Chapter 18: April

Jo's POV

On the morning of the April exam my phone lit up at 5:41.

I was in a hotel room two blocks from the downtown hall.

TESTING BOARD NOTICE. Flooding at the Downtown Hall. Today's sitting is moved to the Eastgate Annex, entry closes 7:15.

Confirm your seat within the hour or it will be released.

Below it was a link.

I sat on the edge of the bed with my bare feet on the carpet and read it again.

Then I knocked on the wall.

Cal had the room next to mine, and he knocked back.

A minute later he was at my door in a T-shirt with his hair on end.

"Is it the first line?" he said.

"It's the first line."

I handed him the phone.

I had practiced for this, and my hands were quite steady.

"Three checks," I said. "Who is it from?"

Cal squinted at the screen.

"It says testingboard dot org."

"The real address is testing-board dot org, with a hyphen."

"That's a tiny difference."

"That's the point of it," I said. "Second. Where does the link go?"

He tapped the screen, careful to stop short of loading it.

"It says to confirm your candidate ID and your card number."

"The board never asks for a card number. Third. Why is it in a hurry?"

"The hour," Cal said. "It's tighter than the time you'd need to call anyone."

Cal gave me back the phone.

"Do you want to call the board?"

"I want to do it three ways."

I dialed the board's recorded line.

A calm voice said the Downtown Hall was open as scheduled and all candidates should bring photo ID.

I texted Lindy, who had promised to stay awake until I was done.

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