There were going to be four children selected for the finals. Everyone was given the same shuffle so it would be fair, and they were given 15 seconds to inspect the cube before they started solving it. Jack decided to go first and got a time of 51 seconds, followed by his friends who got about 57 or 58 seconds. There was another 8th grader there, who got a time of about a minute and 17 seconds, but then my turn came. I felt like the fifteen seconds I was given were too short. When it had started my hands started shaking like crazy, and I started sweating a little bit. I kept looking at the time, and started getting really nervous. I tried going really fast, but the cube started clicking, so I slowed down a bit when I saw the time at 46 seconds. I was almost done! I had finished and I dropped the cube onto the table. I had come second place! I was so close to getting first! My time was 52.17 seconds! I was qualified for the finals!
When the day of the finals had finally come I was extremely nervous, much more than before. When the classes started coming in, I thought that if I failed, I would be humiliated in front of everyone. I was surprised to see my sister there. I had found out that grade 11 was there too, so thats why she was there. She was waving at me in the distance, and I waved back. Jack did'nt go first this time, it was his other friend. Ho got a pretty good time, but when Jack came, he got 31 seconds! I knew then I couldnt be first, but I guess second? When my name was called, my heart started beating faster and harder than ever. I could hear everyone cheering for me as I was the youngest competitor. Everyone else was in 12th or 13th. I got to the seat and sat down. The timer started. This time I was extremely nervous, I had dropped the cube on the table once or twice, but I managed to solve it under a minute anyways. I looked at the timer when I dropped my cube: 57 seconds. Not a very good time. I ended up in fourth place, but still I was just a 7th grader.