Amal Unbound

I watched from the window as the boys tumbled out of the brick schoolhouse across the field from us. Our class was running over. Again.
Girls shifted in their seats and sneaks glances at the clock above the chalkboard. My friend Hafsa sighed.
“And finally, I have some bad news,” Miss Sadia told us. She picked up a stack of papers from her desk. “I finished grading your math tests. Only five of you passed.”
The class let out a collective groan. “Now, now,” she hushed us. “This just means we have more work to do. We’ll go over it tomorrow and take an other test next week.”
“Those questions were hard,” my younger sister Seema whispered to me. We lined up by the chalkboard at the front of the class to get our tests. “I should’ve stayed with the younger class until fall.”
“Oh, come on. You know you probably passed,” I whispered back. “When have you ever failed an exam?”