By Mirae Park (G10)
Banyan is eating lunch by himself in the school canteen. He takes a bite of sandwich and glances around the rowdy room.
Banyan: (to himself) The cafeteria crew aren’t the only ones wearing masks these days.
As he takes another bite, a figure emerges in his peripheral vision. It’s Qiao who has a dental mask covering her mouth and nose and has her bag slung on one shoulder.
Qiao: (sheepishly) Guess who’s back, back again?
Banyan: Qiao! Sick, I see?
Qiao: Yup, the cold got me. (pulls a chair and sits across from Banyan)
Banyan: You and half of the school! How come you didn’t just stay home?
Qiao: Well, our first mock E-Assessment is next period, right?
Banyan: And you didn’t want to miss it, so you came just for that?
Qiao just looks at him with an expression that says “Of course”.
Banyan: (exasperatedly) I’d understand if we were DP students. But I would want to get sick on purpose just to miss exams!
Qiao: (aghast) No way you’ll catch me doing that. Besides, the DP students are doing their DP exams soon, too. Better get to know what it feels like to take an exam when you’re sick, because there’s no skipping tests next year!
Banyan: Hm… I guess you’re right. (sighs) I miss being a kid. Wish we could just look forward to the holidays without having to stress about tests.
Qiao: Well, we do get to do the Chinese New Year activities once we’re done. I heard we’re doing calligraphy, stencils, lantern making, and more!
Banyan: (grins) Awesome, I get to show off my artistic abilities.
Qiao: (sarcastically) Well, I’d love to see them but too bad I’m gonna be in Shanghai!
Banyan: Oh right! You’re going to the national round of the British Psychology Olympiad. Well in that case, I’ll be sure to send along a couple pictures of my masterpieces with a good luck note.
Qiao: (rolls her eyes) Wow, thanks for your consideration. (laughs and looks at Banyan’s half-eaten sandwich) You better finish that quickly. We don’t want to be late for our first exam!
Banyan: (shoves the sandwich into his mouth and holds up his water bottle) Cheers to the start of a very long 2 hours!
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