She sat at her desk, brow creased in concentration, her palms sweaty and shaking. Come on Winry, this is what you've studied for. It was true. She'd poured countless hours into her work, even pulling all nighters out of her cap to learn some of this stuff. Yesterday, you could have asked her what a neuro-fibre detector was and she could have answered it in a second. Now, she could barely say her own name. The obnoxious ticking clock and the swooshing of papers being turned didn't help much less the fact that it smelled of wood chips and perfume. Where was the stench of petroleum and ozone she was so familiar with?
She clenched her empty fist angrily. How was she supposed to know what a electron resetter was? She didn't use it in her models. Or did she? If she didn't, was it any good, and should she have used it? She shook her head defiantly and stared at her sheet as if challenging it. She didn't care what, she had to write something. Anything was better then nothing.
"Okay, lets see..." Winry tapped her pencil half-mindedly on the desk. She still had a good 50 minutes to go- no problem. She could do this! "Question 7: In what order should a 47-B Duo-Spanner leg be assembled? Put your numbers from one to ten in the table below." A duo-spanner leg? What in the name of metallurgy was that? That was the spare leg they used for a size 4 casual, wasn't it? Or was it a size 5? "Question 8: What functionality does an A-33 screw serve on a standard automail arm?" At least that one was easy. Winry jotted down the answers quickly.
As she was starting on question nine, a student near the front of the class stood up, holding his paper. Winry clenched her fists until she felt like her her head was going to pop. She could just see him with his smug grin and smart-ass posture... She took a deep breath. Calm down, Winry. So one person has finished their test- no big deal, he probably just guessed all the answers anyway. How was that even possible? There was at least half an hour left and he'd already finished? Cheater, Winry pouted.
She tried to ignore the professor's surprised smile and turned back to her own work. There were only ten questions or so to go and as far as she could see they were relatively easy. She'd have them down in no time for sure. Oh ho, she couldn't wait to see the jealous looks on everybody's faces when she walked up there second to finish! At that moment, her zeal might have even matched Edwards as she scribbled down answer after answer. She was the most determined, most fired up person in the class, so she was sure to get into the school, right? As she'd left for the test, her friends and family had wished her good luck. She was going to show them that 'luck' had nothing to do with it.
The second she finished, her hand shot up straight into the air. "I'm finished, sir!" She said. She swung out of her chair with the energy of an antelope and snatched her test off the desk, waving it in the air. She stared at the professor's surprised expression triumphantly. She knew that he'd be thrilled! He was probably so amazed at her talents that he was going to let her into his academy on the spot, right?
The professor sat there confused for a few seconds. "Uh... very well then. Place it on the pile with the other tests and I'll go through it later." He paused, staring uncomfortably at Winry. "... Well done." Winry tried not to let his attitude get the best of her. It was probably another test, right? She slumped back in her chair, sighed and kicked her legs up onto the table.