Chapter XXV: Confusion

The year-end exam was coming up and Samina came to my condo to study with me. She first told me to go with her to the convenience store just around the corner to buy some snacks first for the studying. She can’t study without foods and that’s a fact. I was wearing a white sleeveless top tucked inside my denim shorts. I only wore sandals that will go well the outfit. The weather wasn’t that nice and was giving as a hard time. The sun is really working hard today that I kept on sweating all over. "Should we buy ice creams?" Samina asked and I nodded as a response while trying to cope up with the weather The weekends ended with us dying with the heat the sun was causing and plus the fact that we needed to review for the exam. This exam means a lot for us because this will be the deciding matter whether you passed the year and will be able to graduate or not. "Hey, I’ll just grab some iced teas for us. Wait for me in the classroom, okay?" "Sure, Piper, I’ll be in the classroom." she said and bid goodbye before walking When Samina disappeared from my sight, I immediately headed to the convenience store just outside the academy. This store sells the best refreshments you could ever drink on this hot weather. I searched for the bottled iced teas and got four of it. Two for each of us. I thought of getting ice creams but the lunch break was almost over and eating while taking the exam was prohibited. They never allow foods during exams because it might be another way on cheating. I went to the counter to pay dor what I bought. I placed the bottles on the counter top and the cashier scanned the items. "That will be one hundred and twenty pesos, Ma’am. How would you like to pay?" I gestured the cashier to wait while I get my wallet from my pocket. She was patiently waiting for me to give her the amount when someone placed a bottle of water beside the iced teas I bought. "Include those for my payment." "Yes, Sir." the cashier said and she quickly did what the guy said I looked at who it may be and my eyebrows met each other again. It was Carl. "It’ll be one hundred thirty pesos, Sir. How would you like to pay?" He then handed his card to the cashier and the payment was quickly settled. After the cashier put the bottles on a plastic bag, I quickly ran to catch up with Carl and I did. I shouted his name and he looked at me with his eyebrows raised. He was drinking from the bottle of water he just bought awhile ago. "Why did you pay for those?" "Why are you so curious? Just thank me for paying those iced teas." "You shouldn’t have done that. I’m not a beggar." "I didn’t say you were a beggar. Look, don’t make this a big issue and just go away. Just like what you’ve always been doing?" "Pardon?" I said because I didn’t quite catch up with what he just said "Just go back to your class. The next exam will start soon and Samina must be waiting for you." I bit my lip due to frustration. I wasn’t able to get the answers I wanted, but at least I got a free iced tea from Carl. I just went back to our classroom to give Samina her iced tea and to prepare for the next exam. When the exams were over, almost everybody groaned. They were all exhausted and out of energy. "Gosh, I think I lost all of my brain cells by answering those exams. I need to rewind and party today." "Yeah, that’s a great idea. You can come over to my place, let’s party there." "Really? That’s great! But aren’t you living with your parents?" "Nah, they’re out on a trip. We’re free for the whole week." I muted everyone’s bickering and just went out that hellhole. The hell week is now finally over. It was a dreading exam because it was a summary of all the lessons we learnt from the very first quarter until the last. "Do you think I passed?" Samina asked and pouted while thinking about the exams "Don’t worry, we’ll graduate together Samina. No one should get left behind." "Yeah you’re right. Anyways, I badly wanted to celebrate with you but Mom’s coming home. Is that okay with you?" "Well yeah. Of course it is. Don’t worry about me and just meet up with your Mom." It will be the first time Samina will be seeing her Mom after that devastating divorce. Her parents divorced which forced her to live alone and I’m not going to get in the way with her reuniting with her Mom. It’ll be most likely the best after exam gift for Samina and I couldn’t be much happier for her. Samina then bid goodbye to me and disappeared in my sight while I went to the parking lot where my car was parked. Although I told Samina that we’ll graduate together, I was also not sure about the results of my exams. Of course I had doubts. I am not a perfect human being and making mistakes is a natural thing humans do. "Did I pass or not?" I then kicked the stone on the ground to lessen the tension I was feeling It was okay for me to fail. Failing is part of life and it will always occur in your journey. But what makes me nervous, is the expectation the people have. I am the student council president and they looked highly of me. They must be expecting me to ace the exams like a nerdy student. The pressure adds up to the stress, you know. "Calm down, Piper. Calm down." I reminded myself and told my mind to stop thinking about people’s standards about me I was walking silently to the parking lot when someone grabbed me by the sling of my back pack and forced me to turn around. I almost lost balance but regained it afterwards. But what made my eyes bawled was the guy in front of me. "Good job. I know you’ll ace this. See you on the graduation ceremony, Piper." He smiled weirdly and pat my head before going on his way. I blinked a few times trying to regain my senses. I looked at him walking away. What was that for? I unconsciously touched the part of my chest where my heart lies and I can feel my heart, beating so fast. What just happened?