Four letter word

39. End of exams

"Ohmygod what is taking them so long?!" Dana snapped after nervously walking back and forth outside the building. It was the day of the last exam and most students including Dana and AJ had finished their test. Now they were all spread outside either celebrating the fact that the torture and suffering was finally over or crying because they were convinced they failed.

"Maybe they're double checking their test. You did warn them a billion times not to leave the room without double and triple checking all of their answers" AJ shrugged, trying to be the calm one in this situation, but in reality she was freaking out too. She wasn't too worried about Riley, who was naturally smart, but Lindsey she was freaking out about a bit. Dana and her had helped out as much as they could, but it was a lot of information that needed to be learnt in a very short period of time. Lindsey had slacked off a bit.

"Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Nononono-!" Dana suddenly burst out, rubbing her palm against her forehead, "noooo!"

"What? Are you okay?" AJ panicked.

"...I think I just got my period" she pouted. AJ let out a small laugh, "it's not funny! I'll be right back" she spoke, turning around and rushing back into the building.

AJ shook her head with a smile and looked around at the students. The two girls were still nowhere to be seen. Her phone started ringing and she searched for it in her bag which was almost larger than her. Impossible to find anything in it.

"Where is it...?" She whispered, looking for her phone. "Ah!"

It was her mom, requesting a video call. She found an empty bench and sat down with her feet up on the seat.

"Hey, mom" she said after accepting the call.

"AJ! How did the last exam go? Did you do good?" She asked. Her brother, Matthew, walked in behind her.

"Yeah, I think I did okay. Hey, Matt!" She grinned.

"Heey! Are you coming to the beach house this summer?" He asked, grabbing a mug and looking for the tea. They were in the kitchen.

"Umm... I don't know. I'm still renting that apartment even though I'm staying in the dorms. I don't know if I can go away for this long" she said, dusting off the dirt off the end of her jeans which had been too long and dragging on the ground.

"Sure you can! Just come with us, it will be fun. We barely see you nowadays" he complained. Their mom laughed.

"He's right, you know? We don't even talk as much on the phone either. What's been keeping you so busy?" She asked.

"Oh, you know... exams and stuff. I'll have more time now. And okay, I'll think about coming to the beach house this summer. Now... how's Cherry. Can I see her?" She got excited asking about her cat who she hadn't seen in a while. She really had been busy lately and not just with studying. There was just so much going on.

"Yeah, she's sleeping on the couch. One sec" her mom got up and went into the living room, "Wake up, Cherry" she said in a soft voice and kneeled in front of the couch turning the camera around. An orange cat appeared on the screen and AJ's smile widened even more.

The cat woke up and looked at the mom lazily.

"Cherry! Oh my god, I've missed you so much, baby, hii!" AJ spoke.

"Awww that's an adorable cat" someone spoke from behind AJ and she immediately recognized the voice, turning around to find Lindsey and Riley standing behind her. They both walked around the bench and sat on two sides of AJ.

"Oh, hey, how did you guys do on the test?" She asked. Her mom had turned the camera around and was listening to the conversation of her daughter and two girls who she assumed were her new friends. The mom couldn't help, but smile. AJ making friends was a rare thing.