When the teacher gave the test to the students in Room 183, a small classroom with an absolute silence, Eva panicked. She was positive that she had washed her hands with the magical soap that her friend had guaranteed would work.
Earlier, before the test, she went to the putrid girl’s restroom to use the soap to make whatever power last longer. Whatever her friend claimed about the soap, didn’t work. Not now anyway.
Why isn’t there a change? She wondered as the teacher placed the state test on her desk. She didn’t detect any differences and yet she frantically looked around the classroom. She desperately wished that she was Fred, the skeleton model hung on a metal pole in the back of the classroom used to demonstrate the bones of a human body.
Last night she had a frustrating time to study. All her frustrations began when she had returned home from school and her best friend had called her.
“Are you going to study for the lame test?” her friend, Ashley, asked.
“Of all things, Ash, why call it lame? It’s the final test for us to be accepted to the next grade. And, of course, I’m going to study,” Eva said, sure that she could skip the flirty mood with her friends. She hadn’t checked her notes to see what might be expected for the test.
“Reeeeally?” her friend screeched.
“Really,” she said firmly. Then asked, “is there something going on that you are hiding? A secret admirer, maybe?”
“Uh, no, not that. What I’m trying to say is… well, I went to a store- I guess you can say the voodoo store rather than witchcraft or something-well back to what I was saying, I came across an aisle that had a soap labeled, ‘Smart Soap, the soap that works without another thought to your head.’ I was skeptical at first about the weird advertisement displayed on the soap so I asked the one in charge of the voodoo store what exactly it does. And, well…”
“Go on. Go on,” Eva urged, attentively listening to the bizarre story her friend was telling.
“The owner said that it’s a soap with a unique source of power that can make a person be brainy.”
“Did the owner really say brainy?” Eva asked.
“No, I just included that term. Brainy also means the same as super smart. Bet I could be smarter than Miss Know-it-all?”
“Yeah, I suppose. I still think you’re making this soap thing up, but I’m not stupid as you think.”
“I know that the magic power is a ridiculous thing to hear from an eighth grader, but it’s true. Remember last week’s quiz in Science when we had to use the dumb concept map on a topic about minerals?"
“I do, but what does this,’’ Eva stopped in mid-sentence. It occurred to her that her friend wouldn’t do anything to get a high grade average. On any upcoming tests, her friend was famous in receiving ‘Ds.’ But last week’s quiz remained a mystery to Eva. She knew that she wasn’t very encouraging to her friend who got a higher grade than she. A perfect paper without an answer marked wrong.
“See what I mean?” her friend was saying.
“I do now,” Eva said thoughtfully. “Hey, wouldn’t that be considered cheating?”
“No, it wouldn’t. I checked the school brochure. It didn’t mention any use of power. Besides, look at it this way. Wouldn’t the writer make a fool of himself to write an absurd topic such as magic?”
“Sure!” Eva agreed, laughing at how naďve she was. “How much did the soap cost?”
“My arms and legs. That’s for sure.” What Ashley meant was that it cost over hundreds of dollars.
“Are you nuts?!” Eva went berserk. Ashley stayed silent. “What if the product never worked? Then how would you have taken it?”
“Say,” Ashley countered the subject to keep her friend calm. She could vividly imagine her friend’s face dark red. “I could let you use the soap to see the results yourself before the test, but on one condition, I won’t let you use it again. I’m warning you, it’ll fade in less than an hour and a half. Before you even know it, you’re on your own.” she paused, keeping in a steady level. “So go on and study.”
“Fine,” Eva managed to say. “I’d like to try it, anyway. I’m still thinking you’re crazy.”
“Try me,” her friend had said, hanging up.
Now that the actual test was on her desk, Eva took a deep breath and reluctantly lifted her pencil. She knew very little from last night’s notes so she might only be familiar with some of the questions.
Strange as it may seem, her hand moved in a jerk, writing the answers down quickly. She didn’t realize that her hand was moving until she heard pages after pages turning. Astounded she was, and relieved. Not a thought of the test came to her head. She was drifted in an overwhelming relief.
Her nostrils were filled with the terrible smell coming from the soap. The smell wasn’t a pleasant scent to smell. It was like the scent of the soap came from a rotting sewage with a strong jasmine perfume to cover the stench. There was something in it, too, that no one could identify.
“Miss Potter, look at your paper,” the teacher ordered. Eva quickly gazed at her test paper, pretending that she was absorbed in it.
“Man, does it stink!” someone muttered from behind. Eva looked up as if disturbed at the comment. She caught Ashley at the corner of her eyes, crossing herself.
Must be a sign of a bad omen, she thought looking at her paper when she saw the teacher give her a sharp look.
When the least of her worries was coming, her power slowly began to fade. Her hand stopped writing on its own. It was now her time to think on her own. She wasn’t prepared for this to happen so soon even though it lasted about the time her friend had warned her.
She hesitantly read the direction on the page the power left her on. The direction was getting very vague to her. She decided to flip through the page to see how many pages she had left to complete the test. Instead of concentrating, she spent her time cursing herself. She had nothing left of the power. Not even the rotten smell.
After school, her friend came over to meet her at the gymnasium. Eva wasn't surprised to see her. She had a worried look.
"There you are!" Ashley exclaimed, enthusiastically. "So how did the test go?"
"Not so good as far as I could tell," Eva said, shrugging. "I know I'm going to fail. I just know it."
"Did I hear you say that you're going to fail? Don't let me hear that from you, because you're too smart!"
"Thanks, but I don't feel any better," Eva said miserably.
"Maybe I should've let you use the soap again," she sighed deeply in thought.
"No! I wished you never introduced to me to that stupid soap. Then I wouldn't have such a frustrating time thinking about that devious advice of yours."
"Well, Eva, I'm really sorry that it came out this way," her friend said softly. Too softly that Eva regretted ever saying it.
"You know, I'm glad you got me into it. At least I, uh, got to realize what it’s like to cheat.”
“You’re just saying that,” her friend said, watching some of her friends catch the bus. She removed a wisp of her loose tendrils over to her ears.
“I mean it,” Eva insisted. ”Without it, I wouldn’t be able to be subconscious enough to know what powers can do.”
“I guess you’re right about that. Wanna go to the mall?”
“Sure, but I’m not going to join your flirty mood. I’ll give the boys a break, and this time the treats are on me,” Eva smiled reassuringly as her best friend had a nervous look. “What is it?”
“You do know what the soap’s made out of? Well if you don’t then you’re in for some treat yourself…” She put her arms around her friend’s shoulder.
