15

The semester break was quickly approaching and the school atmosphere was filled with a buzz as everyone prepared for their midterms before having a week long holiday. Students still showed up at school even though they finished their syllabus the previous term because if not, they would be marked absent, even if they weren't doing anything in their classes.

So it wasn't odd when students would come with blankets and coffee mugs and sit at random parts of the school after homeroom period with their books, mock SATs and everything else to prep them for their midterms. Lle, Sophie, Emily, Nicklaus, Amber, Tae, J.P, Jorja, Damian, Sean were in the gym hall, talking and laughing. However, after a while, Emily got up and went to sit further away from everyone to revise.

"Ugh, I thought I got it," she frowned, turning the pages of the exam paper roughly. She was trying to revise but she couldn't seem to understand the last topic they covered in Economics.

"Afraid you'll fail?" Nicklaus teased as he came to sit beside her on the bleachers. He got an eye-roll as she tried to focus on where she went wrong.

"Can't be afraid of something I'm already doing," she snapped, giving him a tight smile. He chuckled since he was used to her cold behavior, but he also sensed something else.

"I could help," he said after a moment, more seriously. He stole a glance at her test file and saw that she got 76% in the most recent one. That was low, even for the weakest performer in their class, who had managed to score 79%.

"No, thanks. I got this."

He gave her an unbelieving look. "Oh, really? What's the difference between exchange traded fund and index fund?"

She paused, thinking really hard but she couldn't remember anything. "Did we even cover that?"

"It was the first chapter, Em," he said softly, touching her shoulder. "What's going on? I know you know the work. Are you having a hard time remembering?"

"No, I'm okay. I just need to focus," she scolded herself, fully aware that her mind was all over the place these days. She hated being easily distracted by people she shouldn't even be giving a thought about.

"I could give you something else to focus on," Nick smirked, back to his usual playful self. She elbowed him hard in the stomach, but it was no use since she just hit his abs. In the beginning of the year, him and Emily went out on a date and they ended up kissing. They dated for a while longer until they both knew they were better off as friends. He said, 'You can't know how my tongue feels and then become a stranger. We're besties now.' They've been great friends since then.

"You are impossible," she huffed, flipping her hair back and attempting a question again.

He watched her scribble on the new exam paper she pulled out. She wrote some correct answers and completely skipped the essay questions that would count a third of the total percentage. "Okay, so, it's probably not in my place to say this, but you've been distracted lately and I would like to help where you'll let me."

She sighed, finally giving in. "How did you know I have been distracted?"

"Apart from the fact that I pay attention to you? Hmm, let's see," he pretended to think. "You allowed Lle to make all the decisions during the meeting today." The way he said it made her know that he's suspicious about something.

"So? I a-always let him and you and Sophie and everyone else make decisions too," she defended herself.

"Weak," he called her out. "Any other day, you would have chastised me as soon as I sat down next to you. Just know that if you're in any kind of trouble, you can always call me. I'll bail you out," he smirked, completely serious.

"Thanks, but I'm not in law trouble or anything," she said after a moment, staring at the group of students sitting in a circle and laughing. She smiled, yearning to one day be a part of it.

"Then, is it Sophie and Lle hanging out that's bothering you?" Nick asked slowly, his voice almost a whisper.

That made Emily laugh weakly, nodding her head as she closed her eyes and felt a tear run down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away and turned to him, her finger pointed at him. "If you speak of this to anyone-"

"You have my word," he said, taking her hand in his. "It must hurt to see the guy you love and your best friend be together lately."

"Close friend. I don't have a best friend," she said, looking down at their hands.

He gasped, feigning hurt. "Then what am I?"

"Fuck off Nicklaus," she chuckled, hitting his thigh. He smiled, admiring the sound of her laugh. She didn't laugh often, so he loved the times he heard her laugh.

He cleared his throat. "Have I ever told you I like the way you say my name?" Ever since he told her he was from Germany, she always pronounced his name with that accent.

"Just say you want to hear me scream your name," she teased, getting in his face. He leaned in, their noses almost touching.

"Just say when and where."

She looked from his lips to his eyes and leaned closer, tilting her head. She place a soft kiss on the corner of his mouth, whispering something in his ear. He chuckled, gripping her thigh and looking into her eyes. "I'll be there."

Biting her smile and feeling satisfied with the answer, she closed the booklet and got up, skipping down the bleachers and out of the hall. With one last look at him, she waved and pushed the doors open. After a moment, he took his bag and left the gym hall, speeding off in his Mercedes.

***

"So, who got admitted where?" one of them asked, and everyone got excited as they mentioned the university or college they found placement in.

"And what about you guys?" one of the jock boys asked Lle and Soph when they didn't answer.

"Our faculties at MIT haven't responded yet," Soph said dismissively, glancing at Lle who gave her a small smile, appreciating her little white lie. Her faculty department responded a week ago and she was ecstatic when she got her result.

"That's rough, but you guys will make it. I mean, we all got in where we applied to and you two are better than us, so you guys are definitely getting in," the jock said, making everyone chuckle. That's how they spent their afternoon, talking, laughing and making jokes.

