Once again, I was woken up by drops of sweat tickling my face and body. It was the middle of July, and the summer heat had yet to reach its peak. A time when people my age, now free from school, were enjoying by hanging out with their friends around town. Mostly the pool, our recently build mall, and camping. We were a relatively small town, and the closest city was an hour away by train, double that by bus, so that was basically it for us. And by “us,” I mean “them”. I wasn’t the social type. This year would most likely be like the previous. The sky would always be clear of clouds with the sun mercilessly shining and battering anyone who ventures outside with his overwhelming heat. Even during the night and early hours of the morning that heat was felt.

“Only thirty minutes,” I grumbled as I squinted at my alarm clock, not wanting to leave bed. It appeared to show five twenty.

Toss and toil, fall asleep, wake up a while after, repeat. It always happened whenever I was worried about something. While all my classmates were having fun close to a month now, I had to study for an exam during that time. Maybe I should say “previous classmates”? Doesn’t matter. I wanted to sleep, but today’s exam was freaking me out. If I were to fall asleep, I could maybe, and just maybe, catch a couple of hours of rest before heading to school.

Now, it was undeniable that my situation sucked, and yet, if I forced myself to try and have a positive outlook, I could say I was somehow lucky.

If you have exams during the holiday, you screwed up somewhere.

That’d be partially correct.

My grandma passed away at a time of the school calendar that ended up ruining my—already measly—grades. We weren’t close, but it came unexpectedly, and she did take care of me until I could do it myself, so maybe that is why it hit me so hard?

“Why did I have to fail Math? That’s my worst subject…”

I had to pass it if I wanted to graduate to high school. To make things worse, I had to study everything that was taught during that year. Yup, I was screwed.

Even so, why was I lucky? I—along with some other students—could take this exam so we could attend high school at the same place we did junior high. Not that I ever had any plans to go to a different place. The other places were farther away than this already was. I already had to wake up an hour before the bus, make the twenty minutes trip, all so I wouldn’t arrive at school after eight thirty. I really didn’t want to double that.

“…Ugh… Might as well just get up and study some more.”

◊◊◊

As soon as I opened my eyes, I sat up on my bed. It was barely past six in the morning. it was now a matter of choosing what to do with my free time until I had to go to school. I only had to be there at nine o’clock. I could have studied, but that just wasn’t my style and I had tutoring everyday ever since I started going to school at the age of six. Twice a day after mum discovered I had missed the test. If I closed my eyes, I could see numbers and equations dancing in front of me, and I just wasn’t in the mood for any more of it. Going for a run would be nice… then a bath, breakfast and after that, off to the exam. Yeah, that sounded like a plan.

◊◊◊

Somehow, I made it in time. Still, I couldn’t believe I had fallen asleep while I was trying to have a last-minute study session. I was always like that. I couldn’t sleep when I wanted, but as soon as I actually wanted to stay awake, I’d wake up some time later with no idea how long I was out. Now my head was hurting something fierce, and my eyes were burning. I didn’t look at the mirror, but my guess was that I looked worse than normal.

Always the screw up, huh?

Trying to get my mind out of those thoughts, I looked around to see if I recognised anyone.

We were six in total in the classroom and, as I had already guessed, I knew no one. Even so, one girl in particular caught my attention. She was shorter than me, with shoulder length and seemingly a bit damp golden-brown hair. What made me stare at her was her clothes and the way she was jittering around.

I could see she was wearing running shorts under some denim shorts and a yellow shirt with some kind of animal printed on it. Was it supposed to be the face of a lion? Also, I noticed her shoes seemed very worn out. Wasn’t it for her chest, I’d say she was a sixth grader that came to the wrong classroom. And the way she didn’t seem to stand still… Was she that nervous? True, everyone was showing signs of being anxious, but she was something else. That, somehow, made me feel better about myself. Unfortunately, I stared for too long and she noticed me too.

For a moment we just stared at each other, until she looked around and back to me, as if making sure she was the target of my attention. I noticed that, despite all her jittering, her face seemed perfectly neutral; or rather, bored. That was, until a little smile came as she stood up and walked towards me.

“You look terrible.”

That came so out of the blue, I didn’t know how to react. I was… dumbfounded? Yes, I think that’s the word. That’s a weird way to say hi, was the only thing that came to my mind.

“Didn’t get any sleep, huh?” she continued.

“Not really,” I stammered.

“Hmm. What’s your current score?”

“Nine.”

“Oh, same as me,” she said, putting a hand on her chin while looking up.

