When I was 6 years old, my father made me cry for the first time. He left me alone outside at night. I still remember it. I was pounding on the door, demanding and screaming to be let back in. After a while, when I realized he wasn’t going to listen, I sank down, whimpering, trying not to let the cold get to me. The next morning when I woke up, the only reaction my father had was a pat on my back and a nod as congratulations for surviving the night. That was the first and last time he showed any sort of positive emotion towards me.
As I walked down the hallways of Springcreek High, I suddenly remembered that night for some unknown reason. Probably because it was my father’s birthday tomorrow. There wasn’t any need for a present. He would just stare at it for a few moments, shake his head, and walk away. I unfortunately had experiences where that happened. All my hard work dismissed by a shake of his head.
I shook my own head, not wanting to remember any bad memories.
The loud ring of the school bell brought me back to reality.
Everyone had already left to their first class.
Crap. I was going to be late. It was almost the end of the year and we were going to get the results for our AP biology exam. I was especially scared for this one, since Biology wasn’t one of my strong points.
My hair flying wildly behind me, I ran to the class and made it barely in time. Panting, I sank down in my chair.
My teacher frowned at me behind her glasses before speaking to the class.
“As you all know, I will be giving out your results for the final exam today. The results…”
She trailed off for a second, glowering at us and shaking her head before sighing.
“The results were horrible. I have never seen such horrifying scores like this before in my entire 20 years of teaching Biology.”
While she continued screaming at us about our scores, the cringe on my face deepened. I felt a sudden desire to cover my ears like a little kid to avoid listening to her.
I couldn’t afford to get a bad grade on this exam. My grade was bad enough already, a 91. Most people would be happy to have this grade. I wouldn’t. More specifically, my father wouldn’t. My GPA was a 4.0 right now, and I hoped to keep it that way. If I got a bad grade on this and he found out... I shuddered at the image in my head. Let’s just say he wouldn’t be too happy.
The rustling of papers brought me back to class. She was handing out the exams.
Crap. Crap. Crap.
She finally stopped at my desk and put my exam on my desk, upside down. Her eyes were bright, showing as much emotion as she could muster up. Her mouth was twisted up into a half smile, although it resembled a grimace more. Still, that had to mean something good, right?
Gulping, I swallowed down the bile in my throat and fingered it softly.
Oh well. It was now or never.
Getting a rush of confidence, I flipped the paper over quickly.
I gaped at the exam.
What. I got 98%.
How was that even possible? I could have sworn I failed it.
I felt like screaming out and jumping around in pleasure, but left my mask that separated my emotions from the world on as I went through it to see what I did wrong. Not too much, just a few minor mistakes.
The important thing was, did anybody get a score higher than me?
My teacher had a habit of giving out the tests in order of our score, starting with the lowest.
And she gave one more test after she gave mine to me. To Cassie.
I turned around to look at her, and she beamed at me, her cherry-coated lips twisting into a beautiful smile. She was so perfect, and I could never be anything like her.
I blinked once before turning back to the front.
The bell rang, indicating the end of school and the beginning of summer. Everyone around me started screaming their heads off. I stuck to the side, not wanting to drown in the pool of people.
We walked out the door together as a large clump, awkwardly shuffling.
A drop of sweat rolled down my forehead, and I took out my handkerchief, wiping it away.
It’ll be over soon, I thought. It’ll all be over soon.
Somehow we managed to get through the door, and I broke free, walking out the main entrance.
With a grim look on my face, I started walking home. All the carefreeness that I had before disappeared, and my heart started beating 10 times faster.
My father would be at home, waiting for me.
