My First Dance (& Other Tales from Highschool)

In Which I Cram For Finals

Our last day of school was June 3rd and everyone was ready to get out of there. Before then, though, were our final exams. I'd been studying for awhile but the weekend before June 1st was my last day to get any cramming in. Instead of staying with my mom, I stayed with my dad over the weekend. He had an office at his house where I could go and have peace and quiet. I always struggled to really pay attention when other things were going on, so it was a real help to have somewhere without distractions. My dad would also be working on Saturday, so we were good to go.

I didn't stay up late on Friday, so I was able to get up pretty early on Saturday morning. My dad had plenty of options for breakfast, and I heated up a breakfast burrito to eat. It was spicy but really good, and I finished it quickly. I didn't even get started watching anything on TV because I knew the plot would draw me in. I cleaned up right afterwards and headed into the office with my school bag in tow. I had to literally drag it behind me because of all the textbooks shoved inside. I was glad I didn't have to carry them around with me all the time. My back would be broken by now. I'd be like an old lady!

I settled down on the floor and got to work divvying up my work into various periods. I was organized already for the most part but I wasn't always the most diligent in putting things away correctly. Some of my papers got misplaced into the wrong class sections. Sorting everything wasn't too hard and didn't take up too much time, though, so it wasn't too big of a deal. It was the typical mess you'd see in anyone student's bag: average. It was better than a lot of the messes I'd seen people have their bags filled with.

I took one sip of my water bottle and was ready to get studying. Most of my classes had study guides, so I knew all the topics I needed to go over. The ones that didn't, I'd just have to pick up the most important stuff. Pretty much everything would be simple refreshers since I'd already looked through stuff during the past few weeks. Still, I knew some of it would need some deeper delving into. Like, I'm not that great at remembering math formulas. I needed to make sure I had those down. That's just an example, though.

My study session began with English and ended when my stomach started growling, signifying I should probably get some lunch. I stopped where I was, put my flash cards to the side, and wandered to the kitchen to get myself some leftover pizza. I warmed it up first, mainly because cold pizza is disgusting and anyone who eats it is definitely some kind of walking biohazard. There is no way you can taste cold pizza and think "mm, yummy!" without having something wrong with your taste buds.

I tried to eat fast so I could get back to studying quicker, but I ended up watching an episode of Friends instead. Once the episode ended, though, I forced myself to get my butt off the couch and get back to studying. It was so hard to have that willpower! All I wanted to do was sit and relax and have some fun, but I knew my grades would reflect my lack of studying if I didn't get back in there. I plopped down on the floor and grabbed my science folder, getting ready to start back into another session of learning.

I didn't come back out of the office until I heard my dad come home from work. That was my signal to stop for the night. I hadn't realized how late it had gotten since I wasn't paying attention to the time. Honestly, that was a good sign. It meant I'd gotten deep in my studies and probably accomplished more than I needed to. I put my stuff back in my backpack, this time a bit more carefully, and went out to greet my dad. He started laughing when he saw me and came over snickering.

"Nina," He chuckled, "You look a mess!" Despite being American and mostly all white, my father's deeper family ancestry was Mexican. His great grandmother on his paternal side always slipped in Spanish lessons when she visited the grandchildren, so it became their second language. To honor her, he continued to learn and teach me too. I always liked hearing him speak Spanish and use nicknames with me. They made me feel homey and it connected me to my late family members. I gave him a hug around the waist and smiled.

"What do you mean, Dad?" I laughed, "I got dressed and everything this morning. I shouldn't look too bad. I think you're blind."

"Look at your hair, Nina! It's all tangled up! And you have a pizza stain on your shirt!"

I looked down at myself and snorted. He was right. I had a little stain on the bust of my shirt from when I had eaten lunch. I felt at my hair and found that it felt matted, probably from the lack of product and attention I'd given it in the bathroom. Doing my hair normally took forever, but I'd slacked off since I was going to be at home all day anyways. "Oh well," I waved him off, "Did you bring home anything for dinner? I'm starving." My dad shook his head at me, looking playfully disappointed in me for not eating. Then he pulled a takeout bag out from behind his back and I knew he was thinking about me from the get go. I gave him another hug and went into the living room to eat. He turned on one of our favorite movies and we sat together to watch.

The next morning was a bit longer than the other. Having not saved my energy by going to bed early, I was pretty unhappy when my alarm went off. I spent the next fifteen minutes contemplating if it was really worth getting up yet before my responsible side took over. I dragged myself from bed and slunk down the hall, stumbling a little. Apparently, my legs weren't ready to wake up yet. I heard my dad laughing from his room and knew immediately that he'd been watching me struggle. I shot a playful glare towards his door and saw him standing by the frame, a cup of coffee in his hand. "You need one of these," He teased. I made a face and pointed to the mug. I was spoiled when it came to my caffeine; anything that wasn't Starbucks was a bust in my book.

Instead of getting a cup of his nasty brew, I went to the bathroom instead to get ready for the day. This time, I took a little extra time on my hair. Now that my dad was going to be lurking around, I didn't need him teasing me about the bird's nest on my head. After doing everything I needed to do, I went to the kitchen and made myself a bowl of cereal to eat. I played around on my phone while I did, checking social media and texts and stuff. I finished my food and my scrolling, then headed into the office to get started on my work.

My dad occasionally checked in on me this time, bringing me food whenever he thought I should eat again. I wasn't complaining. It gave me more time to study instead of making stuff, and it made sure I didn't forget about eating like the day before. He even brought me some snacks, which were highly appreciated. I used them as rewards for when I got a question right, and what do you know! Treating myself like a dog learning tricks did just the right thing. I was learning much faster now that I got a cookie for every correct answer. By the time nightfall came, I was confident in my ability to do well on my exam. I called time and went to my room for some me time.

I flew through my exams with ease, not at all worried about what my grades would look like at the end of them. I was so proud of myself for putting in the work so I could feel good about things. At the end of Tuesday night, we got our exam scores back in the form of an Email. I got nearly perfect scores on them all. Content, I laid back in bed and decided to have fun for the rest of the night.