Free The Mechanics of Being Human by S. E. Campbell Page B

pages, then she would likely get attention for her memory. With everything that was going on with Jax, she could get everyone into a lot of trouble. That idea made her even more repulsed than the idea she was different.
    "I won't say anything to anyone." Fawn frowned down at the books. "What should I do with the test? Should I not look at the books anymore, or…?"
    "No." Her mom said this slowly, unsure of herself. "You should look through them all. I'll see if I can find any of my or Oliver's old school books around here for when you get through with these. You should try to excel as much as possible. Just tell people the answers pop into your head, all right? Maybe people will believe you're remembering facts from before. I doubt anybody will probe you too much."
    "Well, alright." Fawn nodded. "I guess I can do that."
    "Good." A relieved smile crossed her mom's face. "You truly are something. Jax did something extraordinary with you."
    "Jax?" Fawn raised an eyebrow, wondering what Jax had to do with her own mind if they weren't biologically related. The smile slipped off of her mom's face again.
    "Oh. You know. Raising you to be so intelligent." Her mom gave a nervous laugh. "You know. Now you continue to look through those while I get some lunch."
    Her mom hastily stood up and then scurried into the kitchen. She stared down at the stack of books again. Why am I so different from everybody else? Why do I remember the pages of books? Why does something not feel right again? She reached forward and grabbed the biology book before her confused feelings overwhelmed her and distracted her from her studies.

Chapter Eight

    Fawn stood with her mother in the high school hallway on Tuesday morning. The test date rolled around much faster than Fawn expected. She'd gone through Gavin's stack of books and her dad's stacks of old college texts, but they weren't enough. She guessed she could always read through more books even after the test—and would be expected too—but she wanted to do as well as possible.
    The sound of her mom clearing her throat brought her back to reality. She was overwhelmed by the smell of overabundant lemon cleanser and old laundry. The scents did battle, making a foul mixture. The carpet was firm and orange. Inspirational posters hung on the walls. Her mom and dad hovered by her right side as they waited for Mr. Dungam.
    "Peter is taking a long time to retrieve those test papers." Her dad grunted and checked his watch. "My lunch break isn't much longer. I'm going to have to get back to the hospital soon before I miss my patient."
    "I'm sure he'll get here soon." Her mom rubbed his arm to soothe him. "When he gets back, you can say goodbye to Fawn and Peter. You won't miss your patient."
    Just as her dad opened his mouth again, perhaps to complain, Mr. Dungam scurried around the corner with a stack of papers in his arms. A bright red lipstick smear was on his forehead. Her parents glanced at each other and raised eyebrows, but neither of them said anything. Fawn chose not to either. It was better not to get off on the wrong foot with her test proctor.
    "All right." Mr. Dungam grunted and pointed at the room next to them, room 205. "Please go in there, Fawn. We'll begin your testing immediately. The tests are all timed. We'll be doing the tests by subject—math, English, science, history, and so on. It should take around three to four hours. I know you have to head back to work, Oliver. And Delanee, you can go home if you want and come get Fawn at three. You won't be allowed to talk to Fawn at all until after she takes the test, so you'll likely be bored here."
    Both her mom and dad nodded. Fawn nervously swayed at the sight of the papers in his arms. Even with her strong memorization abilities, would she do well? She knew it was foolish to expect to be successful. After all, she'd squeezed sixteen years of learning into one day. Even if she'd devoured ten textbooks in the process, she doubted it