Cheat

The building was strangely quiet as Alice ran, panting, through the front doors.She turned a quick left, padded up some steps, two at a time, and skidded to a halt just outside the double doors.She paused to catch her breath.There wasn’t a sound to be heard and she was beginning to think she had thewrong day or time, which would be a very good thing because it wasn’t very practical to belate for your exam.As she swung open the doors a musty warm silence escaped, rushing over her inits desperation to get out. The sensation caused her to close her eyes momentarily andwhen she next opened them she instantly regretted it. A couple of hundred tired eyesstared right back at her, some appreciating her pain, others wallowing in it, as she stoodisolated and pathetic looking in the doorway. She wished she hadn’t entered the hall likethis, she should have just sneaked in the back way or something.Suddenly a very tall and imposing figure waltzed into view and grabbed her by thearm. It was Mrs. Whitmore, the deputy head of the school.“Really, Alice! It’s ten o’clock already. If this is a reflection of how responsible your generation are I shuddered to think what might become of it.”Oh please, she thought, your generation gave us the atomic bomb, CFC’s andMichael Barrymore, it couldn’t exactly get much worse. She was plonked in a spare chair near the back of the hall in front of a blank piece of paper. She watched as Mrs. Whitmorestrode back to the front of the hall to officially start the exam.“Right, listen up. You have two and half hours to complete this paper. If you requireany assistance, and that does not mean the answers to the questions, then put your handup and a member of staff will come to you. You are permitted to go to the toilet but amember of staff will have to accompany you, so to save embarrassment on both sides Isuggest you cross your legs. The instructions are on the first page. Read them properlybefore even opening your paper. I would also advise you to read the entire paper throughbefore you begin but none of you will so let’s just get on with it. Mr. Johnson?” she calledto a colleague.

Mr. Johnson was a much less aggressive teacher and you could feel the room relaxslightly in his presence. He says, “Okay, the time is 10:03am you have until 12:33am.Good luck.”He turned to write the times on the board and the room rustled with nervous energy.Alice looked down at her paper.

NAME:

Well, she could answer that one, which was a good sign. She opened her pencilcase and withdrew her lucky pen, the one with Winnie-the-Pooh on. It had a curious littleplastic foam picture on the end that dangled from a bright cord which was great to playwith. She wrote her name, ‘Alice Golding’.

CANDIDATE NUMBER:

She opened up her pencil case and copied it from the Post-it note stuck inside.

MATHS PAPER ONE

Yes, she knew that already.

THIS PAPER WILL LAST 2.5 HOURS.

Yep, she knew that bit too. Why on earth do they tell you to read the front cover when it’s all so obvious, she wondered.

YOU SHOULD HAVE A PEN, A PENCIL, A RUBBER, A RULER, ACALCULATOR AND A PROTRACTOR.

What! I don’t have a protractor. Hell, I don’t even know what one is!Calm down. Everything was fine.She didn’t even

need

a flipping pro-tractor – or whatever it was. She could pass thewhole exam without anything but a pen. But she’d better get one and be seen using it or people might get suspicious.She stuck her hand up.After an agonizing wait of precious exam time Miss Sims, her own Maths teacher,came over.“Yes, Alice?” she whispered.“I don’t have a protractor,” Alice whispered back.“Oh dear. How come so many of you have come without a protractor! I’m sure Imade it perfectly clear in the lesson.” Alice raised her eyebrows in lack of concern. “Okay,I’ll go and see if we have any left at the front,” Miss Sims sighed.“Thanks,” Alice called softly as Mrs. Sims trotted off down the aisle.She waited patiently as Miss Sims took an age to walk all the way to the front of thehall. She glanced around the hall to pass the time while she waited. Jenny, a girl in her

class who she didn’t exactly get on with, was seated on the table next to her. She shotAlice a dirty look and Alice pulled a face back.Silly cow. I wonder what she’s thinking about, she thought. But she was moreconcerned by Miss Sims who was rummaging through boxes at the front of the hall. After awhile her teacher turned to Mr. Hughes, another Maths teacher, and chatted for a bit. Alicefrowned in annoyance. What about my protractor! Then Mr. Hughes hurried out of theroom and Miss Sims came trotting back up the aisle.“There aren’t any protractors left at the front. Mr. Hughes has gone to see if thereare any more in the Maths rooms. I suggest you carry on with the other questions until hecomes back,” Miss Sims smiled passively.Alice sighed dramatically and made a great show of opening her paper in a strop.Again there was a dirty look from Jenny.Alice gave the first question a quick glance and was almost instantly bored. I can’tdo this. All this pressure and stress. It’s not right, she thought.Now was the time.She put her pen down, sat up straight with both feet flat on the floor and closed her eyes. She took a few deep breaths and imagined a blackboard to clear her mind. It tookher a good few minutes but she succeeded fairly easily. She was just about to start whenher aura was suddenly disrupted. She opened an eye to see Mr. Hughes standing besideher, panting slightly.“That was quick!” she said to him as he passed her the much sought-after protractor.The Maths rooms were a good three floors up and Mr. Hughes was no PE teacher so she thanked him dearly for his efforts, even though he had ruined her concentration.She looked briefly at the thin blue piece of apparatus that was apparently so ‘essential’ tothe test, then threw it to one side.Again she placed her feet flat on the ground again and closed her eyes. Again sheimagined the blackboard and the clearing of her thoughts was quicker this time. Shebegan to stretch out her mind, slowly creeping across the hall and all at once her brainwas filled with the most atrocious noise. She shrugged the sensation off and began to filter through the noises until slowly they became clear distinct voices...“God! Why won’t my calculator work? Don’t panic, just don’t panic!” said one.“I know this! It was in class last week,” said another.“Some one kill me now! I am so utterly going to fail,” wailed another.“25 plus 3, then divided by 7 equals 4. Excellent, that’s the answer to question one