I walked into the student council room and sat down in a carefree manner. I looked around and noticed everyone with bags under their eyes while exhibiting stress coping behaviors.

Artie was embroidering a handkerchief while muttering to himself.

Lucius was sobbing quietly with his head on the table.

Mathias was staring at the ceiling with a blank expression.

Mary was sleeping soundly on the table.

Dante wasn't affected at all. He just sat there with a bored expression as he watched me calmly.

Millie had a warm smiling face as she looked down at her work and began to draw... Knives. Wait? Why was she drawing knives?! Is she also writing names on her paper?? Why are they crossed out? Oh. My. God. Is that a hit list?!

Nope. Not going to ask. Okay, moving on.

William was mumbling in irritation as he stuffed the cookies Mary had made for me in his mouth.

I looked at all of them in confusion. Just what is going on? Why does everyone seem so stressed out?!

I grabbed a cookie from the platter and took a bite. I instantly spat it out, "Bah! Salty!" I held out the cookie in my hand with a disgusted look, "What the hell is this monstrosity! MARY!"

Mary picked up her head with her eyes still closed, "Huh?... What?"

I frowned, "Just what is wrong with all of you?! Why do you all look so tired and stressed out?!"

"BECAUSE WE ARE TIRED AND STRESSED OUT!" Lucius wailed at the top of his lungs.

Artie turned to me with an exhausted look, "Why wouldn't we be tired?"

I looked around in confusion, "Uhh..."

William smacked his forehead, "Did you forget?!"

I frowned, "Forget what?"

Millie answered, "Next week is the annual national exam."

"What? Since when?"

Why don't I have any recollection of this supposed test?

William groaned, "You've always taken the test! How could you forget?!"

Millie smiled warmly, "I don't think Seri realized she has taken the test before. Usually in class she sleeps the entire time. When a teacher puts a test in front of her, she completes it and quickly falls asleep again."

Lucius looked at me in disbelief, "How have you not flunked out?!"

I smiled arrogantly, "Because I'm a genius."

William rolled his eyes, "Yeah right."

Millie giggled, "Seri actually was able to pass because of her science and math scores. They were almost perfect so it bumped up her final average score."

I looked at Millie in surprise, "How do you remember my scores?"

She smiled, "That's because we are friends."

I guess that makes sense?

William spoke, "The test grades are displayed for every student to see."

I mumbled, "Well that's a bit mean."

I sat back and crossed my arms. National exam... National exam... That does seem a bit familiar. Aha! Now I remember. There was a brief part about the national exam in the original novel. For nobles, the exam isn't very serious. If they flunk it, the worse that will happen is that they will have to repeat classes. However, for commoners it was a totally different story.

Commoners were only able to attend the Academy because of their test scores. They had to get a certain score on the Exam in order to stay at the school. Usually, William would come in first place, Dante in second place, and Mathias in third place. However, once Mary started attending, this was no longer the case.

Mary was a natural born genius.

Unbelievable. I know.

However, in the original novel she would take first place in the national exam. This would infuriate William and he constantly tried to beat Mary. This competition between the two would turn out to be a precursor to the start of their relationship.

Does this mean that this scene has already occurred?

I looked between Mary and William. Mary yawned and William looked at me suspiciously. Nope. There's no way that scene occurred. I would have remembered it.

William spoke, "I can't believe you don't take it seriously. Don't you know how important this exam is?"

I waved him off, "Eh, all I need to do is pass. I don't care how important it is after that."

He smirked, "You probably only say that because you know you wouldn't get a good score."

I frowned, "I could get a good score! I bet I could even beat your score!"

William scoffed, "Yeah, right! You couldn't beat me if you tried!"

I shouted back, "I bet I could easily beat you!"

He shouted back to me, "Well I bet that YOU won't even get in the top 10!"

I slammed my hands on the table, "It's a bet then! So what do you want to bet?"

William smirked, "I bet that if you don't score within the top 10, then you have to do my work for an entire month."

I stuck out my tongue, "Are you serious?! When would I be able to sleep?"

He snickered, "What? Think you will lose?"

