Without Flaws | Fyodor Academy 1

Chapter 39

Chapter 39

       Today was the science fair and as much as I loved it, there was one part I was not looking forward to. It was opened to our family, meaning Jules's parents were most likely going to be there. Jules didn't tell them about the science fair, but they always seemed to figure out everything happening in his life.

       My parents definitely weren't going be there. Dad was on the other side of the country, I was certain. Mom, on the other hand, was still in the province, but I may have 'forgotten' to tell her about the fair.

       Even if I did tell her, I doubt she would make it. She stopped trying to contact me about the cancer research, either forgetting she wanted me to be a part of it or she figured out I didn't want to talk. 

       My guess was the former. My parents never really understood that sometimes, I just wasn't in the mood to talk to them considering all the times they ignored me.

       "You're still not planning any pranks for today, are you?" Jules asked as the two of us were setting up our project on our designated table. 

       "What? No, of course not," I said. "I can't believe you would ask that. I am a model student and I am very offended the idea would ever come into your mind. I would never do anything to jeopardize such an important and scholastic event."

       "Parry."

       I smiled at him. "Wasn't that some good acting there?"

       "Does that mean you are planning something?"

       "Believe it or not, no. I was talking about my acting when I said I'm a model student."

       Jules gave me a look that made it seem like he didn't believe me when I saw I wasn't planning anything. Honestly, I did want to, but I wasn't going to jeopardize this for Jules. He really wanted the bonus marks to help raise his grades. I wasn't that big of a jerk to ruin it for him.

       That, and I really wanted S.T.E.V.E back. I never thought I would miss a robot this much, but here I was. Sometimes, I was close to crying myself to sleep just because my grandfather refused to give S.T.E.V.E back unless I 'behave'.

       Okay, me crying myself to sleep had nothing to do with S.T.E.V.E, but I would rather admit it was because I missed my robot and not because I felt literally nothing inside of me.

       Jules's cell phone beeped with a message, so he pulled it out of his pocket to read it. He sighed heavily. "Great. My parents are here. I swear, sometimes I think they have an inside worker at this school or something. Or maybe they bugged me when I was a baby. I could have a chip inside of my all this time."

       "Ooh, that would be so awkward if it's true," I said. "Imagine all the things they would have heard whenever you and I--"

       "Oh my gosh, why did you say that?" Jules asked. "I'll never be able to look them straight in the eye ever again."

       "You're welcome. So what did they text you?"

       "Just that they're already here for the fair, despite it not starting for another two hours."

       "I can get my grandpa to kick them off of campus until the science fair starts."

       Jules shook his head. "No, they're allowed to be here early. The school is also have a parent-teacher conference while we wait for the fair to start. And I think the cafeteria is open for visitors as well."

       I furrowed my eyebrows. "Really? Since when?"

       "Since they first announced the science fair," Jules said. "I kind of figured you wouldn't know about it, though."

       I scowled. "Why? Because my parents won't come?"

       "What? Oh my gosh, Parry, no," Jules said. "Not at all. I only thought that since when they were talking about the conference, you were on your phone, looking to buy what looked like a bunch of glow sticks."

       My scowl immediately faded when my mind went to the prank I had in mind. "Oh, right. I'm surprised they haven't been delivered yet. I normally get things quite quickly. Then again, it is over ten thousand I'm ordering so..."

       "Ten... Ten thousand?" Jules asked. "What do you plan on doing with ten thousand glow sticks?"

       "Nothing bad, I swear," I said. "I don't even have a full idea what I'm going to do yet. I just really want to do something with glow sticks."

       Jules received another text, this one causing him to roll his eyes before shoving his phone back into his pocket. "They're unbelievable. They just had a meeting with my math teacher and guess what?"

       "They were told about your grades and decided that it was my fault?"

       "Correct. No matter how many times I've told them you're the reason why I'm not failing any of my classes, they just don't listen. They like to pick and choose what they hear and remember."

       "Yeah, I can see that. Hopefully, this science fair project will prove to them otherwise."

       It did not.

       In fact, after they looked at our project, Jules's parents were adamant that their son did none of the research. They didn't think his grades were good enough to present a project like this. How disgusting of them. Jules actually worked his butt off with the project. He did amazing, and it wouldn't have been finished properly if it weren't for him.

       "You okay?" I asked Jules as his parents walked off to check out the other projects.

       "Actually, I am," Jules said.

       "It's okay if you're not."

       "No, seriously, I am. I'm used to them treating me like I'm an idiot, so it didn't really hurt me. Honestly, I was expecting this out of them. Well, not their reaction entirely, but something of the sort."

       I gave Jules a hug. "You're not an idiot, Jules. Like, look at our project. The judges were really impressed, and you did most of the research. It's just your test anxiety. Ooh, I wonder if I can give my extra percentage to you. It's not like I need it."

       Jules laughed. "I don't think you're allowed to give it to me. But thanks for the offer."

       The results soon came for the science fair, and Jules and I, unsurprisingly, came in first. Not that I was being cocky or anything. I was just confident with our project, and there was nothing wrong with being confident.

       I let Jules have the trophy, despite him reminding me that we share a dorm so it wasn't like either of us keeping it was going to make a difference. I still wanted him to be the sole owner of it. I was proud of him with the project. He was always so excited whenever we worked on it and didn't get the slightest bit distracted.

       Now that I think of it...

       Maybe there was a way to help Jules with his test anxiety. I knew he said he didn't care what his parents think, but I wanted to help him prove to them that he really was a smart person. 

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i'm going to meet jules's parents in the parking lot. anyone want to join? :D

i'm also proud of parry for not pulling any pranks lol.