Monday, Oct. 5th, after classes

Faculty office

As we stepped into the faculty office, I was struck again by the normalcy of the school in what was supposed to be a fantasy world. The metal cabinets, shelves, and the low desks were all thoroughly modern, and other than being a bit cleaner and less worn could have come out of our school back home.

Ms. Calliot looked up from her desk, her gaze shifting from me to Joel with a polite smile. “I'm Ms. Calliot – it's good to finally meet you,” she said, her tone warm but professional.

“Please, have a seat,” Ms. Calliot gestured to the chairs in front of her desk. As we sat, I noticed a thick stack of papers in front of her. “I've asked you both here today to discuss the upcoming exams. Given your unique situations, Dean Jerdew wanted me to make sure you're both prepared for how we handle exams here.”

Ms. Calliot leaned forward, her gaze moving between us. “In your previous school system, you had exams for each individual class, correct?”

Joel nodded, while I added, “Some subjects also had Regents… umm, state-wide end-of-year exams.”

“Our approach is similar, but more comprehensive,” Ms. Calliot explained. “Twice a semester, every student in each year takes the same exams in four core subjects. These are cumulative, covering material from previous years as well.”

She paused, her eyes lingering on Joel. “This is where the Dean's concern comes in, since the exams will include content from last year that you may not have covered.” Our friends in class had said as much, but I saw Joel tense up at this news.

Ms. Calliot continued, “Because some students are on an accelerated track, there are also advanced questions; you can think of that as extra credit.” She divided the stack of papers and slid a pile to each of us across her desk. “These are copies of last year's end-of-year exam study guides. First-year students received these before their spring finals. You'll get something specific to this term's exams in your classes soon.”

Ms. Calliot began walking us through the study guides, her finger tracing the headings as she spoke. “Let's start with mathematics,” she said, flipping to the relevant section. “That will be straightforward, since everything builds on what you've already learned. Right now, you should be on trigonometry.”

I nodded, feeling more at ease. Trig had been a 10th-grade subject in our prior year back home. I hadn't realized it until now, but the track we were on wouldn't get to calculus in our third year. It was something of a relief, as I wasn’t in any rush to tackle it.

“For science,” Ms. Calliot continued, “the exam will cover biology, which everyone should have taken already, as well as both chemistry and physics,” she noted. “The passing grade for the science exam is fairly low at this point in the year to account for the difference between accelerated students who had chemistry last year and non-accelerated students who are taking it this year.”

I glanced at Joel, who seemed unfazed. My own confidence wavered a bit—I'd taken biology two years ago and had skipped chemistry back at home in 10th grade for AP Computer Science. I'd done fine on the science portion of the entrance exam, but my memory of biology was fuzzy on the details. If they asked something like mapping out the Krebs cycle, I'd be in trouble.

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As we moved on to English, I felt a knot tighten in my stomach. “Any of the books from last year or the start of this year could appear on the exam,” Ms. Calliot explained. “The literature portion of the English exam will be looking at theme, structure, and analysis.”

This was a big change from the entrance exam had been mostly reading comprehension and language knowledge, with only a few literature questions; I'd managed to do well despite either skipping those or answering based on references from the history text. I'd never so much as seen any of the books from the prior year, and while I'd been mostly kept up with the reading for Mr. Kirill's class this year, analyzing fiction deeply had never been my strong suit.

I tried to keep my expression neutral, but inside I was running through possible strategies for catching up. I didn't like any of them. Joel, surprisingly, didn't seem concerned.

Ms. Calliot turned to the final section of the study guide. “Lastly, we have social studies, which will be mainly covering world and Feldaren history. This section will cover the major events and figures that would have been covered in first-year world history...” She went into a little more detail, but I felt confident about this part; I'd enjoyed diving deep into the material as part of my preparation for the entrance exam, and her class had reinforced much of what I would otherwise have learned last year.

However, as I glanced at Joel, his mood had shifted - a lot. His shoulders slumped visibly, and a worried frown replaced his previously neutral expression. It was clear that the cumulative nature of the history exam was hitting him hard. As part of whatever strings the foreign ministry had pulled for him, he had taken a history exam from our world in place of the usual history section of the entrance test.

Ms. Calliot seemed to notice Joel's reaction too. Her tone softened slightly. “I understand this may seem daunting, but we'll make sure you have the resources you need to catch up.” Joel nodded, but the concern didn't leave his face.

Ms. Calliot closed the study guide and looked at us both. “Do either of you have any questions?”

I hesitated, my thoughts circling back to the English exam, but the words stuck in my throat. Beside me, Joel was quiet, though his expression spoke volumes. When he finally spoke, his voice quieter than usual. “No, thank you, Ms. Calliot. This has been informative.”

As we stood to leave, I remembered the paper in my bag. “Before I go – I have a draft of my term paper,” I said, fishing out the printout. “Is there enough time before it’s due to get you to look at it?”

She nodded, taking the printout from me. “Of course, Mark. I'll review it and get back to you soon.”

As Joel and I left the office, the weight of the upcoming exams settled on my shoulders. Joel's uncharacteristic silence told me he was feeling it too. We had a lot of studying ahead of us. The meeting had been long enough that the hallway was quiet, the echo of our footsteps the only sound. I couldn’t shake my unease about the upcoming exams, especially that English section.

Joel broke the silence first, his voice a little flat. “So, what do you think all this?”

“Honestly?” I shrugged. “I think I’ll be okay, mostly. Catching up on last year's novels is going to be rough.”

“Yeah,” Joel said, rubbing the back of his neck, “I've checked out a couple of things that Kirill or my Obdresti Lit class have referenced. History’s going to be the killer for me.”

I nodded. I need to catch up somehow, but where to start? The reading list for last year's English was long, and while I could just start reading things - maybe some of them would be interesting - I wouldn't have had any of the notes from class discussion to know what to focus on.

“Hey, do you think Kai or Jack might have some notes from last year?” I asked.

Joel looked at me curiously. “You mean for English?”

“For either of the classes we're worried about,” I said. “Their grades are pretty good, right?”

“They both passed the finals last year,” he said. “Worth a shot. Can’t hurt to ask, right? I'll talk to Jack at soccer practice.”

I usually didn't go to fencing on Mondays, but Kai usually did, so I figured it was worth going today to talk to him after practice. Doing well on standardized tests had always been kind of “the thing I'm good at,” and that hadn't failed me on the entrance exam. I didn't want to let it fail me now.

“I guess I'll see you at home after practice,” I told Joel. As we split up to head to our respective clubs, I felt a little bit better.