Westridge Academy, Part Four

Once Amelia was done with her morning routine, a supervised experience that was rounded out by putting on the flats that did nothing to boost her height, Ashley told her to leave everything but her room key behind. At this point, Amelia had gotten accustomed to holding an armful of books on her way to just about everywhere during the day. Just another part of the schoolgirl image, since the academy had a rule against backpacks for some reason.

For the aptitude test, however, no resources were permitted; that included writing utensils, as she would be provided a couple of pencils that were ideal for the scanning of her answers.

Ashley escorted her to the administration building, no doubt having similar permissions to what she had when Amelia first arrived to audit classes. Or so she had been tricked into believing.

The same middle aged woman, Mrs. Lewis, was there to proctor the test. Ashley politely greeted her, effortlessly putting on the act Amelia assumed was how she always came across when doing student work in the front office.

“Good luck, Millie!” Ashley smiled, going so far as to give her ‘little cousin’ a kiss on the forehead, “I’m sure you’ll do great.” Then, turning to Mrs. Lewis, Ashley asked, “I don’t need to pick her up afterwards, do I?”

Amelia couldn’t help but blush. She was used to going through the motions as a boarding school student at this point, but only had so many interactions with Ashley since last weekend. The whole cousin thing wasn’t nearly as natural; the lack of repetition, and the fact that Amelia barely knew the girl who she was supposed to be related to, meant she was thrown off whenever the dark haired girl leaned into their false relationship.

“Not at all,” Mrs. Lewis said, “She’ll meet with Ms. Song to go over the results, and someone will write her a pass once her adjusted schedule is established.”

Ashley nodded. “Makes sense. Alright, I’m off to class!”

When it was just the two of them, Mrs. Lewis let Amelia choose any seat in the modest lecture hall. Amelia still wasn’t sure why there was such a room in a building like this, unless it had once been an academic building that was eventually turned into something that fit the administration’s shifting needs. Amelia didn’t dwell on that for too long, as Mrs. Lewis placed the test packet down in front of her as soon as she was settled in her seat.

The same sticker with MILLIE ROBERTS was in the corner, and the list of subjects on the cover was identical as well. Mathematics, Reading, Science, History, and Religion. She wasn’t sure if she was stressed or relieved that the subjects that were more intuitive to her were up first. While it was theoretically a good way to ease herself into the testing atmosphere, it would have been nice to tackle the more daunting sections while she was still fresh.

When the clock started and she flipped to the first page of Mathematics, it became clear that Westridge didn’t simply recycle exam questions. Amelia didn’t have a strong memory of last Friday’s aptitude test or anything like that, though she would have at least recognized some repetition had it been there. At the same time, the difficulty paralleled what she went through the first time around. Similar mathematical concepts, same number of problems, etc. All she had to do was focus and combine what she knew before the academy with what she had brushed up on over the last week.

Taking a breath, Amelia did her best to get into a good headspace. She was way more prepared than last time, but there was still a lot riding on the next hour or two. This was how she was going to show Ms. Song and everyone else that she didn’t need tutors and remedial lessons; she was perfectly capable of holding her own in the intermediate classes. That, and prove her intellect to Ashley, who had rudely suggested she needed to develop in that department. Not that Amelia could argue the point very easily, when she had done so poorly on half her test last time.

The petite blonde worked her way through the first two sections, making sure she had the right answers on the tricky math problems and being efficient as possible with the Reading section now that she knew that being too slow/thorough would lead to hasty guesswork near the end. Then, it was time to tackle the three sections that would increase in difficulty for her, personally. Science was at least somewhat intuitive, but History was more or less a memory challenge. Finally, Religion, which Amelia had never studied before her time at Westridge Academy. She didn’t feel great about the last section, though it definitely would be an improvement to her previous attempt.

The process following the exam was the same as her first day as well. Mrs. Lewis took her to a nearby room to sit and wait, while Amelia’s answers were put through the machine and submitted to Ms. Song for the impending meeting. Though no one was watching her, Amelia still felt the need to avoid fidgeting after the young Asian woman had harped on it the last time Amelia had been in her office.

“Millie? This way, please,” Mrs. Lewis said, holding open the door and leading her down the somewhat familiar hallway.

Amelia nervously swallowed as she stepped into the counselor’s office. She hadn’t even done anything wrong, or been told how she did on the aptitude test, yet still felt on edge due to the false things Ashley had included on the transfer student form. That, and Ms. Song would have received all of the infractions that piled up throughout Amelia’s first few days when she was struggling to accept her temporary reality as a student.

By now, she had stopped cringing at the nickname. Both teachers and classmates called her that, and it was pointless trying to push for ‘Amelia.’ That, and trying to claim she wasn’t actually a transfer student wouldn’t get her anywhere with a no nonsense woman like Ms. Song. So, when Ms. Song gestured to the seat across from her desk and told Millie to sit, the girl simply stayed quiet and followed instructions.

To Amelia’s great relief, Ms. Song started with, “You should be pleased to know that you passed your aptitude test.”

“I did?” Amelia asked. She had been doubting herself near the end, when she should have known it was fine. After all, she had always been a good student, and had dedicated practically all her free time to this.

“Technically,” Ms Song continued, “As in, you answered more than 70% of the questions on each section correctly. However, your History and Religion scores were rather low. In situations like this, girls like you are to demonstrate proper study habits without extra assistance from the academy. For the coming week, I suggest you continue focusing on those two subjects; next Friday, I want you to retake that part of the aptitude test. Understood?”

“But . . . ” Amelia hesitated. Sure, she understood Ms. Song’s insistence that there was a difference between passing and doing well. The real question was, what did this mean for her deal with Ashley? Amelia had never considered the possibility that there might be a follow up iteration of the aptitude test even though she had passed.

Catching herself, knowing better than to argue with the stern counselor, Amelia hesitantly nodded and replied like a proper Westridge girl. “Yes, Ms. Song. I understand.”