Playing With the Rich Boys | ✓

Chapter Forty-Eight - Finals

Daisy

We'd decided that sleeping in the same bed was no big deal, but we both knew we were side-stepping the real issue.

Parker hadn't stopped picking me up and dropping me off before and after school, except now, we didn't care who saw us. Maybe it was because being with Parker did bring me some immunity, but maybe it was because I'd already hit rock bottom earlier. Neither of us could deny that there were stares and whispers, but we also knew that no one would dare saying it to our faces.

Final exams also meant that most of the students had bigger things to worry about than gossiping, not that anyone could deny that came a close second as a stress reliever.

That Friday afternoon was possibly one of the last times we would ever set foot on Pemberton Academy, being that it was the day of our final exam: physics. My stomach was turning over and over while every little bump Parker's car went over sent my mind into a frenzy. My heart pounded so loudly I could barely concentrate on what Parker was saying. The tingling that had started around my mouth and on my cheeks had somehow spread to my fingers. I couldn't bear to lift my palms from my thighs because I knew they'd start trembling.

The car finally came to a stop and I immediately swung the door open, taking in the fresh air from around me. Parker grabbed my bag and came around to where I was hunched over. "You're nervous," he said. I nodded, unable to speak through the lump in my throat. He sat me down on one of the benches and bent down to look me in the eye. "In a little under four hours, this is all going to be over. You've done amazing and finished your other exams, and we've studied so much for this one. There's no way you'll do poorly," he said, his voice soft. "Breathe in..." he said, pausing for about four seconds. "Now hold it," he paused for six. "Breathe out for four."

I was willing my heart to slow down before it broke my ribcage, but every time my mind even dared come back to the idea of the exam, it'd start pounding again.

"Just think, in a little while, we'll be done, and we'll be getting ice cream," he grinned broadly. A small laugh escaped from my lips. He hugged me tightly, rubbing the side of my arm. "You're going to be fine."

The teachers were rounding us up and we all filed into the room, where the desks had been separated and arranged into rows, just like they usually were for exams. Parker was at the desk beside mine. "Good luck," he said.

"Good luck," I managed to say shakily.

He was right. Nothing was going to change now that we were in the room. The things I knew, I knew. The things I didn't know, I wasn't going to know. The best I could do was finish the exam as well as I could. When the first timer sounded, signaling the start, I lifted my pencil, opened the paper and got to work.

The room was silent except for the occasional cough, the constant scratching of pen against paper and the rapid taps against calculators. My mind was racing, everything a flurry of formulae and numbers and I scribbled down my working and the answers. The tingling in my body had disappeared, and so had the tremor.

The final timer broke the silence and we were all instructed to put our pencils down. The weight had lifted from my shoulders as I slumped back in the chair. I looked over at Parker who was at the desk beside mine. He stretched both arms out in front of him, smiling at me.

As promised, we headed to the ice cream parlour for post-exam ice creams. Unsurprisingly, there were dozens of Pemberton students lining up and chatting away inside. The unusual thing was that The Top Four was together. They were definitely more daunting as a group. Steph, Logan and Holden were chatting behind us in line, occasionally fending off guys and girls who recognised them from other schools.