School has been a roller coaster ride this week. One moment she would be standing high above the rest, the next moment, she could be plummeting down into the dark abyss.

--------------------

As her English script was placed faced down in front of her, her heart started racing. Did she do well this time? After countless of failures, she hardly dared hope for an astounding result. Just a pass will do, she whispered repeatedly under her breath.

"What did you get?" came a voice at her side.
"I haven't check yet. I just hope I pass this time," she said, her voice a little shaky.
"Do you want me to check for you?"
"No!" came the instant reply from her. She wanted to be the first to know her own results. "I'll wait till you get your script, and then, we'll check together. Ok?"

After one minute, her friend got back her script. She passed.

"You still have not looked yet?!"
"No.. Not yet," she said with a weak smile. Her friend raised her eyebrow and looked at her.
"Are you sure you do not want me to help you look?"
"Ok, ok! I'll look now!"

Slowly, she peeked at the edge of the paper. Not able to stand the anticipation, her friend reached out and quickly turned her paper over. She stared wide-eyed at her friend.

"Look! Your marks are like, super high! I can't imagine why you are so afraid."

She looked down and smiled. She could feel a heavy burden being lifted from her shoulders and right at that moment, she felt as though this would be her happiest moment of the week. All of a sudden, she just could not stop smiling, but just kept staring at her results. She felt exhilarated. It was a wonderful feeling. She just hoped it would be the same for her As. But that's still a long way to go. She would rather concentrate on the present. It was so sweet! She was still smiling at the end of the day.

--------------------

"Do you think I should drop a subject? I don't feel like dropping any, but I studied so hard for Econs and it's not producing any results," her friend asked, feeling utterly demoralized by her results.

She thought for a while before replying. Weighing each word carefully, she started off slowly.

"If you think that by the prelims, you'll be able to do well, then why not continue on with 4 subjects? Perhaps you did not do well this time because you're too nervous during the exams? However, I'm afraid that if you still do not do well during the Prelims, you might feel dejected and - "
"Can you please shut up and stop demoralizing people? I'm already dejected now." A voice came from the front. It was another friend.

She was stunned. What did she do wrong, she wondered. She opened her mouth, ready to say something, but thought otherwise. Perhaps she was indeed insensitive. However, she was still puzzled and confused. She felt bad. Guilty. Ashamed. She started beating herself up internally.

--------------------

"How? I'm so scared of the As now," she said, voicing her worries aloud.
"Shut up. Your results are already way better than mine. You have no right to complain," came a voice from behind.

She felt as though a baseball bat hit her. It was true that she scored better than her peers, but she was still disappointed with her results. It is a fact that she could have scored better if not for her carelessness and stupidity. After consoling many of her friends, she thought perhaps they might do the same for her. In contrast, they were now angry with her for scoring better. She did not blame them though. It was understandable. She was being an insensitive jerk. She should have kept her big mouth shut.

--------------------

"Well done! Keep working hard, ok?"

She felt over the moon as her teacher praised her. Suddenly, hopes of getting all As during the As were ignited. She beamed and felt that even if someone bit her head off at that moment, she wouldn't feel irritated at all. She was that elated. All her worries for her results were momentarily washed away. She was so happy that she could very well have skipped all the way home. And to top it all up, she spoke to him that very night! It was like a cherry on top of a chocolaty, delicious ice cream. Simply sweet!

--------------------

School. A place filled with dreams and nonsense.