The Key

Alice tried to remember who had given her the key. It had been a sad, embarrassing, dreary day for her, and it seemed to her she had lost her mind. To think of it made her embarrassed. They had a Chemistry exam at 10 in the morning. Alice had not studied a word the night before. The reason was not her heedlessness to the importance of the exams and how hard she had tried to reach that level. There was a fight in the house again. Yes, again! As before, his father had come home drunk and was carelessly looking in the closet for something. Her mother could tell he had spent- or rather wasted- all his money on drinks and now had got no money left at all.
“Mary-Anne,” he started, “where have you put your wallet?”
Mary-Anne was the name of Alice’s mother.
“No money left, huh?” cried her mother, “you waste all your money n the damn drinks and now want to waste the mall part of the pay that belongs to me and our children?”
“I said where have you put it? Give it to me right now, or “will throw out all the stuff inside of the closet to get your purse!”
“You won’t, I’ll tell you.” And she went to the closet to take him away from there. A battle started off between them. Mr. Richards took one of the big books from the shelf and threw it to her wife. The book hit her in the forehead. Small drops of blood reddened the right side of her rosy face. She could barely breathe. She left the room crying silently to herself.

Alice could not stand it anymore. At the moment of the battle, she was in her bedroom, sitting at her desk, trying to concentrate on what she was studying. Their teacher had told them that the test is going to be an important one, and a huge part of the book was supposed to be studied by the students.
“Pfff, what a night!” She thought, “I’ve been sitting here nervous, trying to understand the meaning of any word I read. Yet I’ve understood nothing.”
She took a look at all the papers and books she had laid on her big desk. A large part of them was going to be covered in the exam. She had been sitting there helplessly, and had not been able to study all the time.
She continued, “And now this fight is driving me crazy. Every time I hear my dad shout so loud, I try hard not to lose control. I wish I could beat the crap out of him to show him what it means to bully. Poor mom! She has to grin and bear it… But now, how am I to understand these Chemistry lessons? I wish had I listened to the teacher well while she taught in class.”
She strongly regretted being so inattentive at school. She always said to herself, “I don’t like Chemistry, so what the heck? I will make it by studying the night before the exam. It’s a piece of cake!”

So, having found a friend who agreed with her on this matter, she always sat in a corner in the end of the class with her friend, Celia, and quietly gossiped about the boys they met everyday on their way to school.
“He had blue eyes that were as large as an apple,” said Celia, “And it almost made me laugh when I looked at him! He had an innocent look though. He came talking to me, asking if I was seeing someone. And you know what I said? ‘Yes, mister, I see you talk to me so boldly, and if you don’t go away in 30 seconds, I’m going to scream!’ So the poor guy went away. I felt pity for him. He looked like a child, and he was so cute. But I just felt like making a scene of something that day!”
So went on their talks which were mostly gossips. Sometimes that the class was quiet, and they would be heard by the teacher if they talked, they wrote to each other on a piece of paper. Sometimes, these letters, or notes, became so long that one had to be writing for half the time of the class, and the other reading it in about the other half. Sometimes it would have been problematic for them though. Once Alice was writing one of her stories about a girl in her painting class when suddenly their English teacher, Ms. Baxter caught her in the act. She walked closer to Alice, but Alice was too busy to notice. Celia was looking at her book, and she didn’t notice either. Ms. Baxter stood above Alice’s head.
“Alice,” she said, “What on earth are you doing?”
Alice looked at Ms. Baxter terrified, unable to breathe. The teacher went on, “I always knew you wrote something else than the class lessons. Now give me that paper!”
“No,” said Alice, “Ms. Baxter, this is nothing important. I promise this will be the last time and won’t be repeated again, anymore…”
“I said give it to me! Right now! Or both of you are going to fail the course. I will go and call the principal.”
“Okay, you can throw it in the trash bin, and be sure that this was your last time, okay?”
“Okay, Ms. Baxter. I won’t repeat it.”

The letter contained nothing against Ms. Baxter. The reason why Alice and Celia did not want their teacher to read the letter was the story about the girl. The fact was that Alice fancied one of the girls in paining class. The letter said how beautiful she was, with her light brown curly hair which was so cute. She had hazel eyes that gave a glow as she look at you. Her smile was so charming and Alice liked her in a strange way she could not understand herself. Her name was Tina.

Alice had been wondering if she was into girls ever since she met Tina. She had never had such a feeling about girls before. But it seems to her that Tina was different.

But let us not go too far! Alice and Celia went out the class after the bell rang. It was time for the break, after a session of the Chemistry class. Celia kept talking about making that large-eyes boy look like a fool. They laughed all the way to the school yard.

But her exam was such a drag. She remember going to the classroom, having studied nothing. She felt like her head was totally empty. She could not think. She could not even remember any of the things their teacher had taught in class before. She never listened carefully, and now she had to face the music…

She looked for Celia, and found her sitting next to one of the “brainiacs” in the front row.
“Celia,” said Alice, “You promised to sit next to me!”
“Sorry, Alice. Mr. Johnson has helped me a lot with Chemistry, and I’ll be sitting next to him during the exam.”
“Oh, but last night that we talked on the phone, I told you about the fight in my family and that I couldn’t study. You said I could sit next to you and copy what you write!”
“Well... Sit next to John. He could help you with it, I think. He has always been good at Chemistry. I told this boy I’ll sit next to him. Now it’s not good to change my seat.”
“But Celia, you know John and his dumb friends are always looking for a reason to mock others.”
“But why would he mock you today? I guess he’ll be too busy answering the questions.”
“O.K. then. I’ll go…”
She sat next to John. She hoped John would do nothing crazy while she is close to him.

