Stop in the Name of Love (Completed)

Chapter 23

Jordan walks me to my math class. He thinks my silence is nerves about the test. I've been thinking about last night this whole time. I swear I'm seeing Dominic everywhere, his voice kept me up all night.

"I said... Come sit with me."

He had been so close to me I'm sure he could see the sweat on my face. He had a grip on my arm as he pulled me to the couch.

"Are you alright?" Jordan pulls me from my thoughts as students pass us.

I shrug, trying to give a small smile before ducking into the classroom.

"Good luck babe!" He calls out before taking off to his class.

I slump into my seat and start tapping my foot. I watch the teacher as she hands out the test, barely registering when she comes by my desk. Her voice is hazy as I stare at the wall.

I shake myself back to reality when I hear her test bell ring. I turn over the paper and try to start working. No matter how badly I want to, I don't look at the clock. My eyes stay glued to the paper as I work. My head starts hurting six questions in. By question twelve I'm convinced that I'm never going to finish this class. I'm going to be in the twelfth grade forever. Thirteenth question, fourteenth, I get stuck on the fifteenth and skip it, unsure of how much time I have left. I can feel my heart racing and time stretch out. It feels like I've been here for hours.

I start seeing people turn in their tests, my stomach starts twisting in knots. I look up at the clock, hating myself instantly for doing it, I only have twenty more minutes.

I start rushing to finish as many as I can, I give my best guesses before going back to check my work. I'm worried that my work is wrong, I'll lose more points if I don't use the right method than if I get the question wrong.

I bite my lip as I walk up to put my paper on the pile. Ms. Morrison stares at me as I put down the paper and walk back to my desk. With nothing left but my anxiety I bury my head in my arms on the desk, my eyes start watering.

An eternity passes while waiting for the bell. I want nothing more than to skip the next two periods and go to lunch. I most definitely do not want to go to English today.

"Rhea!" Ms. Morrison calls out, waving me over to her, "A word?"

Oh god... I pull on my fingers until they hurt. I take small steps to her desk, stalling whatever talk we're about to have.

I sit in the chair by her desk and stare at her staring at me, "You looked really nervous today, Rhea. Is everything ok?"

"Yeah, just... The tests make me nervous, I'm really trying but I just..."

"I know that you're trying, it's evident," She leans back in her chair, "I see you're improving, you're last week of homework has all been on time and almost 90% correct every time. That's amazing improvement, so why so nervous still?"

I shrug, her only response is to tilt her head, still very much engaged and waiting for an answer, "I... I don't know... It takes me three hours to finish the homework, I only have an hour for a test. It feels like no matter how much I understand it... I won't have enough time."

She looks at a pile of papers on her desk, "Well you did the extra credit... That plus your better understanding of the material, this will be your best test of the semester. Did you answer all the questions, even if you knew it wasn't right?" I nod, "Did you show your work?" I nod again, a huge smile shining on her face, "Then you'll get points on every question, you did amazing, Rhea."

She reaches her hand out to pat my knee. I watch her scribble something on a pad of paper before tearing off the page and handing it to me. It's a tardy note, so I don't get marked late for my next class.