36 Questions to Fall in Love...in 36 days!

Chapter 51: Revenge and The Waiting

So, I failed my English exam.

So badly I thought it was Math. It must be some type of world record because I was  shaken to the core. When Leonardo looked at me like I was the biggest fool to ever exist as he explained that we actually wrote English I couldn't process it well.

The exhaustion I felt evaporated into this hyperstress that led me to  jumping off the bleachers and running. Running so fast it felt like my heart would stop and my lungs collapse. My blazer flew out of my shoulders, people cursed at me as I pushed past them and  Leonardo kept calling my name, reminding me of how much of an idiot I was.

"Dominique!"

I wasn't really thinking. All I knew was that I needed to stop the examiner from leaving school with the papers. I needed to stop her. I couldn't fail grade twelve. Not after making it this far. I couldn't fail, not when my dreams and the life I wanted were at the tips of my fingers waiting for me to take the next step, only for me to fail...

Her white car was driving off and even though the situation was hopeless I called out to her, my voice cracking, desperate.

I caught sight of her face in the rear view mirror. She caught my eye but she didn't  stop or  pretend to be concerned. Instead, she revved the engine and drove faster. She drove past the green school gates, her car taking a turn and vanishing from my sight.

I stopped with a burning chest and desperate breaths that sounded close to a cry. I felt this tightening in my chest and the flush on my cheeks as the sweat dampened every part of me.

The gates closed.

I relented, my knees buckling and landing harshly on the ground.

The exhaustion came back full force, I felt it in my bones despite my racing heart, and heavy breathing. I couldn't think a thought.

I felt a presence beside me and I knew it was Leonardo. He didn't say anything, instead he was breathing heavily  like he was about to collapse as well.

The silence was tense, I didn't like it. Leonardo took a seat beside me a  moment later, still wordless about the whole situation.

How could I be such a fool, was all that I could think.

Jabu.

His name came to my mind and it was like a switch turned on in my brain.

"Dominique, what are you smoking?We're writing Maths today, not English!" He'd said, with that teasing smile on his face.

Jabu kept on denying that we were writing English along with the guys around me, which I realized later were all his friends….

But it wasn't about what Jabu had done.

The foolish thing I did was forgetting who Jabu was to me.

It was a few weeks ago, the day we were writing Afrikaans and Leonardo completely refused help from me. 

"You were the reason I almost failed Afrikaans. I'm not taking that risk again." Leonardo said, making me laugh because it was true.

Didn't he want to remake our memories?

It was while teasing Leonardo, that I spotted Jabu. He was alone, which was weird because he was always in a group. Always.

Jabu had on his don't touch my shoes  grey pants that many made fun of but that he somehow made work.

He held an Afrikaans textbook in hand, scratching his head like it would pull out answers. Instead of the wide grin that always adorned his face, there was a frown.