Lexi's Final Year

Chapter 19

With December in full swing, it was only a matter of days before the fall semester came to an end. Students scrambled to finish their remaining assignments strong and on time. No one wanted to deal with the stress of late assignments— especially with final exams right around the corner.

Cassie had managed to finish her remaining assignments before they were due, so she didn't have to worry over handing any of them in late. But she knew she wasn't out of the woods yet when it came to the current semester. Her final exams were fast approaching; a fact that had lurked in the back of her mind for a couple of months now. Even though her psychology exams were all multiple choice exams, that didn't ease her mind whatsoever.

I fucking hate exams, she thought late one night as she tried to study for one of her classes. Why am I panicking so damn much?! I'm studying as much as possible, and I'm gonna try my best on all my exams. Yet I'm a fucking wreck already. UGH!!!

For the past couple of days, Cassie had tried off and on to study. But her heart would always race, and her mind would fill with nasty thoughts about her flunking one after the other. Such instances always made it impossible to carry out the task despite how badly she needed to study.

She had planned to speak with Dr. Rich once she arrived back in Buffalo for winter break in a couple of weeks, but Cassie changed her mind mere days before her first exam. She rescheduled it one afternoon when Mariana was off studying in the library with her classmates. Privacy was a luxury when living with a roommate; getting any amount of privacy was hard to come by. Mariana was a great friend and an equally great roommate, but Cassie was grateful to have the apartment all to herself during her virtual therapy session with Dr. Rich.

The session started rather mundane. Both Cassie and Dr. Rich exchanged polite greetings before dabbling in a bit of small talk. Cassie revealed that she had finished her last assignment the other day, while Dr. Rich discussed her upcoming vacation to Hawaii with her husband before celebrating the holidays.

"We're eager to escape the cold, that's for sure," Dr. Rich remarked with an excited laugh. "But enough about me. How's everything else at school?"

"Uh...okay. Thanks again for agreeing to reschedule our session to be sooner," Cassie said, her smile shrinking.

Dr. Rich frowned. "Anytime, Cassie. You don't sound okay, though."

"I'm..." Cassie paused to sigh and rub her temples. "I'm really stressed out right now. Final exams are coming up in a few days, and they're all I can think about."

"Yeah, that would do it," Dr. Rich remarked casually.

No shit, Cassie thought. She bit her tongue to keep the nasty thought to herself. She knew Dr. Rich was only trying to help. It wasn't like her to be patronizing during their therapy sessions.

"What exactly are you nervous about?" Dr. Rich asked.

Cassie sighed even louder than before. "I'm worried about failing all my exams. I've worked my ass off to pay to go to NYU. My dad didn't put a penny towards college— I paid for it all. So, I feel like if I were to fail, all the hard work I put into saving up for school and attending said school was for nothing. I've made it this far at NYU by working hard and putting in the effort. I also need great grades to get into my dream grad program. But what if all my hard work falls apart when I go to do my exams?"

"Those are all concerning thoughts," Dr. Rich said. "I assume you're studying for your exams?"

"Have been for weeks," Cassie replied as she ran one hand through her long, dark brown hair absentmindedly. "But recently, it's gotten harder and harder to concentrate."