, the moment of truth. I have to try something, anything- and then it ascended. I pushed through the front lines, and saw her at the back completely hidden from the others, now it truly was a war!

"Ok ladies, you may proceed." We waited for them to leave. No, this can't be, my heart racing, the blood pumped throughout my body faster than usual making my ears red, the only thing I could do was watch her leave. It was like a Déjà vu, the dream all over again everything black in her luminous presence as her dangling brown shiny hair left with the others.

"Now you may continue." The receptionist turned facing us, while my eyes were fixated on silently biding her a farewell. I would later find that it would take me few years before I see her again- if I knew that, I would've captured that moment, and would've wished to stop time at this precise second- at which our eyes locked. For stupidity, made me turn to the opposite side, if only I would've known.

"So... another loss, I have to go soft on you from now on... Rumi, or else your arm will dangle by your side." Seb chuckled.

"A small loss for a better reward, I think it's worth it." I thought it was, and I was right.