Chapter 18
"I have to go to the school to take my final exam," Gardenia stated. We were sitting on the fence, once again petting the cows. I was scared of them, I'm not gonna lie, but Gardenia made me pet one and they're not so scary after all. They're actually kind of cute.
"What time?" I asked her, noticing how beautiful she looked at this precise moment. The sun was shining down on her, and the wind was blowing her hair away from her face. She wasn't wearing an ounce of makeup, that I knew of at least. She wasn't even smiling, yet she was the most beautiful person I've ever seen.
"I have a meeting with my mentor at 3. If I fail the Chemistry exam, I won't be able to graduate. It all rides on this, Harry."
Together, we had finished the class. We read every last section and she took every last quiz, doing fantastic on them all. And what she missed, we worked on.
"I'm fairly confident that you've got this in the bag," I stated confidently, picking at the chipped wood of the fence.
"You think so?" She asked, and I nodded my head, looking up at her.
"I know so. Especially with the help of myself, chemistry extraordinaire"
"I really don't think I could've done it without you," she was looking down at the cow she was petting, rubbing its forehead.
"I think you could have. I probably just made it easier on you. But I'm sure you would've done it, even without me."
"I disagree," she sighed, looking up at the clouds now.
"Is this Poppy again?" I asked, pointing to the cow. She shook her head no.
"No, this is Aster," she commented quietly, petting behind the cow's ears now.
"After your brother?"
She smiled softly, nodding her head yes.
"How do you keep all of the cows straight?"
She shrugged, "I grew up with most of them. My parents used to slaughter them, you know. And sell the meat. But I didn't like it, and threw a tantrum until they quit. Now they're just milk cows. Anyways, they have different personalities, just like any other animal. And they have different spots. This was my brother's favorite cow, so I named him after him. I can tell it's him by the spot under his chin. The one over there, she's mostly white with one single spot on her back, that one's Penelope. That one," she points to a cow that was mostly black with a few white spots, "That one's Poppy. You can tell because, well, most obviously, she's one of the few cows who are mostly black. But one of her ears is bigger than the other. They're uneven."
"And this one?" I asked, gesturing to the one that was walking its way over to us, taking camp right next to Aster.
"That one's new, we just got him in. He was set to be slaughtered, but he was too skinny and they thought it'd be a waste of time, since they wouldn't get very much meat. I saw him when I was driving down the road, his bones sticking out in unnatural ways. Anyways, I bought him off of them. He doesn't have a name yet."
"That's really kind of you," I stated, petting the skinny cow. He was quite frail looking, and I couldn't imagine what he's been through. "Did they starve him?"
"I think so, although they claim otherwise. They were just gonna let him starve to death, I think, rather than wasting their time and money on killing him. Who knows what would have happened had I not found him."
"I'm happy you did. He doesn't deserve that," I said, petting the bottom of his chin now. Cows were massive. A lot bigger than I thought they were.
"Me too. I just need to think of a name," she stated, and we spent the next twenty minutes brainstorming, and trying to figure out a good name for the male cow. She didn't like any of my suggestions, but she couldn't think of any that she liked herself. But it was a quarter to three, and it was time for her to go to the school.
"Want a ride?" I asked her, and to my surprise, she nodded her head yes, and we walked across the street to my house. I retrieved the keys from inside as she waited outside for me, and we both got into the car, buckling in.
"You have to show me where the school is, because I haven't a clue," I stated, and she nodded, holding onto the door handle and looking out the window.
The entire car ride there, I quizzed her on common chemistry terms, asking her about the things we've worked on, and it seemed to me that she's gotten it all down.
"You've got this," I grinned at her, parking in the parking lot. She nodded, and I could tell from the fact that she was picking at her nail polish, she was nervous. Her nails were usually perfect as can be, except for right now, the nail polish chipped and uneven.
"It's just scary that my entire future is basically resting on this one test. If I don't pass it, I don't get my credit, and I don't graduate. And this is my last shot, and I think I'm going to throw up."
I reached across the console, grabbing onto her hand and squeezing it, "We've studied non stop for the past three days, and you've aced every single quiz. You will ace this exam, as well. You've got this, and you're going to graduate. I believe in you."
"Thank you," she smiled, turning her hand so her palm was facing mine and lacing our fingers. "Will you be waiting out here, then? Or I could walk home or something, so I don't have to bother you."
"No, I'll be right here. I'm too anxious to hear about your results, anyways. You'll know once it's done, right?"
She nodded, "Yeah, it's electronic."
"Cool. I'll be right here, and we can go somewhere and celebrate once you pass."
"If I pass," she corrected, and I shook my head.
"Nope, when you pass."
"You're too confident in me."
"And you're too hard on yourself."
She nodded, glancing down at the clock which read 2:59. She was staying in here until the very last minute, and now her time was up. She seemed to realize this as well, as she let go of my hand and unbuckled her seatbelt.
She opened the door, getting ready to get out, before hesitating, and looking at me instead. A moment passed, before she decided on something in her head. I could literally see it click, and then all of a sudden she was leaning toward me. I was too shocked to do anything. And then I felt her lips on my cheek, and I swear I could have passed out.
"Thank you," she whispered, and before I could even reply, she was gone.
