CHAPTER 95: TRIPLE D’S

Chapter NINETY FIVE

**Oliver West**

The final bell cut through the air, I should be excited that school was over, but instead, I dragged my feet toward Mrs. Osborne’s office.

She’d asked to see me after class about my "Recent academic performance,"

My heart was still pounding nervously even though I could already guess.

That was her usual speech when she called me into her office to tell me

"You’re failing spectacularly and we need to talk about it."

Another sigh escaped my mouth, maybe I should be more optimistic. Perhaps after my last test, my grades were so high that she wanted to commend me specially?

I knocked on her door and heard her sharp "Come in!"

Mrs. Osborne was sitting behind her desk with a stack of papers that looked suspiciously like test results. Her reading glasses perched on the end of her nose made her look like a disappointed owl.

"Sit down, Oliver."

I slumped into the chair across from her, every optimism from earlier was rapidly dissipating from my skin like steam.

She slid a paper across the desk toward me.

My test. With a big, angry red "D-" circled at the top.

"Care to explain this? I saw your seriousness in assignments and projects, I really thought you were improving, so why is your score still so low?" She asked, tapping the paper with her pen.

I stared at the test, wincing at my scrawled handwriting. "I... I studied for this one. I really did." I managed to stammer under her glare.

"Did you? Because looking at your answers, it seems like you were writing poetry instead of solving math problems."

I squinted at my own handwriting. In the margin next to question five, I’d written "Why do numbers hate me?" and drawn a tiny sad face.

I DID THAT?

I WAS SO SCREWED!!!

"Oh, I don’t remember writing that," I replied innocently, but she was having none of it.

Mrs. Osborne pulled out more papers. "This is your test from three weeks ago. D+. Two weeks before that? D. The week before that? Another D."

She looked at me over her glasses. "Oliver, I’m seeing a pattern here, you are not getting worse, but you are also not improving, how hard can it be to study?"

My stomach tightened with her obvious disappointment, this was really the most embarrassing thing that could happen to anyone in school. "I’ve been trying..."

"Oh, then you need to try even harder, because your essay question about the Revolutionary War somehow turned into a detailed analysis of why Captain America would have been a better leader than George Washington."

I cringed. I wrote that too? No. What the hell was actually wrong with me??

"I’m sorry," I mumbled because that was the only thing I could say at this point.

Mrs. Osborne leaned back in her chair, studying me like I was a particularly challenging puzzle.

"I’ve been teaching for twenty-three years, and I’ve seen every type of struggling student. The ones who don’t care, the ones who can’t focus, and the ones who try but just need a different approach."

I wasn’t sure which category I fell into, but none of them sounded great.

"Which is why," She continued, pulling out what happened to be a list of names, "I’ve implemented a new system. All struggling students will be paired with study partners. Someone to help keep you accountable and motivated."

A tiny spark of hope flickered in my chest.

Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad, I really wanted to improve, heaven knows I did even though I didn’t seem like it.

Mrs. Osborne was still consulting her list when she suddenly announced

"You’ll be working with Alexander Reyes, the new student."

Every spark of hope that had bloomed in my heart died a violent death.

"Xander?" The word came out as a strangled squeak.

"Is there a problem with that arrangement?"

YES. A huge, massive, Kieran-is-going-to-murder-me-sized problem!!!

"Actually, Mrs. Osborne, I was wondering if maybe I could have a different partne..."

"Mr. West. Struggling students don’t get to be picky about their study arrangements. Alexander is a new student but he had an A+ in his first test, his previous academic performance in his former school was beyond excellent. I actually pleaded with him to volunteer to help tutor other students. You should be grateful that he agreed to teach you" Her voice could have frozen lava, I gulped nervously.

In all her good intentions, she couldn’t have known that I had solid reasons for avoiding Xander. One that had everything to do with him leaving a hickey on me.

No, I had to try to convince her, anyone but him would do.

"But..."

"This discussion is over. I expect to see improvement in your next test, or we’ll be having a much more serious conversation about your academic future. You may go."

I stood up on shaky legs, clutching my D- test like evidence of my own academic crimes.

Outside in the hallway, I leaned against the wall and stared at my test paper.

What was so wrong with my answers that I got a D?

I mean, sure, maybe I’d gotten a little creative with the essay questions, but my math was... okay, my math was probably terrible too.

At least Mom wouldn’t be able to scold me about this since I was staying with Kieran now. That was one small mercy.

I was still examining my test answers when I caught sight of Xander near the lockers.

He wasn’t alone.

Amanda was practically plastered against him. Because of this arrangement, I would have to talk to Xander, but now didn’t seem like a good time.

"So anyway, I’m having a birthday party this weekend. You should totally come. It’s going to be, like, super exclusive." Amanda was saying to him.

My shoulders slumped dejectedly, from the test sheets I had seen, she was also failing. She even had an F!

Why didn’t Mrs. Osborne pair her and Xander together?

WHY ME?!!!