An egg sandwich in hand, I quickly grabbed my bag and climbed into the honking car. I took out my physics notes and started skimming through them once more.

Today was a very important exam — of physics. For me, it is a really hard subject and I had worked really tough for the exam and intended to do my utmost best in it. After a few minutes, my dad dropped me off at the school gates while wishing me luck.

I was really nervous and sweat started forming in my palms even though the air conditioner was working at an excellent level. I spotted my friend, Kanita, at a little distance. We were sitting in different classes for the exam. Her lips were moving soundlessly at a swift face as she was revising the whole years’ worth of notes under her breath. She returned my hand wave half-heartedly. She was very anxious, being a bigger nerd than me.

I entered the queue outside the assigned classroom where the invigilator was checking our stationary. All the seniors and juniors were shuffled and we were sitting in an alphabetic order. Upon looking at my name, the invigilator guided me to a row of seats. I was surprised to see someone else sitting on my seat. She was a senior. Maybe I got the wrong seat. I tallied my role number with the one taped on the desk. That seat was definitely mine.

“Um… excuse me, I think you got the wrong seat…,” my squeaky voice faltered.

The girl in front of me swished her long auburn curls and her head rotated. She gave me a sour look, rolled her eyes. Now, I was perplexed. What was wrong? I had annoyed two people at the same time. Wow. I had done nothing offending, as far as I knew

She stared in front in a bored way, her eyes drooping. I had the feeling she was deliberately ignoring me. I had enough trouble socialising with people, so I decided to leave the matter to the invigilator. The invigilator came soon enough.

“Areeba, dear, you need to move one seat back for Aliya here,” the invigilator explained.

The girl, Areeba, shifted and I settled down. The girl in front of me swished her long auburn curls and her head rotated. She gave me a sour look, rolled her eyes. Now, I was perplexed. What was wrong? I had annoyed two people at the same time. Wow. I had done nothing offending, as far as I knew.

The invigilator came and distributed our papers. These thoughts drifted away as I focused on a particularly tricky kinematics question. Minutes passed. Suddenly, out of the blue, there was a jab on my shoulder.

The girl behind me, Areeba, whispered, “Quick! Change places with me.”

I froze. It took me a moment to process her words. I glanced at the invigilator who was busy with another candidate. Without even waiting for a response, she grabbed my arms, yanked me up and made me sit on her seat, exchanging our papers too. Her grip was so firm that it didn’t even matter that I resisted. I looked up indignantly. I tried to muster enough courage to call the busy invigilator.

She and the girl in front of her started to exchange some notes. This, of course, went noticed by the other candidates in the vicinity. Either they were too timid, or disinclined to interfere, risking their exam. I didn’t know what to do.

Flabbergasted by their dishonest guts, I stood up and raised my hand at the same time. The invigilator acknowledged me, but before she could come near, the door of the classroom opened with a bang and in strode a security staff member. He looked grim.

He addressed us, Areeba, me and the girl who sat in front of her, “Three of you, with your papers. Out. Now!” he growled.

My heart jack hammered against my ribs. Had he seen what had happened? Did he know I had no involvement in it?

We passed a befuddled invigilator as the guard led us to a small dingy office. A camera recording played; it was the examination hall. The faces of the two girls beside me turned white. When it ended, they started stammering in desperation. The guard held one hand to stem their flow of vain explanations.

“You girls are fools to even think of outwitting this school’s system. Every year, I’m disappointed to say, there seems to be at least one or two students bent on resorting to unfair means rather than following fair tests.”

Their papers were torn in front of them. Ashen-faced and disgraced, they left the office.

“As for you, Miss Aliya,” he turned toward me and my heart sank, “you may complete your paper here in silence. Had you contributed in any such practice, your treatment would’ve been similar to those girls. You have 30 minutes. Start!”

Ever so gratefully, I finished my exam. When I went outside, I was bombarded by students asking me what had occurred. Areeba and her friend were nowhere to be seen. I shrugged off the students and went over to Kanita, who stood waiting for me.

Published in Dawn, Young World, December 17th, 2022