I turned my nose up, "Of course not! Fine! You're on! But, if I win you'll have to cut off that ponytail of yours."

William gasped and held his ponytail, "My hair?!"

I nodded, "Oh yeah. I've been thinking lately... Why do you even have a ponytail?! Don't you know short hair is much more attractive?"

William felt wronged by this, "My long hair is attractive!! It's a symbol of nobility!"

I rolled my eyes, "Nobility my a**. No, I want to cut it." William looked as though he wanted to cry. I chuckled, "What? Do you think you won't win?"

William hit the table, "I WILL WIN! I WILL DEFINITLY WIN!"

"Then you're on!" I shouted back.

Mary looked between the two of us in confusion, "Wait... What's happening?"

I grabbed onto Mary and Millie, "Let's go study!"

I dragged them off to another room. William shouted, "That doesn't mean you can just skip your duties and- Oh, nevermind."

While we were in the other room, I looked at the two with a serious face, "I need your help studying. We have one week so that should be enough."

Millie looked at me carefully, "But Seri... I don't think we can help you that much..."

"What? Why not?"

They both glanced at each other. Millie spoke, "Me and Mary... Well, we are quite average."

"AVERAGE?" I shouted in a panic.

Millie nodded, "Oh, but how about this? Since you are already good at math and science, you just need to focus on the other topics. I can help you with writing since it's my best topic. For history, it would be best to ask Mathias for help. He's really great with that topic. That would just leave etiquette. Perhaps you could ask Joel?"

I groaned, "Ugh. That guy." I nodded rubbing my temples, "Alright. We only have one week. Let's do this thing."

_______

The day of the national exam arrived. I walked to class wearing glasses with my hair tied up. William met me in the hall and raised an eyebrow, "Why are you wearing glasses?"

I pushed the glasses trying to appear studious, "Because I need it for my test."

William frowned, "But it doesn't have any lens..."

"Don't judge me."

William rolled his eyes, "Whatever." He turned around and went into his respective room. Dante went to follow, but hesitated.

He bent down and kissed my forehead, "Good luck."

I swatted him away and blushed heavily as I held the place he had kissed. He chuckled and caught up to William. I frowned as I watched him go.

Was he trying to make me flustered so I would lose? HAH! Nice try. I am more mentally stable than that.

I walked into my room rubbing my forehead with a slight smile. I sat down and waited for the test to start. The national exam was like a standardized test. There were certain topics that would be covered in this test. However, there was one difference.

Everyone in the entire school would get the same test. However, the scores needed to pass would differ based on which year you were. You could always get a higher score than what was necessary, but that was mostly for showing off. They posted the grades of every student because they believed it would make them work harder.

However, this was the first time I ever paid attention to it.

The first part of the test was paper exams. First was math, then science, then grammar/writing, and then finally history. I knew I would ace math and science because I am incredibly smart... But grammar and history... Well. Those aren't my best subjects.

After completing the paper testes, everyone gathered around for the final test. This test was to evaluate your etiquette. This included walking, eating, proper party behavior, speaking, and basically everything that was super annoying.

Millie and Mary watched as I participated in etiquette. Mary whispered to Millie, "Oh! She's doing so well! She really did practice!"

Millie nodded in excitement, "She might actually get a perfect score!"

Mary giggled, "She passed the first part of the etiquette test! Oh, look! The judges look so surprised and impressed."

Millie watched pridefully, "Well, Seri can be good at etiquette if she actually tries. Oh.. Oh no.."

Mary looked in confusion, "What? What is it? Did she do something wrong?"

"No... But... Look. There's a vein throbbing in her forehead."

"A vein?! What does that mean?"

"She's about to explode."

"Explode?!"

"Seri may be able to do well at etiquette, but she doesn't have the patience for it. She can only last so long before-"

"F*CK THIS!" I shouted and tossed the fork.

The testing supervisor shouted, "SERI!? What do you think you are doing?!"

I shouted back, "WHY ARE THERE SO MANY F*CKING FORKS?!"

...

After the tests concluded, we gathered for the results. I stuck my tongue out at William, "Prepare to lose!"

William's face flushed, "No! You're the one going down!"

