𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝒀𝑬𝑳𝑳𝑶𝑾, zdh

013 | i'm failing

third person

"report cards are due next week, any makeup work should be submitted by friday at 2:00 pm. anything later than that will be marked as a zero," the bell rang, interrupting mrs. ray's sentence. "class dismissed, have a good day."

everyone flooded out of the classroom on their way to second period, except zach. "zach can i speak to you?" the boy walked over to his teacher's desk, already knowing what's coming next.

"take a seat." she told him while motioning over to the desk in front of her. he could tell he'd be here for a while.

"i'm guessing that speech was for me." the brunette muttered, slouching in his seat.

with a turn of her laptop screen towards him, she presented him his grades. "you're just barely passing zach, you have 10 missing assignments. the least i can do is give you a 65 if you bring them in before friday, anything's better than a zero right?"

zach nodded his head, but deep down now he knew he wouldn't be getting any of that work in on time. turning her laptop back to her, mrs. ray said, "you know i've been talking to your other teachers, and i understand transitioning to a new school can be hard, but you need to at least show some effort." still no response from the teen.

"you know, the only assignment i've seen you do exceptional on was that test i gave a few weeks ago. how'd you do it?" zach narrowed his eyes at her as if she assumed he had help- which he did, but the assumption still stung.

"uh i studied with a friend." he shifted in his seat as the second period bell rang, "look i'll get the work in, can i go to my next class now?"

the woman looked at him with little hope, letting out a sigh as she wrote him a pass for his next class. after takin the pass and walking towards the door, she said, "maybe call up that friend who helped you study the other day, they could probably help you again."

zach nodded his head before walking out, "yeah i'll try." now not only did he have to think of how he'd have to ask sav to help him, but how he'd explain himself to his coach before he'd be pulled out of their next game before championships. but what happens when his pride gets in the way?

the morning went by and savannah walked to the cafeteria with rowyn and daniel by her side as usual. though since homecoming, the two have been closer than before, but that didn't seem to bother her. she was happy for her friends, the same way they'd be happy for her if she was in their shoes.

which she was in a way. though she wouldn't say what happened with zach at the playground was anything special, she felt it was. and maybe he did too, if only he would just talk to her.

all morning it was like he was avoiding her. he didn't bug her during english, and when they passed each other in the halls, he barely looked her way. jack and kesley were already at the lunch table as usual, saving everyone's seats.

corbyn, jonah, and their girlfriends were in the library planning for the senior winter ball. jeanna was class president, so it's no surprise that corbyn would be helping her out with the preparations. maya and jonah being their best friends didn't mind spending lunch just the 4 of them for the week as most people would.

they were in the middle of listening to jack's story of the fight in his math class when zach came to their table. sav was the first to notice, as she turned her head to the brunette standing by her.

"hey." she smiled, moving over for him to sit.

zach sat down and placed his bag on the floor, "hey, can i talk to you?"

"yeah sure, wait but first you gotta hear jack's story."

rowyn, who now knew that the whole pregnancy thing was fake, started befriending zach just recently. "yeah he was just getting to a good part."

"okay sure." zach gave in, listening to jack fill him in and continue the story. he didn't feel like talking about his grades anyway with everyone around. he didn't even tell his parents; it was more embarrassing telling his friends about it.

the bell rang, scaring them all, and the whole cafeteria was up and on their feet. while she picked up her bag she looked over to zach and asked, "what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

they all got a little carried away after jack's story, leaving no room for zach to say what he meant to say originally. "oh it's not important, i'll just tell you later." he told her.

savannah furrowed her brows, seeing the look on his face. but she didn't budge, "okay later then."

jack and daniel looped him away as they walked towards the gym for next period. "bye sav! he's ours now!" daniel called out until they were no longer in sight. kesley appeared by her side, laughing at the sound of them still yelling from down the hall.

"hey at least we're all getting along right? zach's cool i guess."

"yeah, that's good." the blonde said lightheartedly, but deep down she was very happy that her friends liked him now.

"everything good?"

sav looked at her friend and nodded her head, "yeah, just nervous for the test next period." they had a psych test for today- one she had been studying for for days now.

kesley's eyes widened, "wait that's today?" savannah nodded her head as she watched the girl go into sudden distress. "ugh whatever, i'm failing either way." were her final words before they took their seats and had a few minutes to prepare for the exam.

the final bell rang and savannah found zach outside of their spanish class with a stressed look on his face. well that's a new one, she thought to herself. she's never seen him stressed- he was a laid back kind of guy for the most part.

"alright it's later, spill señor." the girl said jokingly as they walked out the building side by side. what she didn't know was after lunch during gym, coach johnson told zach he was pulled from their game on saturday because of his grades.

"i found out i got a 90 on my psych test which is gonna bring down my average a bit so i could use a laugh." she chuckled, but immediately stopped when she saw his expression change. "what's wrong?"

zach kept his eyes straight ahead and avoided any eye contact, "i'm pulled from my game."

"game?"

"my game on saturday." his voice was low and stern, he looked so upset almost mad.

savannah still didn't understand why though, "but why? you're the strongest player, why would johnson just pull you like that i-"

"it's 'cause i'm failing sav," he turned around and finally looked at her. his glare was cold, almost too cold. "and saturday was the only game my whole family could come to, and they can't even come to the championship so everything's screwed up now."

"what are you failing?"

"everything." they were standing at the front of the school, the autumn breeze chilling past them. savannah grabbed her jacket close to her and hugged herself. "i have until friday to get it to at least a 75 and even with that, johnson won't let me play unless i have an 80."

now she suddenly felt bad for bringing up her 90 in front of him. "is there anything i can do to help? i could help you on the work you have to make up-"

"no it's fine, i'll figure it out." there it was. pride. it was his pride and mentality of not needing anybody's help that pushed her away when she could help him probably boost his grade to an 85 if they tried hard enough. but in the moment he chose not to. "look i gotta go, i'm gonna miss my bus i'll talk to you later."

"okay talk to you," zach ran passed her onto his bus, without even waving goodbye. "later." savannah stood at the front of the school until she saw corbyn's car from the parking lot pull up in front of her. she got inside, already trying to figure a way to make it up to zach.

.｡❅*⋆⍋*∞*｡*∞*⍋⋆*❅｡.

a/n

sorry for these slow af updates😖✋🏻

if you're still reading/keeping up with this book, hi ily and feel free to personally come for me if you ever want an update bc i will gladly take it as a cry for motivation ;)