36
“There it is.”
Seth gulped, staring at his phone.
“The class results for the exam are up,” he continued.
Everyone went quiet, leaning forward expectantly.
“And?” Liam asked.
“I haven’t clicked on my name yet,” Seth replied.
There was a beat of silence.
“Well?” Cerise demanded. “Click on it!”
The members of Cherry Lips — plus girlfriends — had gathered at the dive bar. It was the day Seth’s exam grade would appear on the college’s online portal. He’d been frantically refreshing the page for his student account every five minutes, waiting for the grade to show up.
It had been decided that, pass or fail, our group was going to need alcohol. Either we’d be celebrating along with Seth and his success, or we’d be consoling him over his failure. Either way, drinks were going to be in order.
I put a steadying hand on Seth’s arm, feeling the small, nervous quivers. He took a slow breath and tapped.
His eyes bugged out.
“I got ninety percent,” he whispered.
Seth blinked. Blinked again. A grin crossed his face. Then he whooped out loud with wild laughter. He pumped his fist in the air with one hand as he clutched his phone with the other.
“I fucking aced it!” he cheered.
Enthusiastic clapping, hooting and loud whistles filled the bar.
“Way to go!” Nathan told him with a wide smile.
Cerise pulled him into a hug. “Congratulations, Seth. I knew you could do it.”
“Hey Walt,” Liam called out to the bar owner standing behind the bar washing mugs. “A round of drinks for our man Seth, here!”
The grizzled, broad-chested man with tattoos all over his arms nodded with a thumbs up.
After getting slaps on the back from everyone in the room, Seth landed on a chair with a dazed expression on his face.
“I can’t fucking believe it,” he said with wonder. “I passed.”
I threw my arms around his neck and squeezed until he made choking sounds.
“I’m so proud of you.” I planted a firm kiss on the top of his head. “You worked so hard and it totally paid off.”
“You know what this means?” Julian said quietly, cracking the barest of smiles, which, on his face, meant he was grinning.
“It means I’m a goddamn rock star in more ways than one?” Seth said smugly.
“It means you get your diploma,” Julian replied.
Seth exhaled deeply with a satisfied grin.
“I couldn’t have done it without you,” he told me.
