Beyond the Brick Wall

Chapter 11

Chapter 11

*Tom Carstairs*

        She's worrying for no reason at all.

        That was what I was thinking as I walked towards the direction of Zoey's classroom. She'd been worrying the entire morning about her Maths test. She didn't even mind my usual teasing! Thank God Ms. Gomez dismissed us early from Spanish... I thought my pencil would catch fire because of all the notes she made us copy. I looked through the window and I saw Zoey's pen flying and zooming across her paper as her face showed a load of concentration.

        "You're too cute Zoey," I murmured as I focused on her alone. There was no doubting that a grin was plastered on my face.

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*Zoey Saunders*

        "Last 5 minutes," droned the boring, monotonous voice of Mr. Bender as he flipped through his new fiction novel at his desk. Seriously, I bet the old man has read more than ten shelves full of books from our school's library. What the hell am I doing thinking about Mr. Bender's addiction on novels when I should really be finishing my test? That I cannot even answer.

        "Crud. Crud. Crud," I silently cursed under my breath, returning my gaze to my paper. I tried to follow Superomeo's advice on doing better at school, but Mr. Bender's quizzes are the worst. It's as if he thinks we're all prodigies or something! Which I am extremely far from. The good thing is that I'm doing better at most subjects. I might even be named as the most improved student on the yearbook.

        One more Zoey! You're gonna make it! I heard Tom's voice encourage in my mind as I tried to remember the quadratic equation for the last number on the quiz. I dared a quick glance at the door and grinned as I saw Tom giving me a thumbs up. He would always be there when Ms. Gomez would dismiss his class early. I looked back down at my paper, my eyebrows scrunching up once again at the last number. Ugh... quadratic equations... quadratic equations… quadratic equations... What is it?!?!?! Oh wait- Am I supposed to use the Pythagorean Theorem..? Oh god!!!!

        "Last minute class!" Mr. Bender warned. That was the first time during the whole period that he actually had a trace of emotion on his voice.

        I banged my head against my desk out of complete hopelessness. 

THAT'S IT!

        Oh frick. Oh frick. Oh frick. Oh frick. Oh frick. Oh frick. Oh frick. Oh frick. Oh frick. Oh frick. Oh frick.  Was all that I was thinking as my pen glided across the test paper while a part of me was rejoicing that I actually remembered. As soon as I got my final answer and boxed it, Mr. Bender's voice boomed again.

        "Time's up! Pass all your papers! C'mon, c'mon!"

        Phew. Made it. Thank you Superomeo! Saved me again! Well, he saved me for a grade this time. I ought to thank him in my next reply.

        I took the stack of papers from the guy behind me and placed my quiz on top of all the other papers as calmly as I could. Confidently, I handed them over to my Maths teacher. Mr. Bender made a quick run-through of my test paper and all he did was smile at me. He smiled at me! I must've gotten high! A huge improvement compared to my other quizzes!

        The bell rang and I gathered my books and shoved them inside my backpack, squealing for joy inside. I sensed someone loom over me as I struggled to zip up my Jansport. I looked up and saw Tom's flawless, white smile.