Millie spoke, "The tests results for math are now released."

The results were:

1st place: Seri. 99 points. Note: A perfect score except -1 points for not writing her name.

2nd place: William. 98 points.

3rd place: Mathias. 96 points.

4th place: Dante. 95 points.

26th place: Millie. 73 points.

28th place: Artie. 62 points.

32nd place: Mary. 50 points.

63rd place: Lucius. 20 points. -Fail.

Lucius sobbed, "I failed again!!"

Millie looked at me in disappointment, "Seri... Did you really not write your name?"

I chuckled in embarrassment, "Well... I mean, they know who it is, right? So why should I write my name?" I looked at William, "Oh well. I still beat you!"

William grumbled, "Just wait until the next test."

The results for the science test were as followed:

1st place: Seri. 98 points. Note: -2 points this time for not writing her name. Seriously. Start writing your name.

2nd place: William. 98 points.

3rd place: Dante. 97 points.

11th place: Mathias. 87 points.

12th place: Millie. 85 points.

21st place: Artie. 59 points.

29th place: Mary. 45 points.

57th place: Lucius. 40 points.

Lucius sighed in relief, "Ah, I barely managed to pass this time."

I shrugged as I looked at William, "We tied."

William scowled at me, "Start writing your name."

The grammar/writing test results were as followed:

1st place: Lucius. 100 points.

2nd place: Dante. 99 points.

3rd place: William. 95 points.

4th place: Millie. 92 points.

9th place: Seri. 80 points.

12th place: Mathias. 76 points.

24th place: Artie. 68 points.

45th place: Mary. 45 points.

We all looked at Lucius. He smirked smugly, "I've always been told I'm really good with words."

William rolled his eyes, "No matter. I'm still beating Seri. Only history and etiquette remain."

The scores for history were as followed:

1st place: Seri. 100 points. Note: We gave up on trying to reinforce her writing her name.

2nd place: Mathias. 99 points.

3rd place: Dante. 98 points.

4th place: William. 97 points.

29th place: Millie. 80 points.

30th place: Artie. 78 points.

62nd place: Mary. 30 points. -Fail.

63rd place: Lucius. 30 points. -Fail.

Everyone looked at me in surprised. William almost fell over, "H-How!? You don't even pay attention in history class!"

I laughed arrogantly, "With the help of Mathias, I was able to learn it. Now I can quickly unlearn it."

Finally, the test results for etiquette were released:

1st place: Mary. 100 points.

2nd place: William. 99 points.

3rd place: Dante. 97 points.

4th place: Lucius. 95 points.

10th place: Millie. 85 points.

11th place: Artie. 84 points.

12th place: Mathias. 80 points.

66th place: Seri. 24 points. -Fail.

Final scoring:

1st place: William.

2nd place: Dante.

3rd place: Mathias.

9th place: Seri.

27th place: Millie.

29th place: Artie.

32nd place: Mary.

53rd place: Lucius.

Lucius jumped up and down, "I've passed!"

William smiled smugly, "I always come in first."

I clicked my tongue, "You can't win them all. D*mn. I really wanted to cut off that ponytail too."

William laughed in my face, "Hah! Look at that final score! I beat you! You lost the bet! Now you have to do my work!"

I smirked, "I didn't lose the bet. Don't you see my rating? You said that I couldn't score in the top 10. Well look! 9th place!"

William's mouth dropped, "So... Seri won the bet?"

Artie cut in, "Actually, Seri bet that she would be able to beat you. However, she didn't so she has also lost the bet."

Mary clapped her hands and summarized in a happy tone, "So you're both losers!"

William and I glared at Mary. She shut her mouth quickly.

I tapped my chin, "But there's something that's bugging me."

"Hmm?" Mary smiled at me.

I shouted, "HOW CAN YOU BE SO BAD AT THESE TESTS?! You barely managed to pass and stay at the Academy!!!"

Mary giggled lightly and fiddled with her fingers, "Well... You see... I'm usually really good at them, however I get distracted staring at the back of your head... Then I end up sketching your face... And before I know it, the test has concluded."

I stared at Mary with a dumbfounded expression, "Airhead."