Pucking Fantastic

Chapter 7: Everyone Would Know

Look out for the <>

DarlaH

I looked at the test in front of me and took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Panic filled me as I drew a blank on almost every question, even though I studied for hours last night. I filled the half blank test with words, although I didn't know if they were right as I pressed against my head to ease the migraine.

"You have 10 minutes left," the teacher said to the class.

My heart raced as I looked at my nearly empty test, knowing I would fail, and I never failed any test in my life. I filled out the rest of the rest and I didn't care if they were right, I just had to put something down.

"Ok, time," she said, and I put down my pencil. "Please pass the tests upfront."

I wiped my sweating brow as I looked at the test in front of me. This whole thing got me too stressed. I passed my test forward and looked at the time that was on display on the wall behind the teacher. Thank goodness this was the last period of the day. All I wanted to skate my heart out, knowing that skating would help ease my stress.

The bell rang, causing me to shoot out of my seat and grabbed my bag just as Callum walked over to me. "Hey, I made the rough draft of the article. I want it published by Wednesday. Do you want to look at it?" he asked calmly as if the test wasn't the worst thing in the world.

I nodded. Of course I wanted to, but I didn't want to look now. Reading anything would make my head pound more than it already was, and I didn't have enough mental power for that today. "Yes. But I really have to go. Can you email it to me?"

He looked at his brand new white sneakers then said, "how about we set another date."

I stopped to figure out his angle. It had been five days since Garret took me to the ball game, but since then; we talked non-stop. Many people at school knew that we were dating, but I had a feeling that it would be official soon enough, so I didn't want to jeopardize that. "I don't know. I'm pretty busy with skating. How about you swing by my place tonight? Maybe around eight? Does that work for you?" I asked, trying to make it sound as casual as I could.

Callum's lips twitched downward for a second, showing that he didn't like my response. He chewed on the side of his cheek as he mulled over my words for a second, then sighed. "No, but I can make it work," he said as he swung his backpack over his thin but defined shoulders. "I'll see you tonight." He gave a small smile, then walked out of the room.

I smiled lightly as I watched him leave. Paulo said he was trouble, but every time I talked to him, I got another vibe. He seemed kind but guarded, using his cool personality to hide whatever secrets he held, like armor.

Distracting me, I shivered, feeling freezing in this room. I put my icy hand on my forehead as it felt hot against my hand. I had to get out of this room, convinced that the room was too hot and I was overheating in here. The questions on the test swirled around in my mind like a flushing toilet, knowing I got most of them wrong. I think I was having a panic attack. I pushed my way out of the room until I could finally breathe outside the room.

<>

"Hey there," Garret said as he walked across the hall to greet me.

I smiled at him as he closed the gap between us. "Hey you. What are you doing here?" I asked, knowing that he normally left earlier on this day to get to the rink.

"I wanted to take you to the rink today," he said and pulled out his keys to his car. "I already called your mom. She's ok with it."

"You're kissing up to her big time," I smirked as I kissed him.