“Just a pop quiz, you’ll do great! Or not. I don’t care.”

That’s what your teacher said as he passed out the papers. There was no warning, no studying, just ‘oh hey, we’re doing a pop quiz that can probably significantly drop your grade!’

Your leg shakes rapidly under the table as you read the math equation. You had to read it again. Thrice. Four times. Five- oh god.. Suddenly, all you can hear is the sound of the other students pencil’s scraping, the clock ticking, papers flipping- how are they on the back already?!

100, 97, 94, 91, 88, 85, 82, 79, 76, 73, 70, 67, 64, 61, 58, 55, 52, 49, 46, 43, 40, 37, 34, 31, 28, 25, 22, 19, 16, 13, 10, 7, 4, 1

100, 97, 94, 91, 88, 85, 82, 79, 76, 73, 70, 67, 64, 61, 58, 55, 52, 49, 46, 43, 40, 37, 34, 31, 28, 25, 22, 19, 16, 13, 10, 7, 4, 1

You try the exercise the councilor gave you— counting down from 100 by 3’s, but you’ve memorized the pattern.

Just focus!

A hand nudges yours, your head snaps up to see Tao looking at you, his face showed concern. His eyebrows were scrunched, and his brown eyes ask a silent ‘are you okay?’ Or maybe it was a ‘what’s going on, you’re shaking the table,’ it was hard to tell. Either way, your leg promptly stops bouncing.