Chapter 4.

Days became weeks and weeks became months. Life for Syx went on like for any other kid. Once or twice he found that Wayne and his buddies tried to approach him, but Roxanne and Bernard always stepped in for him. Syx was no longer afraid of Wayne. He could not bully him when there were children around. Wayne tried to spread stories about Syx, but he had no proof. Wayne could not find anything against Syx and he only ended up getting himself into trouble for lying. Some of the other kids in school who became used to having a blue alien around them, no longer threw insults or snapped at him, though no one was willing to talk to him or become his friend either. Most of the staring and whispering also happened less often. For this Syx was glad. The only ones whose opinions still did not change about him, were the teachers and those who hung out with Wayne Scott.

Finally it was time for the school exam. Everyone had to put their brains to work. Syx, who was already 4 grades ahead off all the others, had instead of learning settled into working on some of his inventions. He was working on improving the motorcycle and the dehydration gun. He knew that the next day he was going write his first test.

"Are you nervous, sir?" asked his sidekick.

"Nervous about what, Minion?"

"The tests, sir! Tomorrow you are writing your exams."

"I would not worry about the exams, Minion. What I'm worrying about is how I'm going to get this bike to fly!"

"Sir, you would have plenty of time to work on that during the holidays."

"I suppose you are right, Minion."

Unlike Syx, who did not need to learn stuff he already knew, the other students from his school had to stretch their brains to their limits. There was no time to slack off! Wayne Scott was one of the less smart ones in the Metro City high school, and he could not leave his room for weeks, due to the amount of homework. Wayne wished that he could go outside for a moment, maybe just to listen to some music. But that was out of the question. For just once in his life the super powered boy wished that he could have a brain like Syx. Wayne Scott wasn't the only one who had to learn hard. Roxanne left her room only at mealtimes and to go to the bathroom. Other than that she was learning hard for the exams. Even Syx's other best friend, Bernard, who was very clever himself, had to spend his time studying.

3 days later it was time. The first subject they were going to write was history. Everyone waited nervously outside the classroom. Some of the kids were asking each other questions. Others spoke about how glad they were now that the holidays were finally at hand. Syx was leaning against the wall with a confidant smile on his face. He was absolutely positive that he would pass these tests. Every single kid, apart from Syx and Bernard, were very nervous. Syx looked at his two friends. Roxanne looked nervous, but Bernard just stood there with the same 'I don't care'- look on his face. When the teacher arrived everyone sat down at his or her desk and was given a sheet of paper with the questions. Syx smiled for just a second when he imagined himself tying a thief up, and then he began to write.

"Well, I suppose that went well enough!" said Roxanne. She was a little unsure about some of her answers but she was not too worried. She had learned hard for this test.

"Arrh, man, that was easy! I cannot see what Hal was complaining about," said Bernard in his drawling tone.

"What did Hal say?" asked Roxanne.

"Hal said that the questions were far too hard and that he could not understand one of them."

"You're not serious," said Syx. "Those questions were so easy I did not even need to look at them twice."

"I know, Syx, but you see, Hal's problem is that he hates it to study. And by the looks of it I think that he has not studied at all this time, although he knew how important it is," said Roxanne.

"Oh no, our next subject to write is French!" Smacking her hand on her forehead, she groaned.

"This is not good. French is my worst subject. It seems that no matter how hard I learn the stuff I just can't remember it."

" Hey, relax, Roxanne! It's just one subject." Syx tried to reassure her.

"Well I guess one subject won't let me fail."

Roxanne was right. To her dismay she found nearly all the answers impossible. Here or there was one she'd recognize but the rest was very difficult. How in the world was she supposed to translate: "let's go into town and have a dance in the park…" into French? Glancing out of the corner of her eye at Syx, she thought that he did not seem to have any trouble. "Mom is not going to be too happy about this!" thought Roxanne after she handed her paper in.

When the school came out, Syx, Bernard and Roxanne were speaking about how the test went.

"This is a disaster, you two. I just hope that I can do better than this in biology or I'm screwed."

"I did not have any problem with French" said Bernard.

"Well, lucky for you and Syx. Well looking to the bright side, at least this would convince my mother that I don't have to continue with the subject next year!" said Roxanne.

" Hey, don't sweat it, Roxanne. Tomorrow's biology test can't really be as bad as I've heard Wayne said it will be."

Roxanne smiled at her blue friend. "I'm not worried about biology, Syx. I studied hard for that one. It's the algebra I'm worried about so much. Algebra isn't one of the easiest subjects in this school and I already messed up French!"

The next day they were writing biology. Like the rest of the subjects Syx did not have any trouble with biology. And like always, he was the first to finish. Syx waited patiently for everyone else to complete their tests.

There was no time to think about destiny or superheroes. Neither could he be thinking about what to do with Syx. Wayne looked with a frown at his test. He had come this far in school. He could not fail now! He was not even sure if he would be able to pass this grade. He did not even know how fared in history and French. Wayne was glad that biology was not one of the hardest subjects. With a little luck he might just get through this. Wayne really wanted to make his parents proud. Sometimes he wondered if they expected a bit too much of him. But then he removed the thought to the back of his mind. He would consider that later. Right now, the main thing to worry about, was getting good marks on his report.

