糊涂蛋

 我今天到学校的目的是要做我的O水准口试 (⁠´⁠-⁠﹏⁠-⁠`⁠；⁠)

到那里的时候，我先去洗手间准备自己。出来的时候，我恰好看到了我以前的同班同学穿过洗手间的门口。我们的双眼看彼此，一瞬间后就转到地上了。

那个事情让我感到无比尴尬，所以我呆在洗手间里，想要等他走掉后才出来。可是，我半途而废地赶紧洗手洗脸而离开。我消消地跟着以前同学的走向食堂，一边感到又后悔又尴尬，一边想：为什么我这么胆小？我们只是走一样的路而已。下狠心吧！

到了食堂后，我坐在一个黑暗的角落，从书包里拿出我最喜欢的华文复习本：模拟O水准测验。翻开的时候，我才意识到我没有把名字写在本子里。在书包里找一找后，我才发现我没有带任何笔，连铅笔都没有！

糟糕。我因为懂华文口试不用拿笔而什么比都没拿导致我现在面对的巨大挑战。如果我没有写名字，考官收拾学生们的笔记时不知道这本是谁的，而把它丢掉！我的脸上落出了伤心的表情，心里想：我不可以让他们丢掉我亲爱的本子！

我只有一个办法了：借别人的笔。可是，我是一位非常害羞的人，觉得跟别人借笔会感到很不害意思。所以我带在黑暗的角落里，想来想去，看来看去，认为我应不应该从那位男生借笔。还是不应该，他看起来很沉迷他的电脑屏幕。

那时候，我的朋友看到我了！她走过来，跟我打招呼。

“喂，你也在那口试吗？”她问道。

“是的呀！”我回答。“我可不可以借你的笔啊？我没有带。”

她笑一笑，声音非常轻松和自然。她一边走到她的位置，一边挑逗：“来做考试没带笔？你怎么可以这样的啊？”

我不好意思地摸一摸我的手，说道：“是华文口试吗，为什么要带笔？都不用写什么答案。”

她对此耸了耸肩，然后从铅笔盒拿出一支笔。我的嘴出了一声“谢谢”后，我就赶紧回到黑暗的角落去补填我的名字。写完后，我抬起头，要去还笔，可是见到我的朋友正在收拾书包，来到我的黑暗的角落。

“我要跟你一起复习，”她说，满脸都是积极。那时，我的心跳了一步。我的心里想：我真幸福，有这么好的朋友。

后来，我们一起坐在黑暗的角落里读笔记。我把笔递给她，她用双手接受。这个微小却温暖的互动让黑暗的角落变得更亮，让我看字更清晰。

我们俩一边谈，一边复习口试。有时候我们会谈到笑声充满了食堂里，有时候笑到笑声打扰了别的同学，可是我们对此无理。在那个瞬间，我们犹如活在我们自己的世界，对外面的影响都没有反应。那个感受令我无比轻松。我的朋友就有这样的魔力，能把你带去另一个世界里。

后来，考试终于要开始了。我的朋友站起来，祝我好运而回到她的座位。我看着她的背影，感到有一些失望。其实我要继续跟她讲，讲到傍晚还好。

我去到我的组，给考官我的名字和班级。可是她们说我不是在她的组。那是很奇怪，因为我明明看到那是我的组。考官们跟彼此讨论后，才跟我讲我应该是看错天了。

咦？“今天不是十六号吗？”我问道，感到非常无奈，也有一些丢脸。

考官笑着说：“不是。今天是十五号。你看错天了啊！”

“哦…..”我回答，连忙从书包里拿出考试入口证明。纸上很明显地写：华文口试 16日7月。

“对不起，”我对考官们说，一边背上书包，一边不好意思地离开学校。

在学校外面，我打电话给我的爸爸和妈妈，跟他们说我的糊涂错误。他们不仅没有骂我，而还说这是一件好事因为我可以用剩下的时间复习口试。从正面的方向来看，这真的不是一个完全坏的事情。不过，我还浪费时间来到学校，可是我能跟我的朋友过了一个难忘的瞬间。

这个经验让我想起我的另外一个朋友提到的道理：每个事有两面。(●'◡'●)

AI-generated English translation:

I didn’t think I could mess up something as simple as showing up for an oral exam, but apparently that’s a skill I lack now (⁠´⁠-⁠﹏⁠-⁠`⁠；⁠)

So today, I went to school thinking I had my O-Level Chinese oral. Big day. Important stuff. I even mentally prepared myself in the washroom like some kind of warrior about to enter battle. Came out feeling decent… until I locked eyes with an old classmate outside the toilet. Eye contact. Two seconds of awkward tension. Then immediate, synchronized eye-to-floor movement. Olympic-level avoidance.

