In The Unlikely Event [updates begin may 3]

05 | slide to the left

a/n this chapter was a thickie baby but sir roman does make his first appearance and I'm living? vote, comment, follow and every fun stuff like that if u enjoy the chapter.

#

Miniature drawings of tornadoes lined the margins of my Advanced Function test, almost completely blackening out the mark at the top of the paper. I didn't need to look at it anymore; I'd already committed it to memory. Laleh's slanted gaze was trained to my side profile, and I was one biting remark away from shoving a pencil into her eye. Or mine, whichever worked.

Mr. Seymour stood at the front of the class, before the smartboard, explaining and combing over the test. The headache pulsing at the back of my head shifted to the forefront (probably in revenge for wanting to stab Laleh), and I bit back a wince, rubbing away at my temples. I managed a smile to Laleh which, she immediately jumped on.

She speared a glance down to the whirlwind of doodled tornados on my test. "Are you okay?"

Do not bite her head off.

"Nah. I just--I really needed to do well on this test. But I'll probably just have to do better on the next one."

Her wavy, dark hair bobbed along with her head. "Yeah. If it makes you feel any better, the test was difficult for everyone." I nodded and averted my gaze back down to my test, where my pencil had continued its fervent doodling.

"I also wanted--" shut up "'--to thank you for..." she leaned closer into me. "helping me out with my chemistry lab report. I got it back today." Her face opened into a conspiratory smile that seemed to further aggravate my growing headache.

My face pinched into what I hoped held some semblance of a smile. "Don't worry about it." Her 20 dollars additional bonus had been more than enough.

"...as the overall class average was quite abysmal, there will be an opportunity, today after school, to come for extra credit." The lead of my pencil snapped, and my head flicked up. Mine and about the 20 other students that had zoned out during the duration of his correction. His gaze zeroed in on mine, and I was scrambling out of my desk before he even uttered my name. "Addy." He titled his head off to the side. The hall. "Can I speak to you for a second?" My skin prickled at the 28 sets of eyes that trained their sights on me

Walking away from Laleh, he held the door open as I scrambled to catch up, threw out a directive to the class before allowing us some privacy out in the hall.

"I don't like to mince words, Addy. I'd highly suggest you come to this extra credit after school."

The headache behind my eyes danced aggressively. I clenched my eyes shut, releasing a controlled breath before I forced a smile on my face again.

I bit back an internal groan. "About that, I was wondering if I could take the extra credit assignment home." He moved to interject, and I pushed on. "Or take it tomorrow. It's just...I'm behind on my volunteer hours requirement. And I have a volunteer placement for this afternoon."

Yes, I'm a residential procrastinator, and now I'm screwed. Please forgive me. Please, please, please, please. I internally pleaded and hoped like hell my face could convey what I couldn't say.

He clicked his tongue, eyes drifting off to lock onto something behind me. Seconds ticked by gradually in my head before he said.

"Take it tomorrow. I have to run the Chess Club tomorrow so, find me in room 216." He handed me a stack of worksheets held together by a colourful staple at the top corner. "But this is it, Addy. If you're not here tomorrow, then I can't help," he warned, and I nodded my head vigorously.