13 Part 1 | Chapter 12 ~ The Exam

When I woke up, Lance, Cassidy, Julianna, Rylee, and Miguel were all beside me. It didn't look like we were in the roller rink still though.

"Calvin? Calvin can you hear me?" Cassidy asked, shaking my shoulders frantically.

My ears rung like in the movies when bombs go off for soldiers, while my blurry vision struggled to focus on just one of the six figures.

"Calvin, you hit your head." She stated softly, the ringing in my ears beginning to fade out.

"Pretty hard too." Julianna added.

"Pretty hard is an understatement." An unfamiliar man replied.

I looked down to an old man in a white coat holding a clipboard, a pair of glasses resting on his nose.

"It's only a mild concussion, luckily. Things could have been much worse if he had been going faster."

"Is he going to be okay?" Lance asked.

"Peachy. Lots of rest and lots of water for the next week and you'll be good as new." The man responded.

I blinked my eyes closed tightly, the ringing subsiding entirely along with the shaky blurriness of my vision. I looked at each of them.

"Where are we?"

"We're at the hospital. You knocked yourself out so we called 911." Miguel clarified.

I looked at Lance, narrowing my gaze slowly.

"It's your fault." I accused.

He looked at me like I was crazy.

"How is this my fault? I didn't do anything."

"You let go of my hand because your friends came in."

"I let go of your hand so you could try skating on your own. Yes, my friends came in, is that such a big deal?" He glared at me.

"Just admit it, your embarrassed to be seen with me!" I sat up slowly with a scowl.

"I am not embarrassed to be seen with you." He lowered his voice to a growl.

"That's exactly what a person who is embarrassed to be seen with another person would say! Admit it!"

"I don't know what you're talking about!"

While we bickered back and forth, the four others just watched us in silence.

"Just say it!"

"I don't know what you want me to say!"

"That you're too cool to be seen with a group of people like us, so you let me go to save yourself the humiliation of explaining to your stuck up little rich boy friends why you were holding my hand!" I shouted.

"Maybe I just wanted you to get off my back a little! The second I try to be nice to you, you start hanging onto me like I'm your boyfriend or something!" He yelled.

"Because I've never skated before! What do you expect me to do! You're the one who skated up to me to catch me when Miguel left!"

"Because I was trying to be friendly! News flash Calvin! I'm not into guys like you!" He hissed.

That's what did it. That's what pushed me over the top.

I wound my arm up and threw it forward right across the center of his cheek.

SLAP

The room had fallen silent.

I had slapped Lance Baker. Again.

He looked at me with a sudden betrayal, glaring deep into my own scowling gaze which faltered under his own.

"At least now I'll remember this one." He stood up to leave.

"Lance!" Miguel rose after him. "I'll go get him." He followed him down the hall.

I laid back down to groan into my pillow.

What had I done.

"You've slapped him before?" Cassidy asked.

"Yeah.. When I went to your dorm and didn't tell you why.." I admitted with a sigh. "He was throwing a party and it got me really angry."

"You can't just go around yelling and slapping people for no reason Calvin." Julianna sighed.

"But I had a reason!"

"You know what I'm saying."

"Most days, I'd be cheering you on. This is not one of those days." Rylee shook her head.

"You should've seen the look a Lances face when you fell." Cassidy huffed.

"I think he broke the world record for worlds faster skater on his way over." Julianna chuckled.

"You've gotta apologize sweetie. I got into a fight with my boyfriend over my lipstick, and we've been sex-less ever since." Rylee stated.

All three of us stared at her for a moment.

"What?" She shrugged.

*****

I headed back to the dorm after getting checked out of the hospital, my head still aching at the rear. I'm guessing I really did hit it pretty hard. All the pain in my skull and disorientation began to make me think about what I said.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on Lance. He really was only trying to help.

That doesn't change the fact that he let go of my hand to insure the safety of his reputation with those stupid friends of his.

