Sophomore Year || Parenthood Series, Book One || WATTYS 2018

Chapter Thirty

SOUNDTRACK: "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" - Tears For Fears

MONDAY

Kate felt like her stomach was going to crawl out up her throat and force it's way out of her mouth. Finals week was here; there was no more putting it off. She was standing on the Quad, enjoying the last few rays of sunshine she'd get before heading into the Languages building for her French final. She had been up the night beforehand speaking with Jared, attempting to speak fluently, but his speaking skills were not as high as she needed them to be. In the end, she just spent several hours repeating common phrases and going over French history in an attempt to calm her nerves. The final bell rang and she rushed inside to her class just in time, sitting down and pulling out a pen and pencil.

The test was divided into two parts: a written one and an oral one. The teacher divided them up and took half of the class to perform the oral exam, leaving the other half in the classroom with another teacher. Kate had her oral exam first.

Please, dear sweet merciful Flying Spaghetti Monster, let me ace this. I deserve a motherfucking win after all the shit I've been through this year, she thought as they were led down the hallway to several meeting rooms.

Students sat at desks, writing in silence as teachers walked up and down aisles, monitoring the tests. She took a deep breath and sat in one of the chairs lined up against the wall outside the small meeting room where the oral test was being given. Faint voices drifted under the door as the first student began. Kate took a deep breath and tried to remember what she had crammed into her brain at a feverish pace over the past few weeks. It would be a miracle if she squeaked by with a C.

Three hours later, the Flying Spaghetti Monster had indeed been kind and merciful to her; she felt confident that she had performed much better than she anticipated and she walked with relief into the crowded, noisy cafeteria for lunch. Students were milling about, getting food and talking to each other. A few were trying to hopelessly cram for whatever exam came in the afternoon in between bites of food. Kate stood in line, happy to be one step closer to Holiday Break.

That afternoon, she had her AP Chemistry semester final and she actually felt really good about it. Chemistry was easy for her. She had always picked it up really quickly. And Professor Rucker was an excellent teacher. During the last few days of class, she had even spent her time tutoring other students and going over key concepts with them. She was glad to do it because it gave her a chance to really feel like she had something under control. Most other aspects of her life felt like she had no say in anything.

Her relationship with Jared and the rest of the family was a little stagnant. Her place on the soccer team was established and the coach for the main team was eyeing her closely now. It made her nervous and excited all at the same time. She enjoyed playing on the reserve team, but honestly they were the reserve team for a reason, really. The play was swiftly approaching and Kate oscillated between confidence and outright fear. Anytime she thought about having to get in front of all those people (Luke had kindly informed her that the shows usually sold out completely for Winterlake performances), the contents of her stomach threatened to make an encore appearance. She knew her lines. She knew the blocking. She just had to actually act like she cared.

TUESDAY

Kate felt like her brain might explode. She had to keep reminding herself that exams were almost over. Only one more day and they'd be done for a whole semester. Her semester final for AP US History had left her brain particularly decimated. It felt like she was trying to catch water with a slice of Swiss cheese as she walked into rehearsals after school. Professor Howard was running them ragged through finals because the play opened on Friday. They had one show Friday night, two shows Saturday, and one show Sunday. And so far, they were all about seventy-five percent sold-out.