Apprentice by Thomas Patricia

Author:Thomas, Patricia
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Patchwork Press
Published: 2017-03-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

At least, at the end of our second year, we didn't have to wait long to get our exam results.

All forty-two of us left the academy's largest classroom, around the same time, after handing in our final exam of the week. It had consisted of exactly a thousand multiple-choice and short answer questions. Each test would be instantly graded by way of a new spell that Scholar Credence had been trying to perfect.

Every one of us was trying not to be too obvious or to move too quickly while we thundered down the stairs in one massive group to the second-floor academy entryway.

I was one of the first to arrive but there was no sign of our class rankings listed anywhere yet.

I was feeling good about how things had gone, both on my exams and over the course of the last semester. There hadn’t been all that much actual catching up to do since I'd still been trying to learn as much as I could, only making a point to test at an average level.

People had quickly noticed the difference, both teachers and classmates commenting on how I seemed to have come to life overnight after we came back from our break between terms.

In a matter of weeks, Tommen and I were both retreating to the same empty classrooms on some of our lunch breaks, studying in companionable silence, both flipping through our own books and papers until the last fifteen minutes or so where we'd start off asking one another questions on things we needed to clarify before inevitably breaking into completely unrelated conversations.

I’d started to love studying and learning again, and that counted for a lot.

A strong hand squeezed my shoulder and I turned around to see that Tommen had joined me in my spot beside the stairs. "You're going to do great," he said, probably reading my thoughtful expression as nerves. "You've been on fire for months now and I'm sure it has paid off."

I shrugged, still trying to act like the results didn't matter to me as much as they did. Or at least, no more than they mattered to everyone else. As a school full of book nerds, we were all dedicated to acing our classes, and as we got more comfortable with each other a more competitive streak had begun growing throughout our ranks.

But I still felt like I had something to prove to myself, as well as to everyone else.

"Well, we both know you are going to be at the top of the class, again."

Tommen grinned but there was a glint of uncertainty hiding behind his eyes. "We'll see."

I didn't notice when the sheet of paper appeared, pinned to a wall rather than escorted in by one of our professors, but everyone started moving and talking over each other at once.

Someone stomped on my foot as another person shoved their shoulder into mine, as we eagerly pressed forward to see our results. And I was right there with them, trying not to get pushed too far back as I weaved within the crowd, losing contact with Tommen almost at once.

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