"Well, that was better than I thought it would be!" said Roxanne with a smile on her face.

Just like her friends, biology was one of her favourite subjects.

"I only wish that they would ask some real questions in these tests," complained Bernard. "Just the other day my brother kept telling me that I should be in grade 9, not in grade 8."

" Hey, Roxie!" A voice called behind them.

All of them turned around to see Hal walking up to them.

"Hey, Roxanne! Oh man, the things they asked in these exams, it was crazy, I tell you!"

" I did not have any problem with it, neither did Syx and Bernard…"

"Oh, what I meant was, I cannot believe they would make it this easy! Anyway Roxie, I was wondering if you wanted to go and see a movie with me tonight?"

" I don't know Hal, I don't really feel like it much."

" I know, we don't have to take anybody else with us. It would be just like you and me!"

Syx clenched his fist, and frowned at the boy. He suddenly felt a desperate urge to punch the boy in the face. How dare Hal ask Roxanne out like that? He wondered if Hal knew the rumours about her being Wayne's girlfriend.

"That's very tempting, but I can't go. Besides I need to learn for algebra."

"Hey ,Hal, I think you should leave now!" said Syx in a dangerous tone. Hal squeaked and quickly made himself scarce. He had always been afraid of the blue alien.

Roxanne sighed with relief. "Thanks for that, Syx. Hal can be really annoying sometimes."

Algebra had turned out to be a real challenge, even for Bernard, who was the second smartest kid in the school, after Syx. When the test was finally over the 3 friends went to the sports field to discuss it.

"That was a lot harder than I expected!" said Bernard.

"That's no joke! I hope that I have not failed two tests, one is bad enough."

"Hey, don't forget, Roxanne, in order to pass this grade you need to pass 4 tests. Even if you fail algebra which I'm sure you have not, then you will still be promoted to the next grade. And that's not all. This is only our first exams of the year. Even if you fail the exams now, you could still pass this grade by passing the exams at the end of the year."

"You're right, Syx. Why in the world am I'm getting so worked up?'

"Maybe because you are worrying about failing exams that are still 8 months away!" teased Bernard.

"You need to relax, girl, Syx is right. Failing two tests is not going to hold you back."

"Thanks, Bernard."

Then next test arrived. While the other found no problem with Musical arts, to Syx it was a disaster! Since he had never been allowed in the music class and there was not a single book about music in prison, Syx understood neither the theory nor the practical part of the test. It seemed that music was the one and only thing in the school that Syx could not do. He messed up the test big time. He broke the tambourine and when he tried to play the flute not a sound came out! Then he tried to play the violin, but only succeeded in making a terribly screeching sound that made everyone cringe! He also knocked a hole in the drum when he beat it too hard. When the test was over, Roxanne and Bernard tried to cheer up a very down alien.

"Hey, cheer up, Syx, like you said to me, it's only one test!"

"I know, but you should have seen how Wayne was laughing at me!"

Wayne found the whole spectacle very funny. It seemed that the Scott kid was the best of them all with musical arts.

Luckily there was now only one test left. Everyone went home to prepare for one more day. The next day Syx arrived to write the final test. He quickly forgot about yesterday's event when he saw the last exam. Like all the others, economics was no problem to him. He quickly finished the paper and then sat back waiting for the others to finish theirs. Syx was glad that for the next 2 weeks he would have more time to spend with Minion.

It looked like all the hard work had actually paid off, because Roxanne found no problem with the test. There were only one or two questions she could not answer. When the exams were finally over, Roxanne came out of the class with a smile.

"Well, I could not possibly have failed economics." When she got home, Roxanne prepared to have a wonderful holiday.

Hal Stewart could not be happier now that the exams were finally over. The only thing he was looking forward to, was the next weeks free of work. Hal thought about what he could do these 2 weeks. He could sit in front of the TV, hold home parties, invite some friends over and play video games. In fact, that was exactly what he had been doing a week before the exam, giving him no time to study anything. He thought about the first test. History had been a mess, and French had been no better. He could not answer one question of Economics! Hal was certain that the worst of them all had been algebra. The only tests he could do were Biology and musical arts.

"Oh man if I don't pass this year then what? Butttt…, that is a long time from now, so why should I care?"

Syx could barely wait to see his test results. Bernard said that they would receive them as soon as the school started again. Bernard also told him that he was not going to waste the weekend on been lazy and that he was going to keep up his studies. Roxanne, on the other hand, thought that she needed a break from all the studying and decided to make what she could out of the short 2 weeks that she had.

Warden James was checking Syx's school report. Once again he got a lot of complaints from some of the teachers about the blue kid. The warden knew that it was Syx's presence there that disturbed them, not his behaviour. This did not surprise him at all. There were only two people whom seemed to like Syx. Mr. Oliver Smith told him that Syx had been at his best behaviour. The second one was Mr. Benjamin Brown. James thought that this was a good thing. He and Mr. Benjamin Brown had been buddies from the days that they were at college. While the rest of the staff saw the blue boy as a pest, Mr. Brown saw him as a bright kid with a lot of talent. The warden leaned back in his chair. Syx definitely seemed to be doing better then he did when he was a child.

Note. Next up. Due to good behavior, Syx and Minion are allowed to take a trip into town, but trouble is brewing when some uninvited guest visited the prison.