But who was I to judge? It was his choice to have friends like those, not mine.

And it was his choice to let go of me.

I opened up the door to step inside, looking around for a moment to spot Lance getting ready for bed. He tugged off his shirt, exposing those chiseled muscles of his.

God, why does he have to be so hot.

I tore my gaze back away from him after realizing that I had been staring, then headed to my side of the room to drop my bag down.

Neither of us spoke a word to each other as we both remained focused on changing. I knew he wasn't looking my way, so I figured changing with both my back and his turned was a good idea. It was.

"You're head feeling better?" He asked slowly, as if he wasn't particularly all that interested in my response.

"Why would you care what my head feels like?" I huffed, pulling a white shirt with a black dolphin in the center over myself, followed by a pair of black sweats.

Don't judge my selection.

"Because it's what friends do." He grumbled.

"A real friend wouldn't have let go of me when he knew I wasn't ready." I snapped.

"There you go again. Just because I wasn't holding your little hand while you were skating, doesn't mean that I'm the bad guy here!" He turned to face me, tearing his black tank top down over his body.

"You're embarrassed of me, and you're embarrassed of my friends. That's what makes you the bad guy."

"Get over it Calvin! My god, you're so difficult! I'm sorry, okay? Is that what you want to hear?" He strained.

"I want a thousand sorry's.." I crossed my arms.

I guess the conversation turned around quite quickly.

"You really want to be here all night?" He grinned softly.

"One thousand." I closed my eyes, waiting.

I couldn't stay mad at him.

"Really? I have to say that I'm sorry a thousand times?" He cocked his brow.

"Nine hundred and ninety nine." I counted.

"Calvin, I'm sorry." He groaned. "Stop counting."

"Nine hundred and ninety eight." I smiled softly.

"Calvin-"

"Nine hundred and ninety eight!" I rose my voice over his.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Hey, you have to say sorry again so I can count to nine-"

He shoved a pillow into my face, pinning me down against the bed to wriggle and squirm.

Lance cackled and released his grip. I sat up immediately, gasping for air.

"You could have killed me! Suffocation is a real thing you know!" I shouted through his laughter.

"Quit crying, you love it." He grinned.

"I'm not crying! And I don't love it!" I huffed.

"Ah.. So you like it rough?~" He soothed through a seductive tone, clearly teasing me as he thrusted his head forward into my personal space, causing my own to rear back against the wall.

I shook my head vigorously and shoved him away, ferociously trying to barricade my face from his vision of sight. Avoiding the teasing from him making me blush.

Like always.

"Go to sleep." I ordered with a small groan.

"Sneakers gets what Sneakers wants." He shrugged, leaving the comfort of my bed to his own which evidently smelled like pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.

His pillow smelled like it when he shoved it into my face.

"Stop calling me Sneakers."

"But it's cute!" He insisted with a grin.

"My sneakers aren't that bad, their vintage. 1980's. Stop making a mockery of them."

"But it's cuuuute.." He laid down against his comforter.

"No."

"But it's so cute." He whispered.

"Go to bed." I flipped onto my side to pull the covers over myself.

"Night.. Sneakers.." He smirked, flicking off the light.

I was never going to shake that nickname.

*****

The morning was rough, a lot of tension on getting the exam finished. I made sure to drink a hot vat of coffee, along side a healthy breakfast which Lance has prepared for me while I was still asleep.

I knew he wasn't in the same major as me.. But he really did seem to care about the idea of my friends and I getting ready for the test. Miguel was taking laws in politics, and Rylee was more into mathematic's.

Now that I think about it.. I don't even know what Lance is majoring in.

"Hey Lance." I piped up.

He glanced up at me and finished his bite of eggs.

"What are you majoring in?"

He looked back down to his plate and set his fork down neatly.

"Business.." He huffed.

"Why not culinary? You're obviously really good with food."

"Food is more of a hobby.. Not something I would pursue life long. Of course business isn't my style either, but it's what my parents insist." He shrugged.

