Regret

18: Got It

Celeste's POV

"Do you want me to repeat the whole thing over?"

"No. Let me try answering the samples and test my memory."

Here in the cafeteria. Getting tutored by the Lee siblings. I was so mad at myself for flopping once again that I never talked to my fam about my grades in General Math, Chemistries, and the other subjects that include numerals.

Thirty minutes after answering...

Gaiea and Ah-Seun are now checking my paper. Sample problems were random. Mixture of maths and chem. Not nervous though I'm worried about having lots of errors.

"Waaa you did it." You're joking right Ah-Seun? "Seriously. Score's almost perfect. You just wrote the wrong numbers in the third item but all good." Gaiea told me. "Nice. Relevance of our tutorials is one hundred one percent." Mich who beamed after. It's a miracle. "Cool. Thanks yo!" I said. "Anything for you." the Lee siblings replied at the same time.

----------------------
Just in time for a new test. "Start." Mrs. Huang gave the signal. If I remember it right...

Minutes later...

"Pass your papers now." And we immediately did. They walked to me right after. "How was it?" Ga-Seun asked a bit worriedly. "Way better." I reticently replied.

The following day...

"Whether you like it or not, I'll announce your grades loudly." Mrs. Huang is most of the time adamant with her decisions. "Misis Huang!" most protested. I kept my mouth shut to avoid shade-throwing from those juveniles. "Can't stop me. Carpenter, two. Simmons, two. Yang, two point five. Carrey, one point five. Rake, two point five. Go, one..." She thoroughly announces our grades without minding anyone who reacts. "...Yuu, one. Blanc, two point five. Lee, two. Shin, two. Jung, two point five. Soner, two. And Jin, one point five." It's for real, I'm...not the lowest? Omo...

"You did it chingu~" Ah-Seun happily says and did a thumbs up. "Knew you can. Congrats to you sister!" Neil quietly cheered. "Atta girl!" Gaiea. "Thank you so much yo." I whispered. "No probs."

Weeks after the semester...

"Afternoon class."

"Good afternoon Misis Gill."

"Here are your scores. Kindly pass it on Ryen. I won't broadcast." And Mrs. Gill winked. The whole class later on felt relieved, each of us saying "phew".

Waiting for mine...

"Nice work."

"Really Porter?" I asked the classmate sitting beside Miku. "No joke. You got a one point five." Porter with his untypical staid voice. "Woo~" Miku silently glimpsed at me while smiling. "Good news for me. Thanks." And I reached out my left to take my paper. Thank you Hananim (Lord). But then I noticed the student who first received my paper after Ryen. How salty can she get? She's apparently smarter than me.

The youngest plastic Lia Yang. Next thing I knew she began to I suppose bruit about my score to her minions. Annaise glared at my nearly-austere facade then at them and murmured. "Let me guess sister, you got a high rating?" Neil, out of the blue, talked to me behind. "Yes yo. One point five." I replied right away. "Wow. Cause I caught the 'plastics' glance at you with hatred." Neil said without me asking. Though I was expecting him to state that. "I saw them as well. No one helped me in this you know that. I only recalled what they taught me." I casually stated. "Hehe proud of you Celeste." Sweet brother. He's always there to give support.

"Thanks yo."

"Sugohaesseoyo~ (Good job~)" Ah-Seun happily praised. "Kamsahaeyo~ (Thank you~)" I mouthed. Obviously, she heard my grade when Neil talked to me.

"Celeste." I turned to Ah-Seun's left where Gaiea is. She's holding a piece of paper with an all-capitalized "KEEP UP". I shortly smiled at her, swiftly wrote "THANKS TO YOU GUYS" at the last page of my reminder notebook, turned to her, and showed my gratitude. She simply nodded.

"Goodbye class. Early dismissal since none of you failed me." Mrs. Gill bids. "Goodbye Misis Gill." Seems like all of us are very satisfied with what we got. "Hey."

Do you have a problem? I wanna ask her this. "Hey."

"You passed, nice." she said.

"Yeah thank you."

"Did you cheat?" Lia, yes her, questions instantly after my responding. "Dunno how to." Yes, I really don't know, and it seems complex to do so in college based on what I heard from a few graduates. "Okay. You said so." Sarcastic as ever huh? "Insecure." Ah-Seun comments. "Yeah. Cause Celeste is higher than her." Gaiea added. "Let her and the other 'plastics' get tired." Neil said. It's not obvious but I'm glad to have my chingus.

At home...

"Achievement." me with my usual flat tone. "Wo, geuge mwoyeyo? (Wo, what is it?)" halmeoni's face brightened. "One point five in General Math." Straightforwardly, I said it. "Omo, sugohaesseo~ (Oh my, good job~)" eomma and halmeoni made their way to me and half-hugged me. Feels really good to pass!

"Ssang chukha! (Congrats twin!)"

"Gomawo ssang! (Thanks twin!)"

"Cheonma! (Welcome!)"

Aside from our birthday, today is my most fortunate and joyous. We had a good supper earlier than the most common time. Although the next day is a Saturday, we still chose to sleep early. Thank you Hananim! It's a big achievement for me. May I not fail those subjects I'm weak at. This I ask in the name of Jesus, Amen.