Chapter 25:

The Test

Strangely enough, Stoker had decided not to press charges.

It seemed he wanted to forget about the incident, though Bloodgood could not just 'move on'. However, she had plans to press rape charges, though Nelly had contacted her and begged her not to do so. Stoker was still next door, but he rarely left the house.

As Bloodgood dealt with legal matters and argued with her father about pursuing an abortion, she received a letter from the SCP, inquiring if she had plans to send the children to school.

Because of all the stress, Nora sent Spectra to take the kids to the SCP Education Center. Spectra was glad to do it, but during the car ride, she wondered: how were they going to fit in a modern school system? Benny hadn't received any education beyond 4th grade despite the fact that he was a preteen, while it seemed that Lillian had never even attended a school. The only ones who had gotten a correct education were Tim, Tom, and Caleb, and what they'd learned during that time was probably outdated by today's standards for learning.

Upon entering the center, they were greeted right away by Dr. Calvin. "Hello again, children! I heard that you've been doing well, so I've decided to have you sent to school. What do you think of that?"

"Do we really need to go to school?" Tim asked. "I mean, won't everyone be scared of us?"

"Oh, nonsense!" Calvin waved him off. "We're sending you to Monster Junior High, which as you may not know, has recently been merged with the Skelementary School. So, grades first through eight are all in the same building. We've arranged for you kids to all eat lunch together, and because of your backgrounds, you are all being granted special protections as well," he smiled, and he beckoned them. "Come, your aide is waiting,"

Spectra tagged along as Dr. Calvin led the children to a small office, where a middle-aged woman sat at a delightfully decorated desk. The woman stood up as the visitors entered, and she smiled at them.

"Hello, there! You must be the Weavers," she shook hands with each of them before introducing herself. "My name is Ms. White, but you can call me Carrie. I serve as an aide for children such as yourselves, and I'll be proctoring your test this afternoon,"

Benny looked nervous. "We don't...we don't gotta write stuff, do we?"

Carrie shook her head. "No, the test is verbal, not written. I'm going to ask you basic questions that most children in your age range can answer, and you just answer them based on what you understand. Is that clear?" When all the children just seemed to shrug, Carrie smiled. "All right. Who should go first?"

There was a silence, and Dr. Calvin suggested, "Let's go from youngest to oldest. If we do that, then Lillian is first,"

When Lillian looked unsure, Spectra urged her on. "It'll be okay, I promise," Spectra assured gently, and Lillian gave a nod.

Everyone else except Carrie, Calvin, and Lillian left the room, and the three were left alone. "Okay, Lillian," Dr. Calvin rooted around for some papers and adjusted his glasses. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," came the child's voice.

Dr. Calvin handed Carrie the paper, saying, "You ask the questions, I'll take notes,"

Carrie began with the first question: "How many sides does a rectangle have?"

"Four,"

"What's three plus three?"

"Nine- no! Six!"

"Very good. Can you spell 'mouse'?

"Um...M...O...W...no, no! M, O, U...S...E!"

Dr. Calvin took a few notes and smiled- Lillian was more intelligent than she was given credit for.

Five minutes later, as the others watched TV in the waiting room, the door opened. "She did very well!" Carrie announced happily as Lillian graced the scene. "Caleb, you're next!"

Once inside, Caleb preferred to sit on the floor rather than the chair, and he absent-mindedly picked at the carpet as Carrie began the questions.

"Okay, Caleb, here's your first question: how much are ten pennies worth?"

"Uh...t-ten..."

"Ten, what?"

Caleb looked towards the window as if it somehow had the answer. "Ten...dollars?"

"Nope, try again,"

"Ten...cents!"

Carrie nodded. "Yes, there we go! Next question: can you multiply two and thirty?"

"It makes...230?"

"No, Caleb. Did you ever learn multiplication?"

Dr. Calvin got Carrie's attention. "Ms. White, they may not have taught him this during his time. Can we move on to something else?"

A bit embarrassed, Carrie went on to another question. "Of course, of course. Let's move on,"

It was around noon when Caleb finished, and the twins were next. Tim's examination didn't take very long, as he was quite intelligent, but Tom was a different story.

"How many sides does a pentagon have?" Carrie asked. There was a long pause, and she looked up. "Tom? I know you can speak, Spectra said you could,"

Tom just seemed to shrink into himself, and he muttered something out. When asked to repeat himself, he held up a mangled hand. "F-five," he answered, a little louder.

