The Double-Tap Accident

Chapter Thirty: Just Today?

I was now the last one in that hallway. When I glanced at the time, I realized I had arrived at the building about 45 minutes ago. Her office hours were almost over.

Dr. McCormick was taller than I had estimated. I didn't sit near the front of the big lecture hall whenever she was speaking and whenever I saw her up close, she was sitting. She was near Larine's height and was wearing heels as well, definitely putting her a bit over Iman's height. Today, she was wearing a jumpsuit, her brown hair up in its typical bun and pale skin illuminated by the lighting. She narrowed her eyes at me, not to scold me for wasting her time but in recognition.

"Come in."

I scrambled off the floor, picking up my things before entering her office.

When we both gathered in our seats, she took another look at me while typing on her wide desktop screen. "Jaiyesimi, am I right?"

"Uh, yeah," That was not a good response. Did I even have to be professional here? I wasn't last time. "Yes, yes, that's me."

Her lips twitched as she kept her eyes on the screen. "Not trying to get answers from me about the final, are you?"

Oh, she definitely remembered me. "Not this time," I assured her with a light smile.

"Here to discuss the midterm?"

"Um," Despite the fact that I had gone over every single question in the hallway, cursing the hell out of myself mentally, I sucked in a deep breath. "I think so."

She stopped moving her mouse. She looked away from her two monitors, raising an eyebrow at me. The intimidation she held set in at that second, not just because of the way she looked at me but because she was sitting on a career that I currently started to envision for myself one day, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," I sighed. Speaking about it may as well have brought me back to the day I found out about it. "I did horrible on the exam. Not horrible horrible like I failed horrible. But just horrible enough to put me in a tight spot of where I want my mark to be. It's..."

I trailed off avoiding her eyes as embarrassment started to settle in my body. She wasn't here to listen to my entire life story about how in high school physics was my favourite thing in the world.

That calculating how fast a ball dropped from point A to point B gave me a mini thrill back then. How each experiment I had the chance to do in first-year physics labs involving circuits and magnetism made me feel accomplished in an area I worked hard to understand. And how a part me of liked it when people didn't expect me to have an interest in something like physics.

Physics was something I could delve my curiosity into. With people, I was never the most curious but with physics, with endless theories and explanations, I had only ever wanted to dive in deeper.

I didn't know how to explain it to anyone. It's just how it was for me. It was the subject that I loved, more than biology, more than chemistry, more than gym class. I did well in it. And I was going to continue to do so even with this setback.

It was one exam. Even if it wasn't one exam, it was going to be alright. I'd be fine. I'd figure something out.

I cleared my throat, shaking my head. "Never mind. I want to talk about the midterm."

Dr. McCormick studied me for a moment longer before her eyes went to one of the monitors and I watched her pull up my exam, "Which question do you want to go over?"

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Unlike the first time I had entered the gym, I didn't run into the room and there was no intention of me finding Mariam. I didn't find any of my other friends seated on the bleachers either. Instead, the first person I found on the court was Iman. He was the one closest to the bleachers and he was busy briefly exchanging words with another teammate. I settled in a spot high up on the bleachers, glancing at the score to see that they were currently tied.