Minutes later Professor Hobb walks in, her clogs rapping against the linoleum floor, dressed in black bell-bottoms and a puffy-sleeved shirt with bright multicolored jewelry as accents.
I shoot Olivia a knowing stare and she tries her best to glare back at me, but her pursed lips give away her desire to laugh.
Ten
Tests
I walk into the anatomy lecture hall to find everyone either anxiously talking among themselves or frantically flipping through their notes, trying to soak in every last second to study.
Four weeks into the semester and it’s our first test. Around this time, almost every class is handing out tests, and it fucking sucks.
You know what else fucking sucks? Rat Boy is in my damn seat. For the past four weeks the little twerp has been trying to steal it from me to be closer to Olivia, but I always try to get to class early to claim it. Only twice has he beaten me to class.
Olivia, Rat Boy, and Delilah are all looking over their notes. I walk up to our row and resist the urge to smack Rat Boy in the back of his head as I pass. Walking past Olivia, I glide my fingertips across the back of her upper arm, across her back, and to her other arm, catching a strand of her long, silky caramel-colored hair. I twirl it around my finger and let it naturally unravel itself.
Olivia twists around in her seat, smiling when she realizes it’s me.
“Hey, Finch,” I greet her, placing my hand on the back of her chair.
“Hey,” she greets me quietly, trying not to disturb those around us. “Ready?” she asks, her tone and her face portraying her nerves.
“Ready to get it over with,” I admit.
She gives me an understanding smile.
“Take your seats and put away all study materials,” our professor announces, walking into the room with a stack of tests.
Good luck, Olivia mouths.
You too, I mouth back, even though I’m sure she doesn’t need it, and take the seat on the other side of Delilah.
Our professor rattles off instructions before passing out the multiple-choice tests. As soon as the paper lands in front of me and I read the first few questions, I know I’m fucked.
Is it A or C? It has to be C, right?I question myself.Or could it be D?
Fuck.
You have C for four questions in a row! That can’t be right, there can’t be that many in a row, I realize, scolding myself for being such a fucking idiot and not studying as much as I should have.
Not even thirty minutes in the legs of the chair next to me scrape against the floor, and Delilah stands confidently with her test in her hands, turning it in before exiting the classroom. How the hell can she be done so fast?
Five minutes later Rat Boy stands and turns his in, just as confident as Delilah and even a bit cocky. Olivia is still in her seat, randomly flipping through pages to double-check her answers, but eventually she stands ten minutes after Rat Boy leaves to turn in her test. I catch her eyes just before she goes, and she flashes me a reassuring smile. If only that smile could help me get a better grade than I’m sure I’m going to get.
When the teacher announces that there’s only five minutes left, I throw in the towel, giving up. If I don’t know now, I won’t know it five minutes from now either. Defeated, I get up and reluctantly hand my test in to the professor and walk out. There are only a few other kids left struggling.
Less than confident, I step into the hallway to find Olivia sitting on one of the benches, reading a textbook. She looks up at the sound of the door shutting behind me and gives me an anxious smile. “How did it go?” she asks.
I stop in my tracks. I hadn’t expected her to be waiting for me. I know she means well, but now I feel like even more of an idiot by having her know I ate up all the time while she and her friends didn’t spend nearly as much and even walked out with confidence. I’m not usually one to feel embarrassed by not doing well on a test, but this one is different. Having her know I spent so much time on it is humiliating.
Playing off my bruised ego, I let out an overdramatic groan in response, plopping onto the bench next to her.
She lets out a giggle and, surprisingly, pats my thigh in sympathy. “Yeah, some of them were a little tricky,” she says genuinely, although I’m convinced that she’s just trying to spare my feelings.
“You waited for me, Finch?” I ask, my voice slightly teasing, although deep down I can’t deny the fact that she waited for me actually makes me feel a bit giddy.
Her cheeks heat up. “Not necessarily. I have some time before my next class starts, and the study lounges are usually packed this time of day.”
“Mh-mm. Just admit you’re obsessed with me,” I tease, bumping my thigh with hers.