I was answering mechanically. I always did so when talking to someone I didn’t know. I feel like if someone asked me something I wouldn’t ever tell anyone at one of those moments, I would answer another three or four truthfully before realizing what was going on.

Anyway, while we were having this discussion, I noticed she didn’t stand still, rubbing her knees on one another, even though she sounded calm enough. I on the other hand, was having a bit of a hard time talking coherently and was completely frozen on my seat. And yes, I do realise that my answers weren’t complex or anything.

“So, did miss sleepy head study anything for today?”

Her casual way of talking irked me and made me wonder if we actually knew each other. That was almost impossible, though. I would have remembered her face if we were in the same class, but this was my first time seeing her. There was also the fact I talked to others only if I had to.

Thinking that, I asked anyway.

“Do I know you?”

“Nope. First time I’ve ever seen you. Or talked. Anyway, did you?” she said cheerfully.

Weird girl.

“Well, yes… since I saw my test score,” I said, sounding more sheepish than I’d like.

She didn’t seem to notice or care as she stared at me with her brown eyes. I felt like she was trying to see if I was lying or something.

I was starting to feel my face grow warm, so I was going to avert my eyes, but she spoke again.

“Just short of a month, huh? In that case you will be fine. You look smart to me!”

“Oh… Erm… t-thanks,” I said as I looked away, now feeling like my face was set ablaze.

Because of my glasses, right?

And that was basically it for our conversation. I had to admit, she was such a distraction that I, for a moment, forgot about the exam. Thanks to that girl, I was now feeling a bit less anxious. My head also felt like it was banging a little less. Or at the very least, I didn’t notice it as much. Maybe I should have introduced myself, but the thought never occurred to me then. Not that I believed we would meet again anyway.

A week went by, and it was the day our scores were due. I was back to school, looking at the school board in search of the exam results. I once again hadn’t had a wink of sleep, so even with my glasses, I was having a bit of a hard time finding them.

“We were only six taking the exam, so couldn’t they have used a bigger font?”

“Oh, it’s miss sleepyhead! Hi there!”

Was this how she greeted everyone, regardless of her knowing them or not? I wasn’t annoyed or anything yet, at least not more than with the board. I just found it weird.

To my right, slightly behind me was now standing the girl from the other day. She looked the same, except her shoes seemed even more worn out and her shirt was now a light blue with the word “FUN” printed in white letters.

“Hello,” I greeted back, my voice sounding coarse and tired. I hadn’t talked with anyone up until then, so even I was surprised by the way I sounded.

“Hmm… not a morning person, are you? Or did you not sleep again?”

“I’d say both.”

I contemplated commenting on the fact that she appeared to be quite the opposite, but in the end decided otherwise. I was in a bit of a bad mood, so I wasn’t willing to have a conversation. I just wanted to go home and take a nap. Or cry. It depended on the result of the exam. Now that I think about it, even if it was a good score, I might have ended up crying all the same. The reason why would be the only difference.

“So? How did you do?” she asked excitedly as she hopped on the tips of her toes.

I went back to searching my name in the schoolboard. When I finally found it, I was met with a pleasant surprise. I had actually done better than I had anticipated.

“Oh! I got a fourteen,” I said a bit incredulous.

“See? I told you you’d be fine,” she spoke, shifting her gaze to were mine was, “fourteen, fourteen… so, your name is Violet. I’m Abby by the way. Nice meeting ya, hehe.”

I was going to say something of the sorts of “nice meeting you,” but she cut me off before I could.

“Well, be seeing you.”

And with that, she turned around and scampered off her merry way without me being able to say anything.

What a weird girl.

I looked back to the board.

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Fourteen, huh?

Kinda made me feel stupid for having worried so much during the past week.

Abby, she said?

I wondered what grade she had gotten.

My eyes went wide as I saw it.

“Nineteen!”

Almost a perfect score. I didn’t mean to be rude, but I had thought she would, at most, do as well as me.

“Wait… did she even see her grade while she talked to me?”

I could just let it go. She would eventually realize it and come back.

But what if she lives far?

There was also the fact she had helped me. Although that might just have been her being… her. I didn’t really know her, so it could be just that. But people do say ‘a good action, regardless of motive, is still a good action’. She walked off in a fast pace, so there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to catch her.

“What if I rush to the school gate and if I don’t catch her, I give up?”

I could live with that.

I rushed down the corridor headed towards the school gate.

 Suffice it to say, I wasn’t particularly athletic, if at all. That and the summer heat meant that as I got to the school gate, I was very much winded. Just as I had predicted, I wasn’t able to catch up with her.

