Only Mine

Chapter 9

I had been cramming in endless pages of Financial Analysis and Statistics for the half-yearly exams that were scheduled to be a week long affair starting today. I hadn't slept properly in days and my neurotic tendencies were at an all time high. I had confined myself to my room for the past week and made only slight appearances during dinner time to catch up with Anna, who seemed to be breezing through her practical examinations.

Jean had returned back to his status quo of reticence and brooding.  Although, now he always gave me his signature nod in greeting. It was a thaw in his icy exterior and I welcomed the new dynamics of our relationship. It was an improvement on the consistent ignorance of the past few months. I had learnt to loosen up in his presence and finally started focusing on my future. Depending on the results of my half-yearlies, I would be eligible to apply for the Teacher's Assistant (TA) position. I was hoping to fulfill all the academic requirements that were required for such a rigorous position by securing high grades on my exam. This would give me the extra allowance needed to make some pocket money. A few months and I would have enough for a deposit for a room in one of the various apartment buildings in the south side of Paris. 

Waking up this morning, I was still revising all the important dates and events in my heads along with all the important questions I would most likely be asked. I had missed Gabe and Anna to college and decided to high tail it myself. I grabbed the first bus and made it to the exam hall just in the nick of time.

I had entered the hall and was frantically looking for a place to sit -- preferably far away from everyone. People had an annoying habit to talk to themselves during an exam and furiously whisper under their breaths while rapidly writing their answers. Those tended to disorganize my thoughts. 

  "Hey, I saved you a seat," said Adam. 

"Thanks," I said, reluctantly taking the seat next to him. I was itching to leave but the baseless romantic part of me was overruling the decision to scramble and was instead forcing me to enjoy the closeness to Adam. I shook off the jitters and waited for the next 3 hours to pass. As expected, Adam turned out to be one of those people who had the annoying habit of whispering words while he wrote. I resisted the urge to kick him with my feet under the chair constantly. Everyone consumed each second of the three hours that were allotted to us with fervor and at the final sound of the bell, we let out a huge sigh of relief. The paper was lengthy and difficult. My hopes for winning any kind of TA position were dashed after the brutal three hours. 

I dragged myself out of my seat and walked alongside Adam as he slung his arm over my shoulder and tried cheering me up.

"Don't pout. It's one paper. We'll make it up in the final term exam," he said.

"I was really hoping to clinch that TA position. Now I'm worried I might not even get a B," I said. My morose attitude at losing the reputed TA position seemed to cause Adam to pull me closer to him and I inadvertently felt just slightly better at the close contact.