Byron sat at his desk, nervously twiddling his thumbs and rubbing his arms. He rolled his head around, hearing it crick and crack, and then he smiled to himself. Mrs. Terry, the teacher, was watching him with barely concealed curiosity. Byron rolled his eyes and started to bounce in his seat, making those 'ah, arg , oof' sounds as he hit the bottom.

Mrs. Terry stood up, stretched, and asked him, 'Are you ready to take the test?' She walked over to the front of his desk and placed her hands gingerly upon it.

'No! I don't want to take the test!' he started vibrating.

'But why don't you want to take the test?'

'Because! I don't have to take a dumb test to tell me how well I can do!'

'You have to take the test, it's school regulations. We have to examine your learning capabilities.' She tried to explain.

'Yea, well, I don't care! I didn't want to move in the first place, and I don't like it here!' He was now very red in the face, angrily looking at her.

'You don't like it here?' Mrs. Terry sounded surprised. 'Why?'

'Because everyone here is so mean!' And with that he jumped up, and with tears pouring down his face, raced out of the room.

'Byron, wait!' Mrs. Terry called after him, and she too raced out.

She finally found him, and started to ask him a few questions: 'Are you alright?'

'Yea, I'm sorry about when I yelled. I'm just wanting to go home right now.' He looked up at her with sad eyes.

'Have you been having trouble finding friends?' She asked, not in the interrogating way, but in the kind way.

'Yes.' He sighed.

'Well, lets get back to the classroom so you can get this thing over and done with,' Mrs. Terry said, smiling encouragingly at him. He smiled at her and nodded.

As soon as he got in his seat he started to vibrate, move and tap his feet again. 'Now are you ready to take it?' She said.

Byron, still vibrating, nodded a bit too eagerly and said, 'Yes Ma'am, I'm ready!' Mrs. Terry raised an eyebrow and said, 'Please try to sit still, Byron.'


Byron tried to stop vibrating, which he did' eventually. But his foot kept tapping. Bump, bump, bump, his shoes said as they hit the floor.

'Sorry,' he said, looking up at her sheepishly. Mrs. Terry nodded and slipped back to her own desk, returning in seconds with his test. She placed it on his desk, and sat down in a corner.

Byron sighed, thinking, 'What a way to start a new year at a new school! Yelling at the teacher and everything!' He sighed, fidgeted, and started the test.

The seconds ticked by, and the seconds turned into minutes, all while Byron was trying to complete the test. He, of course, knew this and began to grow increasingly nervous as the test went on and on.

Mrs. Terry noted all his movements, watched him glance up at the clock and down again, then at her, and down again.

'Anything wrong, Byron? Do you want something to drink?' she asked him, her brown eyes looking genuinely concerned.

Byron jumped, and as he thought that this would certainly give him a heart attack, yelled in surprise. 'No, thanks. I'm wanting to get this down before Mum and Dad come to get me.'

'Oh, okay. Whatever you say,' Mrs. Terry sighed, and then resumed reading her book, glancing up from times to time.

'Question 39: If you have thirteen apples, seven oranges, and two mangoes, how many do you have altogether? Would it be possible to take away fourteen apples?' He read, and thought hard. He tapped his pencil in rapid succession as he figured it out. He wrote, in squiggly letters, 22 altogether, and you cant take away 14 apples. He glanced ahead, and saw only two more questions needed answering.

'Mrs. Terry, can I just skip the last two question?' He asked hopefully.

'No', she answered, smiling to herself. Ten minutes later he handed in his test.

'Can I go now?' The boy was jumping up and down on one foot, looking positively hopeful.

'Yes, you can go,' Mrs. Terry said, and as Byron walked out of the door, she thought, 'This is going to be an interesting school year.'