My Pillow Knows All the Reasons for Insomnia

The red cross on my math test paper is more dazzling than any love letter. I'm afraid of being called out, afraid of looking at each other, and afraid of my hands shaking when I'm nervous. Until the most stern teacher, the one I least wanted to let down, called me to the office and said something that I have remembered for many years. It's about the heartbeat before an exam, the panic when being watched, And, the courage that quietly grew in the subjects that were originally the most hated. The first person records the teenage thoughts of an ordinary girl.