My Unexpected Love

Chapter Four

Hey everyone I am so sorry by the late update. I have been working like crazy this summer, honestly it doesn't even feel like summer due to the amount of work I have to do. Also I'm currently trying to prep for my civil rights exam and my SAT test (I never took it in high school) and I unfortunately need to pass both in order to get into the ed program at my school. Anyway those are my reasons behind my tardy update so I won't prevent you for much longer. 

By the way up above is Vanessa Redgrave. She played Claire Smith in one of my favorite movies, Letters to Juliet, and I just felt that she would make a wonderful actress and inspiration for Carol. 

~*~*~

Chapter Four

Kendall stared blankly at the test in front of her. She couldn't believe it. How did she allow this to happen? Then she remembered . . . this happened because she didn't have Justin there to help her. He was the only reason she got Bs on her last two math tests. Now, without him, she has an F.

"Kendall," a familiar voice whispered. She looked at the seat across from her. It was Justin. "Are you okay?"

She quickly placed her textbook on top of her test so he wouldn't see it. "Fine," she lied.

The only problem with her lie was that she dated Justin for two years. He knew her better then anyone, and he could probably tell that she wasn't telling him the complete truth. Before everything, he would have called her out on her lie and demanded to know what was wrong. He would have gotten the truth too. Then Justin would have pulled her into a big hug and promised to help her with whatever the problem was.

But now, everything is different.

Justin didn't call her out on her lie. He didn't pull her into a hug and tell her everything would be alright while offering to help. Instead, he sat there and studied her as if he himself couldn't figure out what to do. Lowering his eyes, Justin said, "Look, Kendall, if you need help studying –"

"I don't need any help," she interrupted him. Justin's eyes rose and met hers. In all honesty, she probably should take him up on the offer, but she couldn't. She still wasn't ready to forgive him, and while studying doesn't necessarily require forgiveness, she would have to speak with him frequently, and that she definitely was not ready for.

Justin leaned away at her words. Understanding the issue, he didn't try to push her. Instead, he sat back and quietly turned away from her back toward the front board.

Tearing her eyes away from him, Kendall looked up at the teacher, Ms. Larson, as she called the class to order. "Now some of you did quite well on the test, but the rest of you will have to study a lot harder if you want to pass next week's midterm." Mrs. Larson seemed to look at Kendall as she spoke. "The midterm, like the final, will have a large impact on your end of the year grade so if any of you need any help, please, come and see me at office hours after school."

Sinking lower into her seat, Kendall pulled her school planner out of her backpack and flipped it to the calendar page. She pulled out a red sharpie and circled the date of next week's midterm. The rest of her midterms weren't a problem. Math was the only one she had to worry about.

She needed to be ready. She had to be.

~*~*~

The rest of the day, she managed to successfully avoid Justin. Darrell, on the other hand, was a different story. Whether it was intentional or not, he managed to track her down after school. Kendall was sitting at one of the round tables in the library with her math textbook and notes spread out in front of her.