Stand up for what you are

Calm down, baby, it's alright

"Aaaaaaaahhhh" I screamed into the pillow again, just as Charles entered the room.

"Come on, weird guy, the car's already here."

"You got to be kidding me, Charles. These books are so thick...that I couldn't even flip all the pages, even if I tried."

"That's why the teachers take a whole year to complete it." He rolled his eyes. "Besides, what if you did pass?"

"The theorems are so different..." I gasped as I flipped to another random page. "What on earth are these even doing here?" I flipped to another page and showed it to him, pointing at the picture of black brick, that had a name, but what I do not remember. "I'm going to fail... Charles."

"You don't even have to take up science, though."

"Yes, I do!" I screamed in frustration, making him frown his impeccably shaped eyebrows. I screamed into the pillow again, before he seemed to notice something.

"Why are you not dressed?"

I inclined my head to the side. "Because I couldn't until I asked you?"

"You screamed into my pillow without asking me, which are probably infected with your germs, thank you." He scoffed, and so did I.

"I didn't ask you to lie to your mother, though, did I?"

"I'm letting you live here, alright?" He asked, seemingly annoyed, and my mouth snapped shut, even though I had a lot of points I wanted to argue on.

Then, he suddenly brightened, and with a smile that weirdly weirded me out with the way they looked too sinister on him, even though his face looked like he smiled a lot, he approached his walk-in closet, before taking out a t-shirt that would seem quite a fit on me, and skinny jeans, and socks and a pair of shoes that screamed money.

"You sure?" I asked him as he handed me the clothes, dread surging in my stomach.

"Yeah." He answered. "I'll be right outside if you need anything." He answered, before looking back at me with a smile, and mouthed "If you fail me, you die." before throwing me a wink, and I internally groaned, as I finally finished getting ready.

* * *

"You'll do well, sweetie." Carla smiled sweetly at me, while Charles walked alongside me, holding my hand for making this relationship seem 'real', but I doubted it. How does anyone make anything look real that wasn't real, especially with a person who was done with relationships? Yes, by holding their hand. What an impeccable concept.

"Alex, I say...do you want to..."

"Grab an ice cream?" I looked at him sideways to see that he had a stupid grin on his face. "Sure."

"No, I meant...cheat..." He coughed, and I looked at him quizzically, and he just flustered under my gaze, mumbling something incoherent.

I rolled my eyes at the weirdly unhumorous thing. "You're kidding, right?"

"Uh, no?"

"Your mom is the dean's sister, and your aunt should probably be really strict about the way the students give their exams, and may as well be sitting as an Invigilator," I answered, recalling my memories of my girlfriend, or very much my ex now...because...well...uh...you see... I'm still sixteen.

"Okay...seriously...how do you know that? It's as if you've been spying on us."

Yeah, sure, whatever.

I gave him a small smile, and waved at his mother again, before entering the huge gate that led to the anatomy of the school, before just as easily slipping my hand out of his, and he looked at me with an amused expression, before looking at the walls that adorned the hallway.

"C'mon, Alex. I know you know that I know that you know..."

"That I'm going to fail." I nodded my head. "Yes, definitely." I answered. "But, am I going to resort to cheating? Definitely not."

"Goodness...look, if it wasn't too obvious already, I told my mother that you're my boyfriend, so she could get off my hair, alright? Not because of your less than average looks or anything. So, let me tell you, Alex. I'm not begging you, but if you want to get admission here?" His hands flew open on his sides. "You have to listen to me."

"And, then, what?" I scoffed. "I have to owe you a favour?"

"Oh, no." he laughed, and my ears perked up at how...sugary it sounded. "You already owe me one." He spoke, before walking towards me, and pressing me up against the lockers.

"What are you doing?" I hissed.

"Helping you." He answered, before slipping something inside my left pocket and blowing softly on my left cheek. I looked towards my right to see a CCTV camera right there, and then to my left to see that there weren't any.

"Couldn't you have simply taken me somewhere else?"

He came close to me again, his head tilted to the side with frustration. "I bet my best friend would have been way better at being my boyfriend than you." He seethed. "But, you had to show up right there at my house, so bear with it."

His lips quirked downwards with what I thought was disappointment. "Or, not." He blinked a few times, to stop the tears that were on the verge of free-falling. "I'm sorry for pushing you as I did. I'm sorry Alex. But, you really have to know that... I didn't want to disappoint her, not when she is almost dying and wants me to have a boyfriend, who could-"

"Yeah, I get it," I answered, a bit later, my bottom lip worried between my teeth, and he looked up at me hopefully, before averting his eyes. "I'll give the exam, and pass," I answered, patting my left pocket in a matter of showing him that I meant it, and he beamed up at me.

"Alex Smith?" A rich, familiar voice called out to me, and I looked at him once before walking a little more down the hallway, to where the Dean was standing, and she looked at me, recognition flashing in her eyes, before letting me in the examination hall, patting my pockets to see if I was carrying anything, and then letting me pass without another question.

No... Seriously. I wasn't carrying anything? What happened to what Charles, the one with two faces, obviously, put in my pocket, where did it go?

I almost passed out when the question paper was handed to me before the door was locked. I looked around to see that I was the only person here to sit for the exam. Cameras hung in every direction, plenty to easily allow them to see if I was doing my test unfairly or not, and my throat bobbed up and down as I gulped.

Okay...so...here goes nothing.