Coping With Clarity

Chapter Seventeen

She was so unbelievably sick of revising. Restlessly researching and repeating, knowing in her mind that she had to nail the rest of her exams. Even if she had no clue what she was going to do next. Hour upon hour her mom had called the house to tell her to get some rest, the last call being at eleven, but it wasn’t something she could just do anymore. She can’t switch her brain off sociology anymore than the fact that she can’t sleep anywhere besides a cramped hospital bed with Demi pressed against her.

Selena is aware that her exam is tomorrow. At ten am. And that she’s on the front row. Her bag is already equip with her flash cards and textbooks, that she’ll cram through, in the morning. But now its four am and she’s doing another excellent job of avoiding Dr DeLuise. She’s not even sure if anyone is still here.

Just creeping down the hall is taking away all the frustration about knowing how boy’s underachievement is affected by family backgrounds and never wanting to write ‘ sociological methods’ again.

In fact, walking down the hall is making butterflies beat in her stomach. She’s floating exactly like she did walking into school , three periods late ‘the morning after’ much to Taylor’s enthused chatter.

Selena isn’t going to deny that she didn’t tell Taylor everything (Taylor wasn’t kidding about wanting details) but she had to hold in her story until Taylor gave her a ride home after school; now that the entire school looked at her with a mixture of disbelief, or (if it was a girl); disgust. All she needed to give them was an excuse, a slip about Demi, or for Nick to find out more- and her high school experience would be tarnished. Just a few more weeks.

It wasn’t as bad as expected, Taylor had gotten word around of exactly what happened when Nick took her outside of the prom. Normally it would have been mortifying know that everyone knew, but she had something greater to hold onto, rather than wasting time worrying about how Nick glared in her direction, because nobody let him within three feet of her.

Backlash was a bitch. Selena hadn’t expected the rest of her life to just settle like it had after prom, with Demi; moments like the first time had been rare but it was safe to say Selena wasn’t thinking about ‘dating’ anyone else. They just clicked.

Even extreme weirdness like bumping into Miley Cyrus, literally, her books flying across the hall and within seconds having them stacked back into her arms. It was unusual but Selena figured it was ‘just Miley’ for ‘you go gurl’.

Needless to say she was glad school was coming to an end so she wouldn’t have to battle her urge to flip off the majority of the student body (and teachers) which her record could do without considering how stressed the exams had made her.

A deep breath and a quick hall check banished the negativity from her mind. She doesn’t want little spiteful interactions to dampen the smile that greeted her day and night.

Or usually greeted her.

Selena stifled a tiny giggle at the scene before her. The door clicked safely securing privacy for Selena as she stored away her over-night bag.

Demi lay curled towards the door in her bed. Familiar positions, clean sheets placed around her. Fast asleep.

Selena almost feels cruel at wanting to chuckle at the unmistakeable evidence of ice cream blushed on her cheeks. The cool treat was far from frozen and Selena felt strangely content as her thoughts were startled by a snore from ‘her’ chair.

David Henrie had never looked so nineteen. Selena rolled her eyes at the half-eaten, half-melted tub of Ben&Jerry’s in the Residents arms; she wouldn’t admit it but he’d been a likable presence in the days after Demi’s relapse. Offering a kind word, joke, or opportunity to make fun of him which Selena, surprisingly, left most of the time. (There had been a lot of restraint when he’d walked around with a ‘kick me’ sign on his back though.)