"So what would you be interested in majoring in?" I tilted my head.

He was silent for a moment, before picking up his fork again to poke and prod at his food.

"Art.." He muttered.

"Art?"

"Yes. Art. Painting, sketching, sculpting- you know." He sighed. "My parents would never want me to do anything like that. They always said that Art is for the fools that have wasted their lives scribbling on paper. Of course their wrong because we use canvases and even walls too but.." He shook his head. "My family is not that simple."

"But you're legally an adult. You can do whatever you want."

"My parents have the money to pay for my education all in one bargain. With benefits. You think they would still want to fund me if I said I wanted to take art classes instead of following the family in taking over the business? No." He huffed.

I looked down to take another bite of food, thinking to myself.

"They wanted to send me to business school.. At a private institution. They have the money for that too. I purposely failed my ACT in junior year just to avoid that possibility.."

"How'd you get into Mirwell if you failed your ACT? You need more than a 30 to admission."

"I took it a second time. To get into that business school you needed a 29 or more the first time. I answered about half the questions wrong to get a 24. My second time? A 34."

"Wow Lance. You're smarter than I thought." I grinned.

He laughed. "What, you think I got a 34 by accident? What'd you get on your ACT?"

"31."

"Not bad. Of course I'd expect you to get a 36, speaking by how study-crazy you are." He smirked.

"I always get nervous for tests." I sighed.

"It's why a little break every once and a while is the second most important thing to do while studying." He explained calmly.

"Hm.." I watched him carefully. He did the same.

"You better get going, you're going to turn up late."

"Oh shoot-" I rose quickly to grab my bag.

"Good luck Sneakers." Lance grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks."

I raced out the door and down the sidewalk for the English hall, meeting up with Cassidy along the way. Miguel and Julianna followed soon after.

Soon, we were all in class, waiting for the exam to start.

The clocked ticked slowly, and the silence that had fallen over the students was utterly disheartening. Everybody was nervous, this test would determine whether you'd be able to remain in the major, or if you'd be moved to a special class where things are discussed deeply and in a very understandable manner.

I didn't need that, however. I understood everything just fine, I was just so nervous about test taking. My palms would sweat, my heart would race, my feet would tap. It could not get anymore painful than this..

Until our professor began the clock.

*****

"Perfect score! I got a perfect score!" Cassidy shouted, bouncing up and down with her phone.

Results had been pouring in all over our major. Every once and a while you'd hear a shout from somewhere, happy or angry.

Of course midterm exams weren't as bad as finals at the end of the year, which determines whether or not you even get to remain in Mirwell next year, but they were still pretty annoying- just the fact of having your schedule shifted yet again to fit a support class in.

Of course it was all for the great or good of the students though.

"I knew I'd written a great argument on pollution. Of course it's overused but, I got a perfect score!" She danced around.

We were all at the cafe, discussing incoming scores. All of us had shown, including Rylee's boyfriend. Just for support I guess.

Lance was just watching us all pop up one by one as our results came in, and next up was my turn. Julianna had gotten a 94%.

I was nervous beyond belief.

I knew the test wasn't that hard, judging by the fact that it was only the middle of the year- but as I said before, test taking is a fear of mine.

When my phone buzzed with an email, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

"Open it Cal!" Cassidy squeaked with excitement.

A weight hung from my chest as I unlocked my phone and opened my mailbox. I clicked on the notification and read through it quietly, scrolling down to my score.

100%.

"I got a 100." I muttered through a bristling smile.

The table erupted into cheers, just as it had when Julianna and Cassidy had gotten their results.

But this time.. It was for me.

And I had never felt more cherished.

Hands patted my shoulders and rubbed my back, while arms laced around my neck and chest for hugs all around.

Lance and I connected with ease, even after the stunt I had pulled yesterday.

And the moment his arms wrapped around me..

Was the greatest feeling I had ever experience..

——