“Are you ok?” a worried voice called.

I turned my head just to see her behind me, looking concerned.

“I saw you running as I was leaving the bathroom. Is something the matter?”

“Did…did you see your score?” I wheezed as I struggled to regain my breath while clutching my knees.

“Ah! I forgot abo— Wait! You came running all this way just for that!?”

“I thought… you might… live far.”

“I can come and go in a three-minute walk though.”

She said that as if it was common knowledge.

How was I supposed to know?

I felt really annoyed by her statement.

“Oh, but thanks. That was nice of you. Since we don’t really know each other and all.”

If she recognised that we didn’t really know each other, why was she acting in a way suggesting otherwise? That was a question I couldn’t figure out a response.

She pointed to a bench under the shade before continuing.

“Why don’t you sit over there while I go check it? It will only take a minute.”

“Nine…teen,” I wheezed.

“Sorry, what?”

“You had… nineteen.”

“Oh, just about what I had guessed,” she said unimpressed. “Anyway, let’s just go sit over there. Before you cough out a lung or something.”

The last part just added fuel to my bad humour, earning her a shut up to which she just laughed as I sat on the bench while she fiddled with the soda machine.

“Still, you really aren’t that athletic, huh?”

“Gee, what gave it away?” I grumbled.

“Are you one of those kids who smoke when nobody is watching?”

“Are you an idiot!? I just don’t do sports, ok?”

“Hahaha! Come on, don’t be like that!” she said in a whiny voice but still showing a wide smile. “Here, I even got a soda for you.”

She handed me one of the cans she had just bought. Now I was feeling like a jerk. No, I was being a jerk. True, she was very blunt in her statements, but they weren’t really something to get mad about. Not in the way she said them, at least. Even more so, people had told me worst stuff, and I simply ignored it most of the time. I took a deep breath to try and calm down.

“…Sorry,” I muttered.

“It’s ok. I know that sometimes I can be pretty annoying.”

A dark expression came to her face as she looked into the can. Then, she shook her head and went back to her annoying smile.

“But if it makes you feel any better, I used to be way worse.”

“How is that supposed to make me feel better?” I chuckled.

“Don’t know, but at least it removed the frown you had.”

“Oh. Sorry,” I said, rubbing my forehead as I noticed how the muscles were complaining about having been tense for a while.

“Again, it’s fine,” she said with a certain cheer and sadness mixed in her voice.

Silence fell between us again. Well, not total silence. She was constantly making some kind of noise, either with her feet, hands or clicking her tongue. I came to think she didn’t act like that out of nervousness. She was just the kind of person who can’t stay put.

Something occurred to me as I watched her.

“Hey, do you mind me asking you something?”

“You already did. But I will allow it. And another one too.”

She said that in a way I considered it meaning pride in her… could that even be called a joke?

“Well, it’s just that in this exam you almost got a perfect score. How come you had to take it if you could have a score like that to begin with?”

“Oh, that?”

She looked around before gesturing me to come closer. We were the only ones there, so that wasn’t necessary. I thought that but I did so anyway. She cupped her hand to my ear and whispered.

“You see, I completely forgot we had an exam that day and skipped class to go fishing.”

I backed away to face her. Was she messing with me again? She had to, right? And yet, her face told me otherwise.

“I’m not messing with you. Well, not about skipping class. The fishing part was a lie. I find it really boring.”

“How can someone forget about something like that!?” I asked, too stunned to pay attention to the last part.

“Oh, come on! As if you’ve never forgotten something important,” she argued back in fake annoyance.

“Well, yeah, like where I placed my house keys, but not an exam!”

“You forgot your house keys? Want to use my phone to call someone?”

“No, you idiot, I didn’t!”

To this, she just laughed. She really was enjoying being annoying, wasn’t she?

“Anyway, I should be going. Hope to see ya around,” she said as she stood up and went away almost skipping, still laughing. People would think she was some kind of a nutter, laughing like that by her lonesome. Not that they would be wrong, in my opinion.

Anyway, I decided I too should do the same. Go home, I mean. I was all sweaty from my previous run and the heat was getting intense, even under the shade. A bath and getting myself in my room with the fan on were beckoning me.

When I finally arrived home, after a twenty-minute bus ride, I reached into my pocket. And then the other. Both empty.

“Seriously?! Not only the house keys, but my phone too?”

Had I known, I would have accepted that girl’s offer to use her phone and would have called dad. Assuming I could face the embarrassment of admitting I had forgotten them, that is. Hmm. I wouldn’t admit it, no. Anyway, it seemed I’d have to stay there for about two hours, waiting for dad to come home.

