realist ━━ jess mariano

10| the outsiders

A CUP OF BLACK COFFEE WAS PLACED NEXT TO HER TEXTBOOK. Rosie was admittedly anxious from the dreaded exam she had coming up, and her oh-so relaxed best friend didn't help either. But the coffee, thankfully, helped her enough. "Jesus, Rosie, can you calm down?"

    "Hmm?" Rosie looked up at Kayla, lost.

   "You've been studying all weekend, you'll pass."

    Rosie wasn't aiming for a mere pass, she fervently wanted an A. She wasn't as skilled in science as she was in philosophy or history, and if she wanted her accumulative grade in science subjects to incline, she needed an A at the very least. But she didn't bother to explain this to Kayla, sparing herself the lecture she would get on how one bad grade won't matter when she knew very well that it would.  So instead, she said; "Yeah, I guess you're right."

     Luke came over to hand the two their plate of fruits. "Is that all?" He asked to make sure, and received a nod and a thank you from the two. "Great." Before he could step away, he remembered; "Oh! Rosie, i've been meaning to ask you something."

     Looking up at him, she rose an eyebrow. "Ask what?"

    "Well, you and Jess are both juniors, right?" He went on, and Rosie quickly sulked in her seat at the dread of what he might ask next. "And you're a smart girl, but Jess, well... he's clever, but he doesn't put that into his schoolwork, you know? Principal Moore talked to me about this, something about a baseball bandit, and Jess handing his test sheets empty the past exam week. So I was hoping... well, I figured that since you're gonna study for the same tests anyway, you might as well, you know..."

     "You want me to talk some sense into him?" She suggested. Anything but tutoring him, anything.

   Luke drew in a breath, tilting his head to the side. "Well, I was hoping you could help a little more than that..."

    She nodded. "You're right." She paused for a brief moment before continuing. "So, are we talking a punch in the face, or a kick to his guts?"

    "Rosie..."

     Sighing, she gave in. "Tutoring." She finally said, when she figured Luke was too sheepish to say it out loud. "Fine, if he's willing."

    Kayla looked up at Luke and shook her head. "I don't think he'll agree to that."

    "I'll figure something out."

    When Luke walked away and into the kitchen, Rosie groaned. Just as she was about to complain to Kayla, she saw Jess walk down the stairs and head out the door, sparing her only a single glance. At that, she came to the realisation that it was almost time for their exam, and at top speed, pulled Kayla off her seat and headed to the school campus. Thankfully, they made it in time.

   After the teacher took the attendance, Rosie anxiously waited for the teacher to hand out the tests. Exams week was nearly over, and thankfully, her next exam was on philosophy and not until the week after, meaning she'll have a two day break until she'll have to start studying on Sunday. But after this exam, the hard parts practically over. Math was two days ago, and Rosie was happy to say that she aced the exam, and English Lit. was also an expected A.

Atlas, the teacher began handing out the exams, putting an end to her misery. "Remember, your classmates next to you have a different version of the tests, so I wouldn't bother trying to cheat." Mr. Louis spoke as he placed the testsheet on Rosie's table. "And you can start..." He looked down at his watch. "Now."