Page 142 of Fervency Love

“I had little to lose… Did I look like I was cheating?”

“No,” Nikki admits.

“Good. How did you do?”

“Good, I think, but fuck, tomorrow is math!”

I go home and wonder how Connor did. Hopefully well.

Unfortunately, he says he most likely failed. He didn’t have an idea for an essay at all. But he did write something.

We sit on the carpet in my room, and I explain to him how to do the sample problems that might come up tomorrow. He solves them, and I watch how focused he is while doing so.

The alarm jerks me out of what little sleep I managed to get. I rush to the shower and head to the bus stop. Today, I drew the last bench in the big hall. Fate, you’re messing with me! Yesterday I needed it, not today. I’m not afraid of math. I can work with that.

I solve all the problems except the last one. Damn, I explained it to Connor yesterday! Why is there this fucking void in my head? What’s happening? It’s like someone erased the part of my brain responsible for remembering that specific problem.

“Psst, Nikki,” I whisper.

She turns around discretely.

“What?”

“Do you have the last one?”

She nods, letting me know she’ll leave a cheat sheet in the bathroom for me. When she returns, I’m ready to leave, but some girl from another class intercepts me. Damn.

Nikki signals that she left the note in the first stall. When I enter, it turns out the girl must have beaten me to it, or the teachers checked the bathroom after Nikki left. Anyway, there’s no trace of the paper.

Fuck! That’s just bad luck!

I return and whisper to Nikki, “It’s gone. Someone swiped your cheat sheet.”

Oh well, I won’t come up with anything else. Nothing for me here. I hand in the sheet and leave. Nikki follows.

When we’re outside the building, Nikki exclaims, “How is that even possible?!”

“I don’t know, but it was some pretty bad luck! The best part is that I explained this problem to Connor yesterday, you feel me? And suddenly, a brain fart. I hope he at least did his problems.”

I wait with Nikki for the rest of our group. When everyone joins us, we decide it’s time for wine. We go into the supermarket, buy a few bottles, and head to Lucas’s apartment. His parents are not home. We sit on the couches and drink straight from the bottles, celebrating our partial success.

Next week, we’ll find out what everyone got. I get home around two. I try to pull myself together a bit because that winewas strong. I’m about to leave when someone knocks on the door.

“Connor! How did it go?”

“Pretty good, Gail! Damn well! Thank you! I solved all the problems!”

“Wow! I’m so happy for you!”

I throw myself at him, and he lifts me, spinning me around. When he sets me down, his lips immediately press against mine.

“I love you. You really helped me! How did it go for you?”

“A bit worse, unfortunately.”

“What? How’s that possible?”

“I didn’t do the last one.”

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