We were led inside by Loudmouth, where Nick was sitting on his desk. He took half of us up the right staircase, leading us to a wide hallway with a bunch of doors that led into classrooms. Birgit and I sat next to each other as Nick and one other guy gave each of us our test papers.

“Alright, time to sit down and start writing,” said a lady that came in after them. She was short and petite but very, very, loud. “Before you do, however, a few ground rules. Due to the nature of this exam, we couldn’t give each of you personalised answers.

“We will, however, know if any of you has copied from one another or cheated in any way,” she said, looking over us like she expected someone to be guilty of a horrible crime. She didn’t really help my stress issue. “If you have any questions I, or any of the supervisors, will bring in a professor that will assist you. I don’t want to hear any murmurs or whispers. You have exactly one hundred and seventy five minutes. Date is August. You may now begin.”

I took a deep breath, my pen out of my pocket and wrote down my personal information. I had studied for this. I could do it. I could do it. For the next three hours, all I would do was read, write, read. I wouldn’t look at anything else, I wouldn’t think of anything else.

It was at one hour and fifteen minutes that people were first allowed to go out. A few did. Some looked anxious, some looked pleased with themselves.

Ivan left half an hour later, smirking slightly. He was the twentieth person to leave. That was good. They were most likely the ones that were either naturally really good at stuff like this, or the ones that had no idea what to write.

“Seventy minutes left,” said the lady, and it echoed in my head for what felt like it.

I clenched my left hand underneath the table and continued writing. I ignored that little voice at the back of my head telling me that there was no way I would make it with that time.

To my dismay, Birgit was the next one to leave. I felt her squeeze my thigh and look at me with her blue, icy eyes and–and no! No time for that. I just looked back down and continued on with my test taking.

Eventually, when there were forty minutes and a dozen people left, I was...done? I had gone over everything and answered most of it. Everything that I realistically could.

Yet, as I looked around at the others writing like their lives depended on it and the supervisors walking around like they were waiting for someone to do something wrong, I couldn’t stop my breath from becoming ever shallower.

Fuck it all.

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I felt my pant legs till I found my inhaler.

“Is something the matter?”

I looked up to see one of the supervisors staring at me. Everyone was staring at me. I took a deep, painful breath, as deep as I could before I responded. Evidently I took too long because the lady was coming over as well now.

She was dressed very sharply, and in all black which contrasted her brown hair and stormy grey eyes. She also moved very stiffly and stood too straight, almost like a robot sent here to terrify me.

“Che succede?” she asked the guy in what I recognized as Italian. When he shrugged she turned to me and asked in–stiff as her walking but shockingly competent–Greek. “What’s wrong? Do you need any help?”

“I’m fine,” I wheezed out after a few moments of silence. “I just-I have asthma.” I took out my inhaler for good measure.

“Nick?” she said while still looking at me. “Escort this boy out,” she explained to him before she left. Nick, for his part, smiled awkwardly and gestured for me to lead the way. When we were out in the hallway, I took the inhaler to my mouth, pressed the button and breathed its contents in.

I steadied myself and tried to focus on the here and the now. I would go in, give my paper and come out. There was nothing more I could write–I had been doing nothing but looking at my paper for twenty minutes–so I’d probably leave soon.

“You good, man?” asked Nick, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. He too was dressed very professionally today with a grey suit and orange tie. It really clashed with his whole vibe and aesthetic so much so that it was kind of funny.

“Yeah, yeah,” I said in an attempt to sound dismissive. “I was getting ready to hand in my test anyway. Just bad luck that asthma decided to hit as well.”

“In that case,” said Nick with a slap on my shoulder, “let’s get you wrapped up. I’m sure you’ll have a wild day ahead.”

We got back in, I gave my test to him and signed my name in two sheets before I was let go. During my trek to the outside I occupied my mind with every thought other than the actual test itself. From the–unfortunately delayed due to studying–WPWmarathon I’d planned with Birgit, to whatever nonsense I talked about with Iraklis.

In the large yard outside, everyone seemed to be huddled in groups, both large and small. Birgit, alongside Ivan and Ahmed, were standing near a much larger group. Ivan, who was the one doing most of the talking apparently, was also flipping a silver coin in the air. Ahmed was looking between the two, and Birgit was laughing along with whatever Ivan was saying.

I didn’t know why, but that last part made my stomach twist slightly. It also made me hurry my step, just in case.

“Hey,” I said as I approached them. “What are we talking about?”

“Swimming,” answered Ivan. “Birgit said she’s a champion. And I am tempted to see if she’s any good. Maybe we can all go, the weather's still good.”

Birgit giggled as she wrapped her arm around mine. “I have known Alex for this whole summer and I swear to you, I haven’t seen him swim once.”

“You haven’t either!” I said indignantly. It was mostly playful, but I felt a bit more of a sting than normal. “You know what kind of training we went through, σατανική γυναίκα.”

“Wow, you really owned me with that Greek, you giant,” said Birgit with a roll of her eyes. “How about we continue this over lunch?”

“Sure.”

“At the risk of sounding like a cliche,” said Ahmed. “I would like to try a gyro.”

“Čovječe, I’m liking you more and more,” said Ivan, grabbing his coin dramatically. “Take us to the best food places, Alex!”