Masks

Chapter 27

It was because I met you,
That I was restored.

~~~

  "I'll see you in the afternoon." Mrs. Hayes smiled as she saw her son off at the doorstep before he walked to school with his friend.

  Quinn had noticeably been in much higher spirits since he was able to talk to his mother about his relationship with Violet, who also noticed this sudden change. The tone he always talked in which had given her the impression that he was holding back from something seemed to have disappeared since then. It had been just a few weeks since then, but this change in behavior had been evident since day one.

  ~~~

  "I can't believe it's already near the end of April." Violet sighed. "It'll be exam season from mid next month till almost the end of June."

  "It's one hectic month, that's for sure." Quinn noted. "Teachers start cramming lessons they haven't taught in that last three weeks. I'd advise you to start studying ahead."

  "Good point." She agreed. "Do you think you can give me some extra lessons? I'm probably gonna need help with, well, everything."

  He let out laugh. "Gotcha. You're still new to the exam season, after all, you've been homeschooled all your life."

"How do you typically handle this time of year?"

"My advice is, don't procrastinate, really." He answered. "It's quite stressful for everyone during exams, so if you get all your work done when it's assigned, you'll have more time to prepare for exams."

"Makes sense." She nodded. "My tutors usually just prepared me for exams. It was the same at the international school too."

"Then it's summer again after exams." Quinn sighed. "And you know what that means: summer homework."

"Must really suck." Violet agreed. "But you've handled it before, so I'm sure you can definitely do it again."

"I just never get any time to myself, you know?" He explained. "It's the main reason I never really had any interests."

"Well, you were able to talk to your mom, so maybe she'll go easier on you this summer." She smiled.

"You think so?" He hoped.

"It's gonna be summer soon, huh?" Violet sighed.

"Right, you're only staying till the end of this school year." Quinn's voice lowered.

"Don't worry! We can still keep in touch, right?" She tried to cheer him up. "I don't my own phone, but I can give you my house number from Paris. And maybe my address too if you want to write."

"Sure, we can still communicate like that, but it'd be a while before we can talk face to face after you leave." He noted. "It'd be like using our boards again, except we don't see each other."

She frowned as well. "Right. But I'll be sure to visit when I can. I did take a train up to a town near Scarlettview when I first arrived after all, so it is definitely possible. Maybe over the summer vacations to come, you know?"

"Seems like a lot of trouble for you." He chuckled. "I'll make sure to do my share of efforts too. Maybe I could save up to get my own phone, so we can video-chat."

"Sounds like a good idea, but that might cause some trouble to our parents." She thought. "But it'd be nice to see you when we're talking."

He looked down. "It's all gonna be over so soon."

"We still have over a month, it's okay!" She tried keeping him positive. "After all the exams, we could do something before I leave. There's still quite a lot of time. We could study together too—that still counts as spending time together."

He laughed. "Alright. We're gonna make the most of your stay here. Just don't stress yourself out with exams, I already know you'll do well."

  ~~~

  Violet has been sitting in her room for hours, preparing for the final exams coming next week. Both Quinn and herself had been preparing long before, thanks to his tips on examination period, but she still was quite unsure. She wanted her guardians to see that her exchange indeed benefitted her studies, and didn't want to let them down. After all, it was her who had been trying to convince them to let her go on an exchange for years.

  Quinn was quite nervous about exams too. After he managed to get his parents to go easier on him with his efforts in school, he wanted to make sure they wouldn't regret that decision. He'd been studying during all his free time, making sure he'd be able to keep up his grades even after he'd finished all his exams for the year.

  Not only were the exams stressing them out, another thought had been lingering in their minds for a while—a thought that had reappeared many times in the past school year.