Tic.Tac.Tic.Tac. The clock wouldn’t stop. The time wouldn’t listen. Jane knows exactly how much it takes. 1 hour and 32 minutes, the number printed in her mind, even though she needs to concentrate and forget all her worries, and him. Oh, he finished 3 minutes ago, his eyes on her, intimidating her, waiting for her failure. After that, he might show his little stupid dance he does every time after exams. No, Jane, stop and concentrate on the last question! 15 minutes left. The answer is indescribable, hiding in the holes of her brain, trying to escape. But Jane is helding to it, and she’s never letting go again.
“Ok, Junior Jewels, it’s almost time to bring up your paper sheets, so you may check one more time what you have answered and you can bring them.” says Professor Kennedy. Usually, Mr Kennedy is always kind with his students, but today is an important day, so he’s more tough today with all of the classes he must supervise. It was the final test of the year in history class. It’s harder than Jane thought. She always passed those tests, it would be quite impressive if she didn’t.
After she finished writing her name, she went and sat in line, waiting to hand over the sheet. Oh, but that game wasn’t that simple, wasn’t it? Of course he had to stand right behind her and whisper something mischievous to her.
“How was the test, Pumpkin Pie?” he whispered so close to her ear that she felt his breath blowing into her hair. The tradition never gets old. Him, giving her a weird nickname since 7th grade. The newest one was “ Pumpkin Pie ”, because Jane hates pumpkins, so he would do anything to upset her.
“I don’t know, didn’t you solve it? ” Jane said with a trace of anger in her voice.
“ I did, so you should run before I catch you. I might outdo you, smart-ass. That would mess up your reputation. Brand new news, Jane Chandler being the 2nd best in school after Ravi Perkins, how does that sound?” he said with a devilish smile on his face. Maybe he even got his attitude from a devil or something like that.
Jane offered the sheet to Mr. Kennedy and then headed for the door, but before she got out she offered a fake smile to Ravi. He rolled his eyes and gave her his fakest smile, more forced than Jane’s.
She walked down the corridor on her way to find her best friends, Sandra and Darren. They finished their tests almost 30 minutes ago. They didn't really care about the grades anyway, they just wanted to be with Jane. Maybe Jane didn’t deserve such loyal and empathetic friends. Maybe she was a bad person. Maybe she didn’t deserve love, after all. No, Jane, stop, we don't do that anymore! She wouldn't be happy to hear that, almost the 4th time a week!
Her friends were waiting for her at their corner, they called it "The Corner of the Only Ones with Minds." It was in a corner of a wall in the hallway, where all the “weirdos” would pass by them and give them the most mocking look of the entire Stone Age.
“ Oh God, finally, batata! You are done with the tests of these fools. How great!” Darren whispered as if he was surprised, but in fact it was his life-threatening sarcasm. Sandra hit him in the stomach, and he pulled out a little "Ouch!"
“ Academic validation is more rewarding than a boy can ever be, Darren. You can’t sneak into the boys' rooms all the time, you also have to try to win your place here.”
“Fuck this place! You know we only stay because of you, I can’t even imagine how life would be if we went to different schools.”
“Plus, that test was hard as shit, but we might pass it…we hope.” added Sandra with a strip of sadness in her voice.
“ I know, but guess what? Ravi is annoying as always, and the "Pumpkin Pie" thing is still not gone. He was so tempted to make me have kind of a breakdown of stress, he could wish to be as smart as me.” Jane whispered with sarcasm and a proud glance.
“That was in the newspaper that appeared when my grandma was born. Tell us the hot, new, amazing news. Have you moved on your own or are you still living in the stinky house of your brother?” Oh, yea, he had to bring that subject, didn’t he? Jane has been living with her brother, Jamie and his girlfriend since she was 15, she had no choice after she…No, stupid, don’t bring it up again! You can not visit her for the 3rd time this week, she thinks you are completely fine, so you better act like it!
Jane jumped and noticed that she was stuck a little too much in her mind cage because Sandra was giving her a asking look.
“Yea, sorry, but no, still living in his shitty little house with his garbage girlfriend. I wonder how much I will be stuck there, between the bars of that prison out of quarrels.”
“ You know what? We deserve to celebrate this test, even if we are stupid, even if not! So, what if we meet up at my place next Sunday and get drunk? ” Darren yelled and threw his bag on the hardfloor.
“ Remember when I said that getting extremely long nails is your worst idea? Well now it is in 2nd place, I guess.” Sandra mumbled.
“ Ok, babes, it’s planned” Darren proclaimed with a smirk on his face. Darren liked partying a lot. And boys too. That was the only way he could have fun on a dull Sunday, but of course he couldn’t do that without Sandra and Jane.
They knew each other forever and those moments were theirs. Nobody could understand them, they had no friends other than them. Their safe place. Their home. Their family. If they had each other nothing could go wrong.
Jane, Sandra and Darren stood up, but Darren started running to class, because his next class was on the other side of the school.
“ Love you, my jars of jelly, I got to go!” Darren screamed while making the curve to the right.
“ Bye!” Jane shouted back while going up the stairs, even though they had 10 minutes left over from the break. Oh, but guess how amazing it was to have him following her, again. She knew what he wanted from her, what he always wanted, to annoy her. He’s so pathetic and so obsessed with her, Jane might throw up. It’s almost like Ravi is a dog on a leash, getting walked by Jane. Like he’s a fan of hers. Maybe he was her biggest enemy, but also a sucker for her.
“ Can I help you? ” Ravi commented like he was trying to be her friend, but Jane knew it was just one of his games to make her life more insufferable.
“ Yes, you may shut your mouth and drown yourself in the ocean, that would be really helpful, thank you!”
It was their way of talking to each other. Sarcasm. They never took the other one seriously, so pretending that they like each other was quite better.
“ I wish I could hit you right now.” Jane mumbled trying to not be heard.
“ Then why not do it? ”
“ Oh, look at the time, I got to go to class. Have a terrible rest of the day, Mr. Perfectly Fine! ” Jane yelled back at him because now she was 4 meters away from him.
Jane knew the answer to the answer though. “Maybe because I have a reputation and you don’t. ” Jane thought, a smile appearing on her face as she walked into the English class.
