Waiting

"How did the exam go?" Katie asked me as we ate the snacks.

"It went well except that I found the mathematics questions a bit difficult to answer."

"Mathematics again," She murmured.

"Ahaa, did you see Victor on that day?"  Katie asked as if she suddenly remembered something.

"Noo!, I didn't see him. Why do you ask if I saw him?"

"Aiaah! This boy lied to me." Katie scoffed. "He told me that he will be writing the exam."

"Well, we can't say if he lied. There were two venues in our town and I only wrote at the town hall because it was closest to me. He could have written at the second venue or even in the same venue as I did and there were many people so it's possible to not have seen him." I explained to Katie.

"That makes sense. I'll get to find out if he wrote the exam on Monday." Katie nodded.

"There were many people there on that day, right?"

"Yes, I think it's because of the scholarship. Many people will want to try their luck including me." I replied.

"I am sure you will get it," Katie stated.

"What makes you so sure?"I asked her. I was surprised that she was more confident than I am.

"You gave it your all, right?" She asked

"Yes, I did but..."

"I mean you have been hiding away and reading for the last few days."

"You even forgot about me," Katie whined.

"I am sure you will get it," Katie said as she stood up from the bench.

"Will you stop doubting yourself, Elsie Williams!" Katie enjoined me almost getting visibly angry at me.

Katie sat down again and sighed. She was right, I gave it my all and had no reason to doubt myself.

The atmosphere had become tense and serious. I had to lighten the mood.

"So, what about you? Which school did you choose?" I asked her.

Katie looked at me and refused to respond. I tickled her and she started laughing.

"Elsie, stop! stop!. I will tell you." She said as she struggle to free herself.

I let go of her so that she could speak freely.

"I chose Pristine." She replied.

That's a good choice." I remarked.

I looked at the bowl and found out it was almost empty.

"We still have to leave something for the boys," I said to Katie as she took a handful of chin-chin and began to eat it.

"There's more in the kitchen. My mom made them today." Katie mentioned.

I took a sip from my juice and covered it.

"Stop eating. Let's go and play." I said to Katie.

Katie and I joined the boys in their game. They had long finished playing dodgeball and they were now playing football. We begged them to play dodgeball with us again as it would be more fun with more people. The twins were outside the circle, leaving Katie, Fred and I in the circle to play as they threw the ball at us.

We continued playing until we were tired. Fred and I had to go back home in the late afternoon. Mom had called that she needed to see us before leaving for the hospital.

Katie's mom packaged more snacks for us. She said it was especially for Fred as he didn't eat or take anything because he was playing. Fred and I thanked Katie's parents and went back home.

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

Monday came again and we went back to school again. I was becoming tired of going to school and doing nothing. We only rehearsed, swept our class and played the whole day. Many students no longer came to school but those of us in class six were expected to come to school every day.

The headmistress finally allowed us to stay at home if you want but some students whose parents were both working came to school as they had no one to stay at home with. Fred and Katie's siblings stayed back at home while we went to school.

The news of the entrance exam had spread and everyone was patiently waiting for the results, especially for the announcement of those who were offered scholarships.

As for Mira, she no longer tackled me. She rarely sat in her seat and only talked to me when she had a question to ask and I didn't bother about it.

Two weeks went by and I was growing impatient. I would refresh my dad's email ten times a day to know if there was any news from the school. My dad was already tired of me using his laptop and running down the battery that he practically left his phone for me so that I could be checking the email from there.

I was so engrossed with the result that I forgot to tell my parents about my graduation wear and the month was gradually coming to an end.

I only remembered it on the day we tested our graduation gown in school and had to take it home to iron it for the ceremony.

Luckily for me, my parents weren't angry that I didn't remind them about it on time. Our graduation was scheduled to hold on the 20th of July and I only told them about it on the 10th. My mom was angry because she had to squeeze out time from her schedule to go shopping with me for the clothes and finally I was ready for the ceremony and there was no news from the school yet.

We finally heard from the school but it was not about the result. They sent out messages explaining the reason why they are yet to release the result. The number of people who qualified for the scholarship was more than they planned to take and they had to increase the percentage pass from seventy-five percent to ninety percent and process them all over again.