Anni twirled her pen nervously.
‘You may begin,’ called the teacher.
There was a frenzy of scratching as Anni and her fellow students hurried to fill in their test papers.
Anni grabbed her water bottle and took another big gulp. Her mouth was so dry after taking that pill.
‘You’ll be fine!’ said Tom, her best friend. ‘We’re all gonna do it.’
‘You’ll get in the zone,’ said Clara.
‘What if we get caught?’ Anni asked.
‘No one will catch you. They won’t drug test you in the HSC. This isn’t the Tour de France,’ added Alice.
Anni swallowed the pill around the corner of the girl’s bathroom.
Her family wanted her to do well. They mentioned it every day.
‘Make your family proud.’
‘We want another doctor or lawyer.’
Anni recalled the first strands of hair she pulled out during a five-hour study session. She had daily headaches from grinding her teeth while she slept.
I don’t think I’ll pass; she thought.
But if I do I’ll be a failure.
I won’t get into uni.
I won’t get a job.
I’ll be homeless!
Anni let out an ear-piercing scream. The students nearest to her jumped.
Anni fell to the floor. She lay there, shaking. Her black hair covered her face as she cowered on the ground.
The nearest teacher ran over and knelt by her side. The words came out of Anni’s mouth before she could stop herself.
‘I took a pill, miss,’ she whispered. ‘I’m a cheat. I’m a failure.’
THE END
Thank you for reading! If you like this story, you can read more stories set in the Out of Bounds universe:
Isaiah Prasad 