I panicked. My brilliant solution? Hide in the washroom a little longer like some ghost haunting the school sinks. Eventually gave up on that plan, washed my face like it would fix the social damage, and left. I tried to act normal while quietly stalking my old classmate to the canteen. Regret and shame? Yeah, they were tagging along too. I told myself, “We’re just walking the same way. It’s not that deep.” It was that deep.

At the canteen, I parked myself in the darkest corner like some caffeine-deprived cryptid and pulled out my favourite Chinese revision book—Mock O-Level Oral Practice. I opened it, ready to grind… and then realized: I never wrote my name in it. Fine, I’ll just write it now—oh wait. I brought literally zero writing tools. No pen. No pencil. Not even one of those weird broken ones you find at the bottom of a bag. Nothing.

Because apparently, I thought being prepared for an oral exam meant not bringing anything useful.

Cue internal screaming.

So now I was faced with a dilemma: either let my precious revision book get mistaken for lost property and probably tossed, or gather the courage to borrow a pen like a functioning human being. But asking people for stuff? Ew. Scary. So I sat there, spiraling, side-eyeing a guy who looked way too in love with his laptop screen to help me anyway.

Then my friend showed up. Out of nowhere. Like a savior with actual social skills.

“Hey, you here for the oral too?” she asked, all bright and friendly.

“Yeah,” I said. “Can I borrow your pen? I didn’t bring one.”

She laughed, super chill, and teased me while heading to her seat: “Came to take an exam and didn’t bring a pen? You serious?”

I weakly tried to defend myself. “It’s an oral exam! I thought we didn’t have to write anything!” (I sounded confident, but inside I was melting.)

She shrugged and handed me a pen like it was no big deal. I whispered a thank-you and scurried back to my batcave to write my name like a maniac. Just when I was about to return the pen, I saw her packing her stuff and walking straight toward me.

“I’m gonna revise with you,” she said, all cheerful and sparkly.

My heart did a thing.

We sat together in the shadows, going through our notes. I handed her back the pen, she accepted it with both hands like it was some sacred artifact. That small, wholesome exchange made our dim corner feel a bit warmer. Like maybe this oral exam wouldn’t kill me after all.

We chatted and revised, and somewhere between the mock questions and bad jokes, we started laughing way too loud. The canteen echoed with our chaos. Did we disturb others? Probably. Did we care? Not at all. For a brief moment, we were in our own little bubble, where O-Levels and awkward reunions didn’t matter. It was… nice.

Eventually, exam time rolled around. She stood up, wished me luck, and returned to her seat. I stared at her leaving, mildly heartbroken. Honestly, I could’ve kept talking till sunset.

Anyway, I dragged myself to the exam group, gave the examiners my name and class, fully ready to speak some killer Mandarin… and they looked confused. “You’re not in our group,” they said.

Huh? I literally checked this like five times.

After a brief internal crisis and some examiner whispering, one of them smiled and said, “You got the wrong day.”

Pause.

“Isn’t it the 16th today?” I asked, already feeling my soul leave my body.

“Nope. It’s the 15th,” she said. “You’re one day early.”

I died inside. Pulled out my admission slip and yep—right there in bold: 16 July, Chinese Oral Exam.

I apologized, stuffed my things into my bag, and made my grand exit like a clown shuffling off stage.

Outside, I called my parents, ready for judgment. But nope—they were surprisingly chill. Said it was a blessing in disguise and now I had more time to study. Technically true, but also… I did haul myself all the way to school for no reason.

Still, I got to hang out with a friend, revise a little, and be gently roasted for my lack of common sense. Not a total L.

I guess my other friend was right—every situation has two sides. Today, one side was me being a confused, penless gremlin. The other was sharing a warm, funny moment with someone who made it all okay. (●'◡'●)