Vault

Bonus Chapter - Exams

"How's it going, beautiful?" Karl asked.

"Remind me why anyone chooses to go to college," I sighed.

"Well I don't know why just anyone chooses to go to college, but I can remind you why you chose to go to college," Karl smiled, "for your parents. Like you said, you wish you would have been able to design something to stop your moms cancer."

"Yeah, yeah," I brushed him off.

"No, not yeah yeah. That's a big deal and you're going to do amazing things. Which exam are you studying for right now?" Karl asked.

"Advanced calculus," I answered, "this is one of the only exams I'm not worried about. I've always understood math. There's one answer, you're right or you're wrong. You know what you're doing or you don't. It's the quantum mechanics and the French and the thermodynamics. What if I'm not cut out for this?"

"Baby, you are the smartest person any of us have ever met. You're taking some class called quantum mechanics," Karl laughed lightly, "you've already gotten yourself here and that was the hard part. You made the choice to pursue this, and you are so close to the finish line. You can see it right in front of you and that's why it's so difficult right now. But you got yourself here and now I'll do whatever I can to help you finish."

"Thank you," I sighed, "but I don't know what you can do to help me honestly."

"I can be here for you," Karl smiled, "and I can quiz you when you want me to. I can support you."

"Thank you," I smiled, "you're kind of the best, you know that?"

"I'm trying to be."

Karl got up to leave his room while I turned back to my calculus review. He was right, I was an annoying pain in the ass that hated to admit it, but he was absolutely right. I got myself to this point alone. I graduated high school when I was sixteen, and I've done everything on my own since I was fourteen. Sadly, I didn't have to do everything alone since I was fourteen but I was too damn stubborn to let anyone help me. But, regardless, I got myself here. I did this. And I still can.

When I finished my calculus review, I switched over to quantum mechanics. I was working on single-slit diffraction and uncertainty, something that sounds like a bunch of gibberish to anyone else, but makes sense to me.

This was my last review before I was left to just study. I'm so close to being done, I have to pass these exams. It's the only thing left between me and graduation.

My application for graduation had already been approved, but it gets pulled if I fail my finals. This is literally the last step.

I was torn away from my spiraling thoughts about how everything rides on these tests by music starting to play from downstairs. Loudly. I can't expect them to still be silent, days after I started studying, but I can't lie that it's slightly frustrating. Relax Ava, this isn't your house, they are allowed to do whatever they want in their own home.

The music got louder and louder until there was a knock on Karl's door.

"Come in," I called.

Karl pushed the door open and started dancing around like a goof with a pizza box in his hand. He had a speaker in his other hand that was playing 679 by Fetty Wap loudly. He put the speaker down on his desk and danced over to where I was sitting on his bed, singing along with the song and making me giggle like an idiot.

"I wonder when she'll be mine, she walks pass I press rewind, to see that ass one more time, and I got the soda!" Karl yelled, pulling a Dr. Pepper out of his pocket.

I laughed more genuinely than I had since I realized finals were approaching. He really did always know how to make me feel better. Always.

"You're such a dork," I giggled, "but I love you."

"I love you," Karl smiled as he leaned down to kiss me.

"By the way, the words are I've got this sewn up, not I got the soda," I laughed, "but I appreciate it.

"It is not!" Karl argued, "it's soda."

"No, it's sewn up you dork, now sit with me and eat this pizza," I insisted.

"That's something we can agree on," Karl laughed.