Chapter b8 /b

Aurora’s POV

The bell rang once again, signaling the near–end of another torturous day at school. My body felt heavy with exhaustion like I was dragging a boulder with every step. I had always been set apart from my other ssmates due to my circumstances. I was always the odd one out. But at this point at school, I often agreed with them on one thing: mathematics should never be set as thest ss in the time table.

Everyone hated biology, but no one hated it more than me. I wasn’t bad at the subject; in fact, I usually did pretty well, but somehow, it felt like I was always ying catch–up in a ss full of kids who didn’t care.

1 bit back a groan as I settled into my chair at the back of the room. This ss was one of the few that I shared with Caleb and his gang, and I watched as they entered the room a couple of minutes after me, their presence loud and imposing even though they didn’t make any noise.

Almost all heads turned in their direction as they entered, but they simply went on to their seats right at the front row, talking andughing to themselves as they did.

At exactly 2.15PM, our biology teacher, Mr. Hemming, punctual as always, entered the room without so much as a greeting. He silently pulled out a stack of papers and began handing them out one by one–it was the test that he gave us earlier in the week.

When he called my name, I quickly got up to the front to see the result of my test. I wasn’t the best nor the most motivated when it came to academics, but despite all that, I still was fairly confident about the exam. But this time, I thought I had aced the test.

I had studied for hours, staying upte the night before, memorizing every cell type, every part of the ecosystem, every equation. But as I got up to get my paper, my stomach twisted. There bwas /bthat gut feeling–that sense of impending doom.

When Mr. Hemming handed me my paper, I froze. The bright red “F” at the top of the page stared back at me like a p across the face. My heart dropped into my stomach. How? I couldn’t understand it. My exam had gone fine. I remembered everything–didn’t I? Hadn’t I?

I stood there for a moment, stunned, my mind racing. The weight of failure pressed down on me harder than it should have. I tried to shake it off, to rationalize it, but it was hard to ignore the fact that everyone was watching.

I turned quickly to head back to my seat, hoping to just disappear, to slide into the shadows and pretend it hadn’t happened. But before I could get far, someone’s foot shot out, and I felt my legs give way beneath me.

The next thing I knew, I was on the floor. Pain shot up my elbows and knees, and I winced as I tried to push myself up. “Ouch!” I yelped, causing everyone tough as they enjoyed my pain, while I tried my best to get myself together despite the pain.

Forcing my shame down, I scrambled to my feet, trying to quickly get back to my seat, but another hand came to snatch my paper away from ollime. /li/ol

I looked up–Shane Matthews, Mia’s rumored boyfriend held the paper between his fingers, an amused expression on his face.

Great–just great. Because I had made his girlfriend angry earlier, he probably decided that it was the best time for a payback. And unlike Mia, Shane wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty.

“Hey! Give it back!” I started to say, but his loudugh overpowered my voice.

“An F!” he eximed, holding out the paper for everyone to see. “Are you serious? How the hell are you still in this school with grades like this one?” That earned him an eruption ofughter from the ss. I stared at the floor, not wanting to look anyone in the eye, or watch their mocking stares.