Chapter Five:

“You want some gum?” he asked.

“No.”

“It’s blueberry.” He cooed, hoping that would entice her.

“Can you shut up?”

Good thing whatever hallway this was, was empty.

“Relax,” he said pre-emptively. “They’ll let you do a retest and then that Maizley girl will get in trouble.”

“She won’t.” Gwen said, not bothering to censor her bitterness. “Her father is a minister.”

“Is he a minister of the school?” Jess scoffed. “He can’t do anything.”

“Are you that naïve? He’s a minister of commerce! An actual minister.”

“Oh.” Jess shrugged.

Damn it. So really nothing was going to happen. Why the hell were this Maizley girl and the rest of the dorm picking on Gwen? The rest of the class too… That part bothered him. Did no one even have some kind of morals here? Where were the scruples? My God. Honestly, he might just let this story slip to Chowder, he’d probably charge into the class like Sparta for dishonouring his Gwen. Sure, Gwen could be short at times but messing with a serious exam? That was ridiculous.

He sighed.

“At least you’ll get a retest, that’s good.”

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She stared at him like he was an idiot.

“A rewrite is only worth fifty percent!" she seethed, stalking closer to him with every scream. "Your final mark is capped at 50%! A rewrite is only meant to pass you if you failed the first time. Even if I get a 100% on the exam, I’ll only get 50% in my report! My entire average is gone is going to drop now!”

Oh.

“My average was at 96%!” she said, despair slowly taking her voice. “I was ranked second in the year. And now that’s gone! I might not be able to take AP math next year! I might not stay at 2nd place! My class rank will drop!”

She lowered herself and sat down on the floor with her back to the wall. She seemed quelled enough that he took a cautious step forward to check on her. It was like watching a lion in a cage, you wanted to get close to it but it kept trying to maul you from behind the bars without warning. She wasn't growling or baring her teeth so it seemed safe enough- she sniffed and turned away from him dabbing her eyes.

“I’m not crying.” She lied.

God, he really was from a family of liars.

All the snark and spite seemed to have fizzled out of her voice. Now, she just sat there not even bothering to wipe her tears anymore. She sniffed and wrapped her arms round her knees.

“Do you wanna come to my birthday party?” he asked, sitting down next to her.

“What?”

“It’s my sweet sixteen. You haven’t come to one of my birthday’s since I was like 14.” He said, keeping his voice light but cheery. “It’ll just be dad and a few other few others. Chowder will be there-”

“Are you mad!”

He widened his eyes in surprise.

“I don’t have time to worry about your birthday!” she said inflecting each word.

“You had time to miss your test though.” He said without thinking.

She nodded slowly. “You’re just always so funny aren’t you, Jess.”

“Sorry.” He mumbled. “Didn’t mean that.”

“God, what’s wrong with us.” She said, slumping back against the wall in defeat. “I-I’m sorry I missed your birthday.”

He hadn't expected that. He wanted to whip his neck around and check if she really had apologized but he decided against it. That would probably only offend her if he got excited that she acted like a normal person.

“It’s cool." he said. "Just come to the next one. Chowder will be excited to see you.”

“I hate Chowder.”

And this time she managed a smile.