chapter 27: marius's score

~marius~

       The past week has been absolute torture for me. Every day, I've just been thinking about how I did on the midterm and whether or not my grade in class is high enough to be considered for the paid internship.

       To make matters worse, I barely got any sleep last night because I'm just so anxious thinking about it. I wake up feeling extremely tired, but thankfully I slept over at Fawn's house so he ended up making me coffee for my drive to school.

       The coffee is enough to make me feel a bit more awake by the time I get to campus. Though part of my does feel like just taking a nap before class starts because I have a feeling by the time my school day comes to an end, I'll just feel way too tired to do anything.

       I do rest my head on the table for a bit, but I'm not actually able to nap considering Huxley ends up sitting down beside me and decides to pester me in his usual way. "So," Huxley says. "Did you ask her out yet?"

       "Ask who out?" I ask, keeping my head rested on the table.

       "That mystery woman you like," Huxley asks. He's still so insistent that there's a woman I like, no matter how many times I've told him there isn't. Maybe I should stop texting Fawn so much in class to give Huxley that idea. "And before you deny it like you always do, you're always texting someone with that goofy smile on your face. Oh, and last week before the midterm, you were video chatting someone."

       "Yes, a monkey."

       "Why were you video chatting a monkey?"

       I only shrug in reply.

       My nonverbal reply isn't enough for Huxley to give up on this conversation, no matter how many times I've insisted there isn't a woman I like. I wish I could just simply tell him that I have a boyfriend, but it's not as easy as I thought it would be. Huxley seems to be a pretty tolerant person at times, but I could never get my words out.

       "Can you at least tell me what her name is?" Huxley asks. "Please? I beg of you."

       "And why are you so interested in my love life?"

       "Ah ha! So you admit you do have a love life, which means there is a mystery woman, which means I was right the whole time and continue to always be right."

       I sigh and sit up, feeling no need to sit rest my head considering I'm not going to be able to nap anyway. It's kind of hard with Huxley pestering me like this.

       I feel my cell phone buzz in my pocket, and I just have a feeling it's Fawn so I try my best not to look at it as to not give Huxley more of a reason to continue this conversation. However, Huxley sitting beside me is enough for him to hear the buzz. He props his elbows up on the table and rests his chin in the palms of his hands. "And who could ever be texting you at this hour?"

       "Uh, anyone?" I ask. "It's not like it's very early in the morning or very late at night."

       "Uh huh. You should answer your phone."

       "Class is about to start."

       "In five minutes. That's more than enough time to read a text."

       There's another buzz, which causes Huxley to just smile at me. I take my phone out of my pocket and angle the screen so Huxley can't peek at it, which he's clearly trying to do. Sure enough, it was Fawn who texted me, telling me to let him know what I got on the midterm and if I got the internship at all.

       He also sends an image of Rocket as good luck, which of course makes me smile. Big mistake on my behalf because Huxley takes it as an opportunity to say, "Man, I don't even know why you're trying so hard to deny it. Look at that smile on your face."

       I ignore him, realizing there's no reason for me to deny it if he's so insistent on it. The only thing I can do is ignore him every time he brings it up until I have the confidence to tell him the truth. Or until the semester ends and we turn out to no longer have anymore classes together. Either works.

       As soon as class starts, the first thing our professor does is actually hand out our midterms. She has them all marked and she realizes there's no point holding off on handing them out when she knows we're all anxious to see our marks.

       My heart beats fast as she walks around the class, handing out the midterms. She comes across me soon enough, placing my midterm on the table in front of me face down. She doesn't give anyone a sign of how they did. Not a single 'see me after class' or ' good job'.

       I hesitate before I flip the midterm over, seeing a red 99 at the top. Relief immediately washes over me once I see my score. I quickly look over the midterm to see what I got wrong. I just mixed up two terms on one of the essay questions but other than that, nothing else.

       I can't help but take a picture of it and send it to Fawn, who texts me back almost instantaneously, telling me that's he's very proud of me and also assures me that it means I have a high chance of getting that internship. I sure hope he's right.

       Despite getting our midterms now, we're not going to know who gets the internship until the end of the class so our professor can talk to the four who got it. I try not to think about it, but I can't help it. I really need it.

       Once the professor ends the class, she walks over to her desk and picks up a piece of paper. "I would like to see Marius, Melinda, Huxley, and Lydia before you leave."

       As soon as she says those four names, Huxley leans over to me. "Those are the people who got the internship, right?" he asks in a quiet voice as everyone packs up. "That means we got it, right?"

       "I think so," I say, feeling even more relieved than I did when I got my midterm score.

       The four of us wait until everyone leaves to go talk to our professor. She smiles at us as she says, "I assume you've all figured out by now that the four of you have the highest marks in the class, meaning you're being offered the internships. Now, if you can't take it for reasons such as you already have a job that will interfere with it, let me know and it will go to the next person."

       None of us have anything that would interfere with the internships so we all accept it. She gives us each a sheet of paper of the information we need, telling us that the internship will start on next Saturday and that we'll do all the paperwork at the company. She then wishes all of us luck before dismissing us.

       As we all walk out of the classroom, I take my cell phone out of my pocket so I can let Fawn know about it. Of course, Huxley sees me take out my phone and says, "Letting that mystery woman know?"

       Before I can even reply, Melinda asks, "Mystery woman?"

       "He's going to deny it, but I wouldn't listen to him if I were you," Huxley says, patting my shoulder. I shrug his hand off. "He's constantly, and I do mean constantly, smiling all lovingly at his phone."

       "There isn't--" I begin, but Huxley cuts me off.

       "See?" Huxley says. "Denial. Marius, if you're only denying it out of the goodness of your heart because Melinda's your ex, remember that you two did break up two years ago."

       "He's right," Melinda says. "There's no need to hide this so-called 'mystery woman'."

       "That's great and all, but there really isn't one," I say. "Huxley is just delusional."

       "Nah, I know I'm telling the truth," Huxley says. "Oh, I just had a great idea. The four of us should go out to celebrate getting the internship."

       "Right now?" I ask. "I have another class to get to."

       "Me too," Lydia says. "We can always go out after our first day next week."

       "I like that idea," Melinda says. "We'll already all be together, and it will be a Saturday so we wouldn't have any classes or something like that."

       I agree to it, as does Huxley. This is really the first time Melinda and I have talked since our break up, apart from her asking if I was okay when I showed up to school with bruises, and I'm just glad there isn't an awkwardness between us, especially since we'll be working the internship together.

       Hopefully it stays that why if she ever finds out about Fawn.

       I have to head to my next class and as I do, I call Fawn. As soon as Fawn answers, he says, "So...?"

       "I got the internship," I tell him.

       "I knew you would," Fawn says. "You've been working your ass off in school. I mean, you even got a ninety-nine on your midterm. That's amazing. So when's your first day?"

       "Next Saturday," I say. 

       "I'm really happy for you Marius," Fawn says. "Want something as a congratulations?"

       "Depends on what that something is."

       "I am not offering something sexual since I know that's what you're thinking."

       "That's a shame. So what is this congratulations?"

       "I can cook dinner for you and bake some dessert."

       "Oh, deal. I'll take that over anything. I mean, except for my idea, but I love your cooking."

       "Then I will get to work on it and see you when you're done school."

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i wish i could get a 99 on my exams :( i mean, i barely have to do exams since i'm a creative writing major lol. i'd actually rather take not doing exams than getting 99.

speaking of school, my next semester starts today :( i actually do like school. i just hate waking up school school. at least today is only online lectures so i can stay in the comfort of my room.