It’s finals season. The weather was finally looking more like winter and less like fall. There were only a few weeks left until winter break. I had to keep focused if I was going to make it through all the exams. I had two more left, but with three down, I had made it through the bulk of the semester. Thank God.
It was hard to believe that my junior year was nearly halfway over. I thought about this as I made my way through the semi-deserted campus. Most other students were hiding away in their rooms while other students camped out in libraries, cramming a semester’s worth of material into a couple of days. They prayed this late night studying would save them from a failing grade. Luckily, I’m a bit of a control freak, so I planned out my studying into manageable little chunks. I knew that even if I didn’t do exceptionally well, I’d still be okay.
Soon, I reached my destination and looked around. The Biology building was usually crowded with frantic undergraduates, looking for letters of recommendation, office hours, or anything else that could get them one step closer to their hopes and dreams. As I saw no one around, I felt a little weird entering the building, but I knew that I had to talk to Professor Pitt.
I had taken his exam the week before and now he wanted to talk to me about it. His email was rather vague and a part of me was nervous. Had I flunked it or something? With these fears swirling around in my mind I knocked on his office door. I stood there, my body sweaty as I waited for him to answer. After a moment, it swung open and Professor Pitt gave me a warm smile.
He was an older gentleman, about sixty years old and probably on the verge of retiring. He was thin and a little awkward in stature. His rounded glasses gave him a goofy look, but that was one of the reasons why I liked him so much. He was what I expected a typical dad to look like. Seeing as I never had a dad, having a father figure like Professor Pitt in my life really helped me out.
“Come in, come in.” His voice chimed out as he motioned with his arm that I should go inside. I smiled at him and nodded, before making my way over to the old green chair. His office was a clutter of different papers and books, scattered haphazardly all over the room, but congregated on his small desk.
There was a small laptop balanced precariously on a stack of uneven papers, which made me a little nervous, but I tried to ignore it as he sat down in front of me with a pleased look on his face. “How do you think you did on your exam, Allie?” He asked as he leaned forward and his elbows found two small unoccupied spaces on the edge of his cluttered desk. His fingers laced together and his face moved forward, resting on them.
I didn’t want to feel over-confident, but at the same time, I felt like I had done rather well. “Good, I guess.” I finally replied, looking at him. He chuckled before searching through his papers. Somehow, he found what he was looking for because he suddenly handed me something. A confused expression swept across my face as I grabbed it. With the paper securely in my hands, I looked down.
“Best in the class.” I was amazed as I stared at the paper, seeing the A+ blotted on the edge. How had I managed to pull this off? I smiled with pride as I looked at my accomplishment. I couldn’t believe it. “Congratulations.” Professor Pitt’s voice finally broke me out of my dazed state.
“Wow… I wasn’t expecting this.” I said softly, still amazed. He chuckled and got up, before patting me on the back.
“You did very well. Keep up the good work. Now, I don’t want to keep you from any further studying you may have to do. Do you have any more exams?” He asked, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.
“Two more,” I answered promptly as I got up, pushing the chair back into its proper place, glad to have one thing in the room I could control.
“Well, good luck.” He smiled and saw me out. After a short walk, I was back in my apartment. In my haste to find Julie, my roommate, I left my exam on the coffee table as I searched for her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t home. So, I went downstairs, about to make myself a cup of hot chocolate to reward myself for my hard work.
But when I entered the living room, Chad, my boyfriend, was standing there, an angry look on his face. He was holding my exam and as he heard me enter the room, his head whipped upwards as he scowled at me.
“You fucked up the curve.” He growled as he walked up to me, the exam now crushed under his fist. “No wonder my grade was so shitty…” His face was red with emotion as he stood next to me and pressed me up against the wall. I tried to stand my guard, but his intimidating nature scared me.
“You’re so useless. We studied together and yet, you had to be Queen Bee and do so much better than everyone else.” His voice was hostile as his face got closer and closer to mine. His hand wrapped around my arm, making me flinch slightly. “You stupid fat bitch.” He finally spat, before walking away with a disgusted look on his face.
My accomplishment had suddenly turned its head. I watched him go and sighed. Why was I still with that jerk? I suppose it was either stay with him or suffer being alone, where my demons had the chance to make themselves known. Which was the lesser of two evils? I don’t know.
