THE MAGIC IS IN YOU ✨

The term was almost over, and exam season was creeping in like a shadow — slow, steady, and impossible to ignore.

Everywhere I turned, there was pressure.

Teachers reminding us of our performance. Parents calling more often. The principal dropping by classes with the exam roster. Even the cleaners were talking about the upcoming "promotion list."

And then there was me.

Caught between wanting to prove myself and the weight of everyone's expectations — especially my parents'.

They hadn't forgotten their promise to send me abroad, but there was a new condition now: I had to rank among the top five in the entire school.

Tope didn't know this part yet.

She noticed something was off, though.

"You've been zoning out a lot lately," she said one afternoon.

"I'm fine," I lied, barely looking up from my book.

"You're studying harder than ever, but you're also more distracted than ever," she added. "That's not how pressure works — it either makes you or breaks you."

I exhaled, closing the textbook. "What if I can't handle it?"

Tope tilted her head. "Then let it out. Don't let it swallow you."

Her words helped — a little. But as days passed, I found myself waking up earlier, sleeping less, skipping meals. My heart would race at the sight of practice questions. Even during breaks, my hands would shake just flipping through my notes.

The pressure was real — and it was rising.

Then came the surprise.

The school announced a mock exam — unplanned and unannounced — to test how prepared we were. The entire student body buzzed with panic. And me? I felt like I was about to drown.

Tope noticed my pale face and squeezed my hand under the desk.

"You're not alone," she whispered. "We rise together, remember?"

And that moment reminded me why I started changing in the first place. Not just for my parents. Not for praise.

But because I wanted to be better — for me. For her. For us.