Colesworth (Forbidden Love #1)

Chapter 4 - Frozen Moments

Rose's P.O.V

"Class, I spent my whole weekend marking the atrocity you call your exams. Only three A's. THREE A'S!" Mr Robinson yelled as he slammed the stack of test papers on his desk. I could've sworn I felt the earth tremble. I winced at the loud smacking sound, my hands clenching by my sides.

    Don't worry, said a small voice in my head. You're Rose Parker, you can't fail. Even with my solid effort to reassure myself, the lingering fear of getting a 98% or lower was still whooshing around my mind. Sweat was dripping down my forehead and I felt dizzy, as though I would pass out.

   "YOU ARE AN EXTENSION CLASS. Those of you with a C+ or less will be relocated back to core. Those on a B- better up their game," Mr Robinson warned, handing our exams out.  "Millie, a C-? Seriously? I expected better. Jonathan, that's a nice solid B. But it's not an A, is it?"

   I sat there twiddling my thumbs anxiously, staring off into space. A bang on my desk followed by a low cough slammed me back into reality. Not wanting to look at my results, I stared into Mr Robinson's dim grey eyes.

   "97%. Congratulations, you're top of the class." Normally, I would be satisfied with top of the class. I've become used to it, so it's not so exciting anymore. But never thought I'd get 97%.

   "What the actual heck?" I blurt, staring in shock at my papers. "How could I do so badly?"

   Tears were welling up in my eyes as I clenched the papers in my hands, shaking. "I'm sorry, did you not hear me? I said 97%, top of the class." Mr Robinson looked confused as he pointed to my score.

   "Exactly! A 97%? This is worse then the time Hannah beat me in German!"

   "Seriously Rose? Hannah's from Germany," the fat boy in front of me groaned as he looked at his own paper. He quickly hid it, shame apparent in his expression.

   "Oh, be quiet Bert. At least I didn't get 91%," I said, peering over his shoulder. "I studied like hell for the German exam and was only pulled down because I accidentally wrote 'Dafur' instead of  'Dafür'."

---

   By the time next class rolled around, I had burst into tears, been sent to the counsellors office and insulted everyone in my chemistry class. I thought that surely this day couldn't get any worse.

   I thought wrong. Our English teacher, Mrs Sokolov, a Russian woman who somehow consecutively topped the country in English when she was in grade nine through twelve, was away sick. Our relief teacher - Mr Smith, the PE teacher who was renowned for hating every subject that didn't involve physical activity. He blabbed on about how exercise makes you smart and healthier, then dragged us out to the oval to 'Measure our intelligence', as though running 100 metres was an IQ test.

   After I had ran, I was left alone on the bank of the oval, gasping for air. It took me about one minute to run one hundred metres. That's about 1.67 metres per second! A new record.

   "What's your name?" He demanded. He was giving me a deathly stare, mixed in with disappointment.

   "Rose. Rose Parker," I hesitated nervously. PE was my worst subject, as you could probably tell by my lanky legs and stick thin arms.

   "I fear for your intelligence," he shook his head and wandered off, leaving me hanging. I wanted so badly to pull him over and show him all my report cards since I was in grade one, but I knew better.

   Over on the other side of field, I spotted Steven. His father forced him into doing PE, even though he absolutely despises it. His father wanted him to 'Man up' and 'Stop being a wuss', but somehow I don't think that'll ever happen. The only thing Steven likes about the class is being in the changing room with the other guys, which isn't perverted at all.