Dr. Calvin prodded Carrie's shoulder, murmuring, "He just held up four fingers,"

Tom heard this, and he rose up suddenly from his chair in a rage. Spectra (who had come in to ensure that there wasn't an incident) quickly diffused the situation by grabbing the boy by the shoulders and setting him back down. "Tom! Tom, it's all right," Spectra looked up at Dr. Calvin, asking, "Can he write down his answers? He's more comfortable with writing,"

"Yes, he can," Dr. Calvin nodded, but he had a strange look in his eyes as he watched Spectra give Tom some pens and paper.

Tom finished the examination through writing. However, as Spectra walked out with him, she turned back to look at Calvin and Carrie. Calvin whispered something to Carrie, and she sighed and scribbled down whatever it was on a paper.

Benny's examination was probably the longest: about twenty minutes. By the time the door opened, it was past the children's usual lunchtime, and they were quite antsy to leave. Benny walked out with a rather confused expression, and Carrie trailed after him, looking a bit sad.

"How did he do?" asked Spectra in a quiet tone, pulling Carrie aside.

Carrie chewed on her lip. "He...he's a fourteen-year-old with a fourth-grade education, and it really shows,"

"Tim?" Benny got his younger brother's attention. "What's a 'prism'?"

Spectra overheard this, and she sighed. "Oh, Benny..."

She took the kids out to lunch once they were out of the building, and as they were eating, Caleb asked, "When do we go to school, Spectra?"

"To be honest, I don't know," Spectra admitted, stirring her lemon tea. "They'll email the results to Bloodgood tomorrow morning, and then she'll set up a date for you to come in. We just have to see what classes you'll be put in, first,"

"I remember my old teacher," Tim spoke up, cutting into a piece of toast with a dull knife. "His name was Mr. Herringdeen. He used to fall asleep on his desk, and he'd snore like this," he then mimicked a sound that was a bit like a tea-kettle, and Tom snickered in response.

The next morning, the SCP emailed the results just like they'd promised.

Lillian would be entering first grade. Despite the fact that she hadn't even gone to school in the past, she had the mental capacity of a first grader and would be entering the class.

Caleb was going into fourth grade. He should've been in fifth, but just to be safe, he was placed a year behind. Dr. Calvin suggested the use of a teacher's aide in the classroom, as he suspected that Caleb may have ADD.

For Tim, it was sixth grade. Like Caleb, he should have been a year ahead, but since Tim was in sixth when Mary pulled him out, it only made sense to pick up where he left off.

This was where things got unusual: Tom wasn't going into 6th grade with his brother. Instead, Dr. Calvin explained that Tom was to be placed in a program known as NSEC (an acronym for 'New Salem Education Center') due to his issues. Since NSEC was within the school, Tom would still be able to have lunch with his brother every day, though their classes would not be the same.

Benny's placement in the school, according to the email, was chosen after much consideration and conversation. They'd finally decided to place him back in fourth grade, due to the fact that he'd left off there. Dr. Calvin assured that both Benny and Tom would re-take the examination after the five-week marking period to get higher scores and hopefully end up in better classes.

Bloodgood explained this to the children up in their room, and she passed out their schedules for the first day of school.

"So, Benny and I are in the same class?" Caleb asked, sounding excited.

"Yes," Bloodgood nodded. "Of course, until Benny passes the exam re-take,"

Benny looked uncertain. "A...Are you sure I can pass that test, Miss Bloodgood?"

Bloodgood smiled at him, putting a hand on his thick shoulder. "I know you can, Benny. You'll do well in that class, I know you will,"

Tim then noticed his brother nearby, staring at the schedule with his head resting on the backboard of their bed. Tim sat beside him and took a look at the schedule with him.

"Don't worry, Tom," Tim put an arm around his brother and squeezed him gently. "You'll do fine,"

"But..." Tim looked back up as his brother spoke. "W...what if we...we do bad things?"

Tim shook his head. "Oh, it'll be fine. Stop worrying so much,"

Glad I could finish this today! This is probably going to be the longest story I've written so far...

My show was performed at my school last night! We did an excellent job! I'm going to miss hanging out with my cast members at rehearsals...

But, if you're wondering why I'm posting at this time, it's because I'm sick again and I'm taking the day off. Lucky me, I guess, even though I can't stop coughing.

Questions, comments, or theories? Please review! I would appreciate that very much.