Challenge | Adam Banks

TWENTY

"I just don't think I'm literally ever going to use this," Mabel groaned as she tossed her math book across the floor. The textbook slid for a moment before bumping into Delanie's crossed legs.

The brunette gave her friend a tired look. "Complain all you want, Mabes, but at the end of the day, there's still going to be a math test on friday." Though she knew exactly what she was signing up for when her best friend invited her to spend the evening studying in her dorm, her incessant complaining was a bit tiring. She loved Mabel with her whole heart, but if she said one more thing about how useless this lesson was, Delanie was going to throw a textbook at her face.

Rosa, who sat near the door, thumped her head lightly against the wall. Math was one of the few classes she didn't have to make up credits for, thus she had absolutely no reason to be there listening to Mabel gripe about her homework. In fact, the only reason she was there was because Jett was at practice. She loved spending time with her friends, but this was just miserable. "Mabel," Rosa sighed, her eyes squeezed shut, "please either give up or shut up."

Mabel let out a huff. "I'm sorry," she muttered, falling backwards flat onto her back. She stared up at the ceiling, her face expressionless. After a brief moment of silence, she let out a heavy sigh. "I'm really tired of feeling this dumb."

"You're not dumb," Delanie assured quickly as she flipped through the textbook at her feet. "This stuff is genuinely hard."

Mabel rolled her eyes, "Come on, Lanie. You're a straight-A student. There's no way you find this stuff hard."

Delanie just shrugged, her brown eyes focused intently on the equations in front of her. She contemplated her response for a while. What her friend had said was true. She wasn't particularly challenged by the subject. Sure, she stumbled and struggled every now and then, but it came rather naturally to her. That didn't make Mabel dumb or slow by any means, though. The girl was actually quite bright. She just didn't always see it.

Before Delanie could properly articulate her pep talk, the door swung open, banging into Rosa's shoulder in the process. The girl shouted in both surprise and pain, causing the intruders to jump. "Sorry!" Julie squeaked from the doorway, her eyes wide.

Mabel sat up, a joke already prepared, but she immediately stopped when she spotted her two friends' demeanors. She glanced at Delanie, who was just as alert, her hands frozen in their places against the textbook in front of her. The brunette furrowed her brows gently. "Connie? What's wrong?"

The other girl had tear tracks staining her cheeks, and she was leaning against Julie, who looked almost as miserable. Connie just shook her head, sniffling quietly. Julie sighed, rubbing her friend's arm. When she looked at the girls in front of her, there were tears that were beginning to form in her own eyes. She bit back a quiet sob to explain. "Buckley is revoking our scholarships," She finally croaked, her gaze fixating on the ground.

Delanie's heart plummeted to her stomach. Her throat was suddenly dry and all she could do was stare at her crestfallen friends. Mabel's eyebrows knitted together angrily. "That's bullshit! How can he do that?" she nearly shouted, her emotions bubbling over.

"There's no way that that isn't breaching some sort of contract," Rosa reasoned. "Seriously, that's just unethical." It seemed that the pain in her shoulder was long forgotten as she sat upright, her entire body rigid.

Julie shrugged as Connie began to collect herself. The brunette hockey player took some deep breaths before shaking her head. "Orion is trying to fight it," she sniffled, "but he didn't tell us much." She held her chin up a little bit higher, seemingly done letting herself cry. Her eyes were puffy, but she looked warily determined.