Read Online Pass/Fail (2012) by David Wellington - Free Book Online
Authors: David Wellington
Tags: Science-Fiction, adventure, Literature & Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Genre Fiction
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light. Then he leaned in and kissed her. Very quickly, very softly. Just long enough to count.
“Nice,” she said. Her eyes were closed. He wondered if he should close his own eyes, but he didn’t have that kind of control at the moment.
Then as if nothing had happened they drew apart and started walking again toward the school. After a few minutes of silence she reached over with her free arm and slid it through the crook of his elbow. She did it so easily he didn’t really have a chance to shy away or do anything stupid, and suddenly they were walking arm in arm.
“I think you’re starting to get the hang of this,” she said.
Chapter Fourteen
He had chosen Friday for the simple reason he thought of it as the night people went out on dates. It was still four days away, and each morning the two of them kept walking to school together. Sometimes they kissed, though only briefly, one gentle, quick peck before they reached the school door. Most of the time they talked—or rather, Megan talked, and he listened. He liked hearing her stories, though she was convinced they were boring and of no interest to him. She told him all about the lives of the other students in their school: who was going out with whom, who was theoretically sleeping with whom, who had betrayed their friends and who had just gone shopping that weekend or away with their parents on a ski trip. It was all very simple and mundane, very basic stuff that must have seemed like life and death drama to the kids involved but to him it sounded like paradise. To live in a place where you didn’t have to worry all the time about being executed because you didn’t pass enough tests. To know who you could trust—and to know that even if they betrayed you, there was always the possibility of forgiveness, of making up.
“They’re just people,” Megan told him, when he expressed his admiration for his classmates. “Like me. I just a person. You could be one, too, Jake.” She looked deep into his eyes, then shook her head wildly. “That could be my secret mission, couldn’t it? To help you figure out how to have a normal life.”
It made him feel good, when she said that. It made him want to go and pass some tests. He got his chance just a few days later. Friday morning, in fact. The morning before his big date with Megan.
He was learning that the tests came about once a week, though he was careful not to start expecting them every seven days. Mr. Zuraw had even told him that they would come at times that seemed random, and that no two would be alike. He was almost at a point where he wasn’t surprised when they happened. Almost.
He still jumped when Mr. Dzama in History class announced that they were going to have an unscheduled test. Of course, Mr. Dzama just meant the class was going to have a pop quiz. Most of the students groaned but Jake just sat back in his chair, slightly relieved. He had done some of the reading—probably more than most of his classmates—and anyway, he knew that whatever grade he got on this test wouldn’t count. He was on a pass/fail basis, and he could score a zero on this quiz and it wouldn’t affect him at all, except for a little hurt pride.
So when Mr. Dzama started handing out the test papers and most of the students shrank away from him as if he were handing out cultures of the bubonic plague, Jake just shrugged and reached down for his bag to get a pen.
While he was bent over the PA in the ceiling crackled to life. “Sleep,” a voice growled, and then the room went silent.
Fear spiked through Jake’s veins. Slowly he sat up. He was not surprised to find that the students around him were slumped over their desks, drool gathering in the corners of their mouths. Horrified, maybe, but not surprised.
Mr. Dzama was gone. Or maybe he’d just somehow changed clothes while Jake wasn’t looking. There was a Proctor in the room, with one piece of paper in his gloved hands. He came directly over to
“Nice,” she said. Her eyes were closed. He wondered if he should close his own eyes, but he didn’t have that kind of control at the moment.
Then as if nothing had happened they drew apart and started walking again toward the school. After a few minutes of silence she reached over with her free arm and slid it through the crook of his elbow. She did it so easily he didn’t really have a chance to shy away or do anything stupid, and suddenly they were walking arm in arm.
“I think you’re starting to get the hang of this,” she said.
Chapter Fourteen
He had chosen Friday for the simple reason he thought of it as the night people went out on dates. It was still four days away, and each morning the two of them kept walking to school together. Sometimes they kissed, though only briefly, one gentle, quick peck before they reached the school door. Most of the time they talked—or rather, Megan talked, and he listened. He liked hearing her stories, though she was convinced they were boring and of no interest to him. She told him all about the lives of the other students in their school: who was going out with whom, who was theoretically sleeping with whom, who had betrayed their friends and who had just gone shopping that weekend or away with their parents on a ski trip. It was all very simple and mundane, very basic stuff that must have seemed like life and death drama to the kids involved but to him it sounded like paradise. To live in a place where you didn’t have to worry all the time about being executed because you didn’t pass enough tests. To know who you could trust—and to know that even if they betrayed you, there was always the possibility of forgiveness, of making up.
“They’re just people,” Megan told him, when he expressed his admiration for his classmates. “Like me. I just a person. You could be one, too, Jake.” She looked deep into his eyes, then shook her head wildly. “That could be my secret mission, couldn’t it? To help you figure out how to have a normal life.”
It made him feel good, when she said that. It made him want to go and pass some tests. He got his chance just a few days later. Friday morning, in fact. The morning before his big date with Megan.
He was learning that the tests came about once a week, though he was careful not to start expecting them every seven days. Mr. Zuraw had even told him that they would come at times that seemed random, and that no two would be alike. He was almost at a point where he wasn’t surprised when they happened. Almost.
He still jumped when Mr. Dzama in History class announced that they were going to have an unscheduled test. Of course, Mr. Dzama just meant the class was going to have a pop quiz. Most of the students groaned but Jake just sat back in his chair, slightly relieved. He had done some of the reading—probably more than most of his classmates—and anyway, he knew that whatever grade he got on this test wouldn’t count. He was on a pass/fail basis, and he could score a zero on this quiz and it wouldn’t affect him at all, except for a little hurt pride.
So when Mr. Dzama started handing out the test papers and most of the students shrank away from him as if he were handing out cultures of the bubonic plague, Jake just shrugged and reached down for his bag to get a pen.
While he was bent over the PA in the ceiling crackled to life. “Sleep,” a voice growled, and then the room went silent.
Fear spiked through Jake’s veins. Slowly he sat up. He was not surprised to find that the students around him were slumped over their desks, drool gathering in the corners of their mouths. Horrified, maybe, but not surprised.
Mr. Dzama was gone. Or maybe he’d just somehow changed clothes while Jake wasn’t looking. There was a Proctor in the room, with one piece of paper in his gloved hands. He came directly over to
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