Alina sat at her little dining table with her laptop open, her diary beside it, and a half-finished cup of tea slowly losing warmth. Evening sunlight trickled through the curtains, casting a gentle orange glow across the room. The clicking of her laptop keys could be heard as she typed, her brows knitted in concentration.
She had already completed the science paper earlier, then the language paper, and now math was staring back at her like the final mountain she needed to climb. Even though the exam was made for tiny babies with simple concepts like addition, subtraction, counting objects, and matching shapes, Alina felt oddly nervous on their behalf. She wanted everything to be fair, she wanted her little students to succeed, and she did not want them to cry over questions that felt too hard or confusing.
Her pencil tapped against her diary as she murmured ideas under her breath.
