The clock is ticking
The pencils are thumping
Students are thinking
And their hearts are pumping

The clock keeps ticking
As the minutes go by
They sit there quietly
Answering the questions and explaining why

One after another, they get up
To go turn their tests in
And their anxiety gets turned up
As they worry about how they did

Hearts are pumping
The stress is coming
Minds are racing
Fingers are tapping

The teacher calls their names
One by one
And they all go up
To see how they've done

Hands are shaking as they grip the paper
Minds are running  in circles
And Hearts hurt from all the pumping

I take a shaky breath
As I try to calm my nerves
And with the test in my hands
I begin to turn it over

My heart drops to my stomach
As I stare at the numbers in front of me
My score was 78%, a C+
I sighed, my stomach filled with dread      

I knew my parents were gonna be mad once I got home

I smiled at my friend next to me, "Hey, what did you get?"              
A proud smile lit up her face, "I got a 98! My parents are gonna be so proud of me! But it was really easy."                    
My stomach clenched at the thought, ‘Why can't I learn this stuff. Everyone else can, why can't I? What's wrong with me?’

She sent me a questioning glance, "What did you get?"
I shoved the test into my backpack, sending her a little smile, "Just the usual."
The bell rang, signaling the end of the day
I sighed as I walked towards the bus

Time to deal with the disappointment.