John was famous for doing crazy things. Once he brought a few mice to the class and freed them under the desks of some girls. The mice started running around in a crazy manner, and the girls screamed and a few ran out of the class with fear. On the other hand, John and his friends had a lot of fun that day. Eventually the teacher, who was Ms. Baxter, called the principal and the boys got scolded so severely.

John looked at Alice, and smiled with himself. Alice did not notice his devilish smile. She closed her eyes, and hoped she would be able to look at John’s answer sheet and copy some answers on hers. She did not believe in cheating. But that day, it seemed like she did not really have any other way. Besides, John was good at Chemistry and usually got high marks.

The exam started. The teacher, Ms. Brown, distributed the questions among the students. Alice was so nervous. She was waiting for John to start answering the questions. But john was groping for something in his backpack. His friends who were sitting behind him, giggled. She saw John take out a piece of paper from his backpack. He took an assured look on his face, as if he had found what he was searching for. He started reading and answering the questions after a few seconds. Alice was looking at John’s paper. She could see some of the answers some had given.
“Fortunately,” she thought, “He writes in such big handwriting. I can read most of the words he is writing!”
She easily copied most of the things John had written down. Glad with how the exam had turned out to be, she gave her answer sheet to the teacher and put her pen in her backpack. She decided to leave the class. She took a final look at John.
“Oh!” she though, “He’s still writing! Writing in such a hurry…. I saw his answer sheet; he had answered all the questions… What does this mean?”
Bewildered, she walked out of the classroom. But at that very moment, the exam time was over and Ms. Brown told the students to hand in their papers. She asked the students not to leave the room until she finishes reading their answers. Alice went back to her seat next to John. She turned back for a moment. Celia was discussing the questions with dull Jack Johnson. The rest of the students talked to one another in groups of two or three. Most believed the exam was so simple.
“Thank God,” she thought, “I could read what John had written. At least I’m sure I won’t fail. John has always been good at Chemistry, in spite of his crazy mind. If only we were on speaking terms… Then I could ask him to give me all of the correct answers.”

About 15 minutes passed. Most of the students were talking to each other cheerfully. The class was filled with the voices of the boisterous students. Ms. Brown was heard among the students, screaming in shrill voice. She told the students to be quiet.
“Alice James!” she called, “You come to the front and stand here.”
Alice was perplexed. Ms. Brown was holding her answer sheet in her hands. She was looking at Alice in a queer manner, that indicated anger and humiliation.
“Quick!” said the teacher, “Alice James, I called your names. Can’t you hear me?”
Alice went toward the front of the room. All the students were looking at her with surprised and amused looks. She could not understand what was going on. She thought that there would be no reason but he blowing the exam.

She stood in front, with her back to the board and looked at the teacher and the students so confused.
“Alice!” said their teacher, “There is not even one correct answer on your answer sheet. All the things you have written are ridiculous! How could one ever think of such theories and formulas? I can’t believe it…”
Alice looked at John angrily. Now she knew why John was writing so hurriedly! He had deliberately written those wrong and silly answers to make a fool of her. When she was done copying, he took his other piece of paper and wrote the correct answers on it. Then he gave the new answer sheet to Ms. Brown.

John and his friends were giggling. They looked at her with an evil grin, which showed how amused they were. The teacher continued,
“Now let’s read one of the simplest questions: Which formula represents a salt? And the choices are: A: KOH, B: KCl, C: CH3OH, D: CH3COOH.
This is so simple, Alice! CH3COOH is an organic acid. You needn’t even think about it. I’m so astonished how a student would not distinguish between acids and salts…”
She continued scolding and humiliating Alice until Alice felt she could not bear it anymore. With tears in her eyes, she ran out of the room. Still she could hear Ms. Brown’s voice reading the questions and Alice’s answers:
“Listen to this one! This is one of the easiest questions ever: Which solution will change red litmus to blue?...”
Alice got away from there. She felt so miserable. With what had happened in her home last night, and now, this embarrassing exam, she felt it was too much for her and she could not stand it. Tears rolled down her eyes, then down her face and dripped on her shirt. She ran to a corner in the school yard. There was a big oak tree in the corner. She sat under the tree and cried. She cried with all the pain and agony inside her agitating her. She thought about how days pass at home, and how she suffered to see her mom suffer. Besides, she had been doing no good at school recently.
“What is it?” It was a girl approaching her. Alice’s eyes were filled with tears, and hardly could she see the face of the girl in the distance. The girl came closer. It was Tina, the girl in her painting class.
“Why are you crying?” said Tina, “I was just passing by when I saw you. What’s the matter?”
Alice stopped crying. She was looking at Tina. Tina was very pretty indeed!
“Come on, tell me what has happened. Have you broken up with your boyfriend, or something?”
Alice shook her head to say no.
“Then what’s wrong? Did you blow your exam?”
Alice nodded in confirmation.
“Don’t worry! We all blow exams at times. It just happens to everybody”

***********************

Alice reviewed all these memories in her mind. How she liked Tina!
But who had given her the key? There was a key in her pocket when she got home. She had been thinking about all the things that happened that day, all the time. And now she had remembered the key again!
Wait a minute! It was Tina’s key! Tina gave her the key to her small closet in the school corridor. Oh, yes, now Alice remembered everything!
Tina gave her the key because she was in a hurry. She told Alice to go and take a few cookies and a hanky from the closet to dry her eyes with.
“I will go and thank her tomorrow,” she thought, “Isn’t she sweet? Tomorrow I will talk to her more. And of course, I will kick John’s butt!”
So joyful and so relieved, she went to bed and thought about tomorrow.


~ June 1 – 2, 2009 ~