◊◊◊

After my short walk back home, I was greeted at the door by my father. By the way he was adjusting his tie, he was about to leave.

“Hey there sweety. Did you remember to check your results?”

“Gee dad, how about having a bit of faith in me? Sure did,” I lied. It wasn’t a big lie, so it should be fine, right?

“Is that so?” he said, as if not convinced. “In that case, let’s hear it.”

“Will I get my allowance back if it is any good?”

“First the results, then we talk about it. And honestly, why are you being so persistent about that?”

“I need a new pair of running shoes.”

“A new pair? What happened to your current ones?” he asked surprised.

I pointed towards one of my raised feet as I wiggled it, causing the sole to flap causing the shoe to look like it had a mouth.

“Their soles are peeling off! I can’t run like this!”

“If you took better care of them, you wouldn’t need new ones,” he said as he rubbed his forehead.

“I do take good care of them. They are just cheap ones. If I had my allowance, then…”

“Then the expense would be greater. Seriously, you go through shoes almost like they were candy,” he said as he shook his head. “How about I just reglue them? I have a very strong glue. That should do it if the sole is the only problem.”

“Oh, in that case never mind the allowance. Thanks dad, I’ll just leave them on your worktable,” I said satisfied, as I passed by him towards my room, patting his arm.

“I appreciate it, but you still haven’t told me your score, missy.”

“Oh, right. It was nineteen.”

“Good for you. But next time don’t go skipping exams, ok?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I retorted slightly annoyed by him.

“Just one more thing, Abbigail.”

“Yes?” I said already guessing what was coming.

“We will be having guests in an hour and your mum wants you here.”

“Oh, dad! Do I really have to?” I pleaded. It really was what I had feared. Another one of those social meetings with a business associate or a client. Either way, it was beyond annoying and just about the only thing that gave me anxiety attacks.

“You know you do, otherwise your mother will get mad.”

“Humph. I suppose I’ll have to wear that stupid dress,” I grumbled.

“Yes, Abbigail. I know you hate it, but you will have to wear it,” he said in an annoyed tone.

“But dad, I—”

“That’s enough. You aren’t the only one she chews when you get her in a bad mood, so just…” he said with a tired look. In retrospect I think there was also some pain in there too. Please, it won’t be for long he added with a sigh.

“Ugh. Fine!” I grumbled as I entered the room.

I went straight to the closet and took the dress out to put it on. If mum arrived in the meantime and I wasn’t wearing it, I’d have her breathing on my neck for the rest of the day. Not that I’d expect she wouldn’t anyway.

Better put on some make-up too, just to be safe.

As I changed clothes, I was thinking about how I expected today to be a good day when I woke up.

“Stupid of me to have thought that,” I grumbled.

I just hoped meeting that girl again wasn’t the only thing worth mentioning by the end of it. Good thing she didn’t accept my offer of me lending my phone. That would have been embarrassing since I only now noticed it was still on the bedside table. She seemed overly serious. The type that makes you want to mess with them. Well, that was probably just a “me” thing. I just hoped I wasn’t too annoying.

She seemed nice.

Now that I was… “properly” dressed, I gave a little whirl in front of the mirror to make sure there wasn’t anything mum could complain about.

I really disliked that stupid dress. I mean, the colour and style were fine. Green kinda suited me. Just, why was it that, even though it was made according to my measures, had mum made them sew the skirt in a way I couldn’t even walk normally? I mean, I know why.

“Because that way you walk more elegantly,” she said at the time.

Just what was wrong with the way I normally walked anyway? Was I her doll or something?

The door clicked and mum barged in. I was a bit startled by that.

Don’t you ever knock?

“Ah! I see you are starting to get ready,” she said dryly. “Don’t forget the shoes and make-up.”

“Yes, mum,” I said meekly.

“What are you thinking doing about the make-up?”

“Erm… just… some pencil around the eyes,” I said hopeful it would be enough to appease her.

I wasn’t a fan of using make-up. Mainly because even when using the waterproof kind, I would ruin it as soon as I started to sweat a little from any exercise.

“Humph. You could put in some more effort you know? One of the guests is a boy about your age and his father is one of our best clients,” she said in an even drier tone.

I really should have known better.

“I-I don’t really…”

“Put the dark red lipstick and some blush,” she commanded.

“B-but mum I—”

“Lipstick and blush, Abbigail,” she repeated as she left the room and shut the door behind her.

“…Yes, mother,” I spoke while holding my urge to tell her off.