Always the Opposites {Brollins}

[ Chapter 4 ]

A chair screeched across the floor, as someone dragged it.

Chatter filled the room from all angles and stifled laughs were heard every now and then.

The ticking clock continued to click with every second that passed.

Pencil lead scratched the paper's surface every time it was pressed down, yet nothing truly came of it.

A blank page, a sharp-tipped pencil, and one extremely confused student.

Rebecca found herself staring at a blank study sheet for what seemed like hours, focusing on anything but the task at hand. She managed to finish every other sheet, booklet, and question, except for this single one.

She knew there was nothing to really stress about, because she'd find some way to figure it out, and the chances of the exact replica question being on her exam were slim to none. However, the constant underlying pressure of being perfect was weighing down on her.

So there she sat, in a packed library, textbooks surrounding her, most stacked, but a few laid open displaying their knowledge to her. Papers were spread out all across the table, scribbled on and filled in. Yet there was still one infuriatingly blank, clear, page, with no answer on it.

She had tried solving it over and over again on spare papers, knowing she'd make a mess of her only good copy of she hadn't, but the answer just never seemed to add up.

"Becks... Becks?" She heard her name being called off in the distance but chalked it up to hallucinations, lack of sleep, or too much stress. "Rebecca!"

Ashley yelled out her name, getting looks from every other student trying to study in peace as well as the faculty members, but it seemed to snap Rebecca out of her trance, so she didn't care.

It took Rebecca a few seconds to re-take in her surroundings as her eyes darted everywhere, but when they focused on an irritated-looking Ashley sitting right in front of her, she spoke up. "Yeah, huh?"

"Are you even listening?" Ashley rolled her eyes while smacking on her gum overly obnoxiously.

Rebecca nodded, as she readjusted herself and changed positions in her seat, "For sure"

"Oh yeah?" Ashley raised her eyebrow inquisitively, "What was I talking about then?"

"Guys." Rebecca stared confidently, and when Ashley shook her head no with a laugh, she sighed.

"Makeup or clothes-" The more items Rebecca listed the more head shakes she received, and inevitably she got fed up with Ashley's games. "Don't you have an exam to study for?"

Ashley scoffed, "Whatever. I'll just cheat off of you."

"You're not even in any of my classes." Rebecca laughed and Ashley rolled her eyes.

"Touché." Ashley nodded, "Doesn't mean I can't figure something out."

"What?" Rebecca laughed, "Are you gonna hire a lookalike to take the exams for you?"

Ashley mulled over the idea in her mind, "It wasn't my original idea, but now that you mention it..."

"No stop." Rebecca shook her head as she continued to laugh. "Don't get any ideas."

"You gave me that one!" Ashley protested, throwing her hands up in the air in exaggeration.

"Not intentionally, and it's a bad one, so it doesn't count." Rebecca sat back in her chair.

Rebecca looked back down at her sheet, before pushing it towards Ashley, "Here. You solve it."

"What? How do you expect me to solve it if you can't?" Ashley laughed, before taking a look.

"You're smart Ashley." Rebecca rolled her eyes, "Everything is all about perspective. You might see something I don't."

"Well..." Ashley stared at the sheet for a few seconds, she looked as if she was concentrating but Rebecca wasn't certain. "I've got nothing."

Rebecca sighed and flipped through her textbook, scanning the pages, hoping something would stand out to her. She rolled her eyes, growing further frustrated, so she pushed the mathematics study sheet to the side and moved on to her new English booklet.

In pretty much no time, apart from the few interruptions from Ashley, Rebecca finished the entire booklet from front to back with barely any trouble. She moved on to her next subject which was social studies, and seeing as a lot of it had to do with understanding literature, she often did well.

Once she filled in a few questions, she decided her brain definitely needed a break, the last thing she needed to do was burn out. She pulled out her water bottle and rehydrated herself as Ashley looked up from her phone and began to strike up some conversation.

After a while, some of the tension in Rebecca's shoulders had faded, as her brain recharged. Meanwhile, Ashley started showing her how she was re-decorating her room and asked her for her opinion on a few things.

Ashley bounced between staying at her parent's place, or living in the condo they bought for her. They were on the wealthier side, so Ashley didn't have to worry about student debt's or having to balance around a bunch of jobs.

Rebecca didn't envy her lifestyle, she was actually happy for her, and although it seemed like the obvious choice, Rebecca wouldn't trade her way of living for Ashley's. She knew the hardships of balancing so many things at once, yet the rewarding feeling she got whenever she successfully made it through a busy day and it was somehow worth it.

Ashley talked about why a certain shade of blue was better than the other, and why she wanted this piece of furniture in her room rather than that one, while Rebecca just laughed and nodded.

She focused on Ashley, however from the corner of her eye, that one blank piece of paper continued to make itself painfully evident, and Rebecca was insistent on solving it.