Mr. Cheater and Ms.Valedictorian (20,000 words, English)

The Night Before the Exam

Later that evening, Grayson is lying awake in bed, holding the plastic envelope in his hand. It’s the same envelope that Lisa and her friends had the Greenvale High seniors fill. He reads the note that serves as its label. The instruction says: Open the night before your exam.

Well, tomorrow’s the big day, so tonight is the night before the exam, so I guess, I can open this envelope now. Grayson smiles at his reasoning.

He flips the top of the envelope open and looks inside. He already knows what these are, but he is still excited to read them. He takes all the notes out. He grabs the letters and lays them on his bed. He removes the label and picks out the first note on top.

Written on the top of the folded up piece of paper is his name. He instantly recognizes the handwriting.

It’s from Erin. When did she write this?

Grayson quickly opened up the note and started reading.

Dear Grayson,

Hi, Bestfriend! (At least that was what we were before. Ü) Anyway, I’ve always regretted the fact that we drifted apart in high school. But ever since the announcement of the seniors’ suspension, since we started studying together— I felt the years apart just melting away. Being with you has always been natural and easy for me. I’m so thankful that I got this chance to be close to you again. (I hope you are too.)

I missed you too.

- Erin

P.S.

I forgot, that this was supposed to be all about the final test tomorrow, so here it goes:

You will PASS the final exam Grayson. There is no doubt in my mind. You have worked so hard! I have faith in you. Have faith in yourself. Believe that you will pass, then ace the exam! You can do it!

So, I guess, see you tomorrow...

Bye. Ü

-Erin

Grayson closes his eyes. He is smiling. He thinks of Erin. She drew a smiley— two of them.

Grayson reads the rest of the notes from the Greenvale High Seniors. Some start off with apologies then end with words of support. Some are long and some are direct to the point. He continues reading the notes until he gets to a particularly haphazardly made one. It’s an unevenly torn up page from a notebook. When he opened it up, Grayson knew exactly who it’s from. This made him laugh.

They even got Clifford to make one.

Clifford’s note is very short and direct to the point, but is does sound sincere.

Grayson,

Sorry.

Pass the test! You can do it.

-Cliff Perez

The rest of the notes have very similar thoughts. He continues until he has read them all.

As a result of reading all of the notes of support, encouragement and well wishes from the Greenvale High Seniors, his spirit gets uplifted and his heart swells. He is happy. Grayson was already confident to begin with but he just got much more confident now that he knows everyone is rooting for him. He believes in himself and the work that he and Erin put in, as well as the review sessions they had with the teachers.. He knows that he can do it. His morale is up. He is ready.

Before going to bed, Grayson once again picks up Erin’s note and reads it again. He closes his eyes. He can hear her voice saying the words in her note. “I missed you too. See you tomorrow.” He thinks about the first time they kissed in the rain, how they held each other as rain poured over them. He thinks about their kiss just this sunset, how her small waist felt in his hands, how her body felt as he pulled her close and how her soft lips tasted when he kissed her. All he can think about is Erin…

---

Across the street, in her room, Erin is equally excited. She keeps thinking about the last two weeks she spent with Grayson. First, she thinks about the test. She thinks about how much they prepared. She even laughs a bit when she thinks about the fun they had in the library or even the way Grayson’s face looked when he saw Ms.V helping them out. Her giggle turns into a smile. Her thoughts go back to that time— the time that they held hands, the time that he kissed her in the rain. She thinks about today, just before reaching home, Grayson’s hands wrapped around her waist, his eyes, his lips on hers. Though no one can see, she blushes, her breath becomes heavier. She closes her eyes and hugs her teddy bear tight. Grayson…