23 students filed off the bus and walked to the entrance of the British International School of Kuala Lumpur (BISKL). Students were there to greet us, and a teacher showed us the way around. We went straight to the library to get ready for the upcoming Novel Knockout competition that was organized by the Kuala Lumpur Librarians Network (KLLN). I was one of the 8 people selected to represent my school in the competition, and the other 15 people were people that came to the meetings often.
"Zhi Hong, Alice, Cathy, Pin. I want you to sit over there and get yourselves settled." Our librarian, Ms. Suji, said. We all walked as a team to a spot in the library.
"Ok," I said. "Get all the review sheets you currently have with you out now." We were not allowed to bring our competition books down because Ms. Suji didn't want us to be accused of cheating. There was a rustle as everyone got sheets of paper out from their backpacks. We had lots of work that we had yet to do.
For the competition, there were 8 books. The Whale, Beetle Boy, Laika, Real Friends, Sweet Pizza, Pax, The Diamond Mystery, and the Boy and a Jaguar.
I grabbed a book from the wall. "I'm going to write the answers for 'The Whale'." I said.
"I'll do 'Beetle Boy' and 'Real Friends'."
"I'll do 'Pax' and 'Diamond Mystery'."
We all talked about who was going to write the answers for specific books. That was when we realized that none of us were capable of being the expert for Boy and a Jaguar.
"Tobiah! We need you!" I called out. Tobiah was really good in Boy and a Jaguar, so then he had to tell us all the details from memory, as we were not allowed to have the book with us.
"Guys, would you all follow me to the auditorium for the competition?" A woman said to all of us.
We all stood up. "I guess it's time for the competition!" I said. "My heart is thumping so hard against my chest, it feels like it doesn't have enough room!"
The auditorium was freezing cold. After a few minutes, we were called down.
"ISKL!" Team A and Team B of ISKL rushed down the stage. A thrill ran through my bones as I took the steps 2 by 2 onto the stage.
First up was the Readers Award. This was a individual competition for everyone that got selected. We had to answer questions of random popular books and write what the name of books was when we saw only the cover, not the words.
That competition was hard. What is the horse's name in Winnie the Pooh? As soon as I read the question, I was dumbstruck. It's been years since I read Winnie the Pooh!!!! I just left the question blank.
"5!!! 4!!! 3!!! 2!!! 1!!!" Everyone was shouting, announcing the fact that we had 5 seconds left.
"Pencils down!" I turned my paper in.
It was another 2 mins before the actual competition begin. "Open your packets!" The commentator shouted. I ripped open the envelope and passed it to Cathy, who was writing Beetle Boy.
"Someone answer the Ipad questions!" We had 3 mins to answer the questions for each book, and we had until the 6th book to finish the Ipad questions.
"What's the answer to this?"
"Air-conditioning vault."
The questions for the competition were really detailed. The Ipad questions were detailed, but for me, they were plain easy. The questions on paper were the hard ones. Every time they had the paper questions, I would slam it in the box to answer the questions in time. I would also rip the envelope and take out the paper. I looked at the other schools, and to my surprise, they opened theirs nicely.
It was finally time for the answers to be announced. 2 girls from my school, ISKL, tied for the middle school readers award, so they had a heat round. Final score: 1-0. In middle school, my school secured 4th and 5th place.
"Now, I will announce the elementary school results from lowest to highest." The commentator said. "In 3rd place, we have ISKL2!"
I yelped with joy. That was the team that I was in!!! I ran down the stairs to grab my awards. I got a book and a certificate. At the same time, she announced even better news.
"In 2nd place, we have ISKL1!" Even though that was not my team, I was still happy. They got a certificate and a 50 ringgit voucher to spend on whatever book they wanted.
"I am so proud of all of you! This is the first time that ISKL ever got in top 3 for this competition! Next year, we should get 1st place, 2nd place, 3rd place, and 4th place!" Ms. Suji said after the competition.
"No, next year, we should get 1st, 2nd, 1st, 2nd." I said with a smirk.
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