Read Online Pass/Fail (2012) by David Wellington - Free Book Online Page B

is in Farsi. Farsi is one of the principal languages of Iran,” the Proctor said.
    Jake’s eyes went wide. “Farsi? Farsi? You’re kidding me. The library doesn’t even have a Farsi dictionary.”
    “No,” the Proctor agreed. “It does not.”
    Jake got up and shoved the blank test paper into the Proctor’s gloved hands. He hadn’t even been able to write his name at the top of the page—the one thing he knew he was supposed to do, since there was a space for it just as there was always a space for it at the top of Mr. Dzama’s quizzes. He’d tried to transliterate his name into Arabic but even that would have been wrong.
    The bell rang for the change of periods, and he was due in Pre-Calc next but he just ignored it. He made straight for the guidance office, where he beat on the door until Mr. Zuraw opened it.
    The guidance counselor had a pale blue envelope on his desk. Jake tore it open and found his first FAIL inside.
    “You have this for me already? Why am I not surprised.”
    “I saw you coming and figured I would save the trouble of having it delivered, since you were good enough to come pick it up yourself.”
    Jake threw the card at Mr. Zuraw’s face. “You knew I was going to fail. This test was rigged,” he said. “I couldn’t have passed it. There was no way.”
    “Are you sure of that?” Mr. Zuraw asked. He picked the card off of his suit lapel and laid it flat on the desk between them.
    Jake could feel his face burning with rage. “You want me to prove something. I’ve been trying to do that. To prove that I can innovate under pressure. That I can solve problems that look insoluble. I thought I had the answer, that I needed to cheat by looking up the language in the library. But the library didn’t have the right books.”
    “That’s because we weren’t testing your library skills. We were testing your social skills.”
    Jake started to say something nasty—then stopped. Slowly he sat down in the chair opposite Mr. Zuraw. “How?” he asked. “How was I supposed to do it?”
    “Three chairs behind yours, and one to the left, there was a student named Navid Fazel. Navid’s family comes from Teheran. They moved here three years ago. Farsi was Navid’s first language, and he can read and write it fluently. He failed, however, to do any of the reading so far for Mr. Dzama’s class. He would gladly have collaborated with you on the test. He could have read you the questions, which you could have answered, and he would have finally translated your answers into Farsi and written them down for you. The two of you could have achieved perfect scores on your respective tests and been done in fifteen minutes. Instead you stormed out of class, and both of you will fail. Of course, his failure will probably led to less serious consequences. Now. If there was anything else you wanted to discuss—”
    “No,” Jake said. “It’s not that easy. I’ve never failed a test before in my life.”
    “You’ve never taken one like this before, either. Jake, how many friends do you have in this school? I believe the answer is two. Cody Strindberg and Megan Gottschalk. Anyone versed in child development will tell you that a youth with a social circle that small is at risk for any number of negative indicators. It’s well past time you started learning how to play well with others. If this is what it takes to make you realize that, then a FAIL is exactly what you need right now.”
    Mr. Zuraw sat back in his chair and studied Jake for a while before he went on.
    “Everything we do here, all these tests and conditions—they’re for your own good. It’s time you realized that, too.”
    “You had teachers shoot at me for my own good?” Jake asked.
    Mr. Zuraw shrugged. “If you were sitting in my seat right now, that wouldn’t seem like such a silly question. Now. Jake. I’ve spent more time explaining myself than the program normally allows for. I have work to do, and you have classes to go