My Way To You

Anger students turned their gazes at him and he silently apologized in their direction as he quickly settled down. "Why not? Can you prove other wise? Let me ask you, when you wrote the entrance exam did you answer every question?" Ariana asked. All four of them shook their heads no. "Exactly! You spent too much time trying to sound super smart in your answers but it just wasted your time." Ariana replied. "Alright what did you do Miss Smartie dress!" Halina snorted.

"Read through the whole exam and managed my time." Ariana answered. "You didn"t start writing right away?" Talisha asked. "No." Ariana replied. "Why?" Edlyn asked. "Why would I waste my time in starting right away? You read through an exam then make mental notes of a couple of things. One, what answers do you already know? Two, what"s worth the most marks? Three, save multiple guess for the end and four answer what you know first." Ariana said as she raised her fingers. 

"Multiple guess you said this twice now. What is that?" Lucius asked. "It"s multiple choice but teachers put these in test papers to play a psychological game with you." Ariana said. The group looked lost and Ariana chuckled. "Sorry let me explain further. Say you"re give a question, Edlyn if you could please cover your eyes?" Ariana asked and Edlyn covered her eyes with both her hands. "Thank you. So say they give you a simple question, what colour are Edlyn"s eyes?" Ariana continued.

"Simple! Blue!" Halina said excitedly. "Yes but you answered too early. You"re list of answers are ice blue, sea blue, sky blue or pale blue." Ariana stated. Halina thought about for a second. "Sky blue." She answered firmly. "Are you sure?" Ariana asked. Halina pursed her lips and nodded. "Really, really sure?" Ariana probed as she leaned forward. Halina didn"t respond. "What if I told you the next question is what is her favourite colour? Sky blue, pale blue, steel blue or green?"

"Uhm pale blue?" Halina answered. "Are you sure you didn"t mix up the answers?" Ariana asked. Halina started to sweat. "I, I don"t know maybe? Can I go back and answer again?" Halina asked. "Sure but what if your wrong again?" Ariana asked. "I...." Halina said with a exasperated look. "Edlyn." Ariana called out and Edlyn lowered her hands and looked at Halina. "I was right the first time!" Halina groaned. "Of course you were! You knew the answer but the moment you heard the second question you second guessed yourself. You wasted time trying to make sure your answers for a single question was correct but in fact that question is worth only one mark. So who cares. Leave it alone. Your first answer is usually the right one but the teachers start messing with your head." Ariana explained.

"That"s mean." Halina pouted. "It"s underhanded." Talisha mumbled. "No, it"s genius." Lucius said in awe. "It"s another reason why you should read through the exam. What if the answer is actually in a question somewhere else? Answer it last, don"t second guess yourself. It"s not worth the stress." Ariana said firmly. 

"So the essay part and opinionated piece?" Lucius asked as he quickly wrote down Ariana"s tips. "It"s the same thing." Ariana said with conviction. "No. Now I know you"re wrong. An opinion is based on your beliefs while an essay is facts." Halina said as her brows furrowed. "Is it really?" Ariana asked. "No. She"s right. An essay is your opinion based on facts while opinionated piece is still your opinion with facts to back it up." Edlyn said with a shocked face.

"Right. No matter how a teacher words it, pick out the key words and form the core question. Here"s an example." Ariana said before she recited the story of the giving tree.

The group looked at her in confusion as mixed feelings arose. "Now was the giving tree self sacrificing or self gratifying?" Ariana asked. "Self sacrificing." Edlyn and Lucius answered. "Self gratifying." Halina and Talisha responded. "Why? But before you answer make you first paragraph your theory, add three examples as your topics which will then be expanded into your three paragraphs then your conclusion. Remember to repeat your three points as proof to your theory." Ariana said. 

"Do we write it down?" Lucius asked. "No, let"s debate but I won"t get involved I will referee. To make sure you stay on topic. It"s very easy to flip back and forth, you must remember to stick with your theory." Ariana explained.

The group started to debate peacefully but after some time they realized that they switched sides easily.

"She gave up everything in the end so her boy could have a place to sit." Edlyn said.

"But the boy didn"t care. The only one who cared was the tree! There was no thank you or anything from him! He just placed his a** down and she died happy." Talisha sneered. 

"Then what about the apples? She gave them all to him so he could get money? How is that not a sacrifice?" Lucius asked. 

"They"re apples they grow back. She was doing it to feel useful." Halina replied. 

"What about cutting off her branches? She gave her branches to him so he could build a house." Edlyn pointed out. 

"So he could be in that house with his family. Not build it next to her." Talisha said.

"So how is that not a sacrifice if she feels lonely in the end?" Lucius asked. 

"How could she not feel happy? She gave up parts of herself to help out her son? It seems like bragging too me." Halina huffed.

"To who? She"s alone." Edlyn pointed out. "This is frustrating! What"s the answer?!" Talisha roared at Ariana.

Ariana looked around and saw that the surrounding students were actively listening and debating along side with the group. They didn"t care that they were being disruptive they wanted to know they answer too. "Doesn"t matter." Ariana replied, making everyone erupt in fury.