During the past few weeks, Soph had noticed that Lle looked like his mind was far away. She didn't know what she could do to help. So she would usually drop a handwritten card to remind him of what an amazing person he is. That always seemed to make his day.

He was worried about what he would do if MIT didn't accept him. It had been his dream university ever since he could hold a pencil. To him, it was MIT or nothing. He didn't have a backup dream school, although he applied to a few Ivy League schools just in case. Needless to say, he got in at Columbia, Pennsylvania and Cornell.

He was just waiting on Stanford and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Only then, when he got in at MIT, would he cancel his placement in the other universities so that a wait-listed student could get admission. Every now and again, he was refreshing the MIT Admission Results page on his phone to see if they had been posted yet. It was driving him crazy.

"Well, guys, we're gonna get going," Soph said, holding Lle's hand as she said her goodbyes to everyone. She stood up and pulled him up with her. Once they were outside and standing by his car, she turned to him, speaking softly. "Are you stressed about admissions?"

He closed his eyes for a long time, trying to shake the feeling of despair growing in him. But when he opened them to say something, she saw his eyes well up with fresh tears he tried to hold back. She gasped softly as she felt her heart break.

"Oh, Lle," she whispered, hugging his waist tightly as she buried her face in his chest. He pulled her even closer to him and tightly held onto her, letting his tears fall. Right now, she was his rock. The one that made sure he was okay. She was the one he could always lean on.

Soph became emotional seeing and feeling his chest vibrate against her as he cried his frustration out. She pulled back after a while when he had composed himself and felt his hands rest on her waist. She held his face gently in her hands, wiping the remnants of tears from his cheeks as she smiled weakly.

"Remember what I said when we were 7?," she asked, looking into his eyes which were now a shade of light red. She didn't wait for him to respond. "I said that we were going to go to university together."

She wrapped her hand around his neck and pulled him closer to her, his forehead resting against hers. "I meant that. It might be dumb and my mom will kill me, but I will not go to MIT without you. If you don't get in this year, then we'll just have to try again next year."

"But what if I still don't get in?" he asked, his voice wavering. She shook her head dismissively, but he kept going. "There are other better kids than me and I might not get in."

"Listen, you are at the most competitive and private high school. That already shows how tough your academic performance is. You've been in first place our entire high school years, except the two previous ones where we tied," she giggled, seeing a small smile form on his face.

"Your credentials are commendable, your dad's friend, the major, wrote your recommendation letters, and I believe in you," she shook him lightly to get him to believe in himself, too.

"Thank you, Soph," he whispered, sighing loudly as he hugged her. "The wait is killing me," he said, chuckling dryly as he rubbed his forehead. She thought he looked cute like that.

"I understand. Let's get you home, yeah? Once you get there, you're gonna take a shower and just rest, okay? You can listen to music and draw or whatever. You don't have to worry about school tonight. You're not in the right frame of mind."

Once he agreed, she asked for his car keys, which he reluctantly gave and got in the passenger seat. She then drove him home and when they got there, they passed by his parents who were in the living room, talking and laughing as always. When they saw the mood Lle was in, they gave Soph a concerned look, to which she mouthed that she'd get to them soon.

After making sure he would be fine, she dialed a cab and went downstairs to his parents while she waited. She took a seat on the opposite couch and groaned into her hands. "He's not fine," she said after a moment, tears welling in her eyes. She blinked and let them fall, feeling like her heart was going to break. It pained her to see him so uncertain of his future, so sure that he was not getting in.

Jane and Kiano shared a sad look, immediately knowing why. They both knew how much MIT meant to him, how hard he has worked for it his entire life. And even though he got a place in a few other good schools, they knew that his heart belonged to MIT. They don't know what they would do if he didn't get admitted, but one thing was certain: He would be crushed.

Nobody spoke, each fearing the worst for Lle. But their thoughts were interrupted when Sophie's phone beeped with a new notification. It was the cab she dialed for. She said her goodbyes and walked out of the house, her heart feeling heavy the entire ride home.

Meanwhile, Kiano had a tab for the results pinned on his MacBook. And every thirty minutes, he would refresh the page. Jane was busy trying to call people from the admin office to find out when the particular faculty was releasing the results.

"Alright. Okay, yes, we'll wait then. Thank you so much, Gabby. Have a good night as well."

She turned to Kiano, he was already staring at her. "Gabby said that their faculty's results will be tomorrow morning," she whispered, glancing at the stairway. "I pray our baby gets in," she said, moving on the couch so that Kiano can hold her. Having his arms around her brought her comfort.

After an hour of comfortable silence as they cuddled up on the couch, Jane refreshed the page again, just to see the same message they have been for the past few weeks. "Let's get some sleep. We can check it out again in the morning," Kiano said, exhausted from the long day.

They called out a goodnight to Lle upstairs, and he peaked over the staircase and wished them a good night's rest before locking himself in his bedroom and blasting his ears with the instrumental songs Sophie had sent him.