It took Caitlin quite a while to find Nora once again. The building really was the biggest maze she had ever encountered with so many special rooms and equipment for people with a love of science to use and explore.
Though Caitlin still felt a twinge of anxiety being the building that created a lot of past trauma in her life, little-by-little she was reminded of fond memories that had kept her here, spending late night after night using her handy-dandy pipette or waiting for her bacteria to culture.
But then memories of hands at her wrist and a chilling voice on the back of her neck had her clenching her fists so hard it started to cause nail indents into her hands. She remembered the smell of a sour cologne that burned in the back of her throat and her eyes watering at the rough push as her head hit the wall.
No, Caitlin thought, squeezing her eyes shut. Stop thinking about it. Block it out.
It was over with. It was done. And she was only going to be in the building a few minutes longer. Just to find Nora and leave. She had to leave. She had to—
"Caitlin!" Nora came bounding over. "I found you!"
Caitlin released a shuddery breath. "Nora, where have you been?"
"I was walking around peeking into the different rooms and I met someone who volunteered to give me a tour! I told him I was waiting for you, but then we got to talking and he is so cute, I had to take the tour."
Caitlin chuckled at the younger girl's energy. "So you ready to go?"
"You're not gonna ask me how it went with the guy?"
The two of them started walking towards the exit. "How'd it go with the guy?" Caitlin asked dutifully.
"I'm so glad you asked! It went absolutely amazingly. He even gave me his number and we're going out soon!"
"That's great, Nora," Caitlin said honestly. Once they had stepped out of the building, Caitlin felt the tight pressure that had surrounded her start to drift away almost immediately. "But you're a senior in high school, so maybe you should focus on graduating and getting accepted here first before you secure yourself a college boyfriend."
"Oh, I'm a shoe-in," Nora boasted proudly. "My parents go here, so I already know the ins and outs of the school."
Just as Caitlin was about to ask where her parents worked in the school, Nora's stomach rumbled. "Well, thank you for taking me here, Caitlin! I should go grab some lunch now!" Nora waved her goodbyes behind her as she, yet again, sprinted off to her next location.
"Hope to see you again, Nora!" Caitlin called out to her receding figure; she shook her head wondering where that girl got all her energy from. For a second she thought it was a high schooler thing, but Caitlin certainly never had that much energy as a high schooler.
***
While walking to her apartment, Caitlin momentarily considered opening up for course notification and finally seeing what her grade was. It was hell just waiting for grades to be posted, but a different kind of hell having the grades there... just waiting to be opened and potentially ruin every shred of self-esteem she had left (not that she had much to begin with).
When she entered her home, she was surprised to find Barry lounging on her couch with Yoda bear resting on his lap. He beamed when he saw her and gestured to an empty spot on her couch.
"Felicity told me where the hidden key was," Barry said. "She's still stuck at work, something about a crazy scandal the League has to deal with, but she says 'hi.'"
Caitlin took a weary seat beside him. "You text Felicity now?"
"Just to gossip about you."
"Huh."
"So?" Barry asked, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.
"What?"
"Have you checked yet?"
Caitlin groaned, smacking her hands to her face and leaning forward. "No, I'm too scared to find out what I got."
"Come on, Cait, it's just one test score. It's not the end of the world."
"But it is! I spent so long studying and this is the first time I took the exam after our agreement, so this is the decider to tell if it was all worth it and—"
"Relax, Caitlin. If I tell you how I did on mine, will it make you feel better?"
"Depends."
"I got a 72%."
"That's great, Barry!"
And honestly, a C on a biotech exam was a great score, especially with a sweet curve.
"Except, I've heard there's no curve."
Right.
"Hmm, yeah." Caitlin pursed her lips questioning if the score was still considered good or not.
"And I really doubt this exam was any easier than the previous ones."
"Yep."
"So it's completely unfair that there's no curve."
"Mhmm."
"So, are you gonna check now?"
"...no."
Barry groaned. "C'mon, Cait. I promise I won't judge you. If you really want, I'll turn around and close my eyes, so you have full privacy and if you want me to leave, I'll leave."
"Okay." Caitlin nodded.
"So, you want me to leave?"
"No, I want you to turn around and close your eyes," she replied honestly.
"Seriously?"
"You promised not to judge!"
"About your grades!"
"Turn around, Barry."
"Fine."
Once Barry had stood up and situated himself with his back to her and the couch, Caitlin closed her eyes as well for a moment to build her confidence. Barry stayed silent and waited patiently for her.
When she clicked the app, it took a second for the score to load.
A second felt like an infinity.
An infinity in the darkest realm of Tartarus, that is.
The queasy feeling in Caitlin's stomach refused to settle and when the page finally loaded, Caitlin saw a...
Her phone clattered to the ground.
Barry turned quickly at the noise and he took in Caitlin's frozen expression. "Cait?" Barry said cautiously. "Grades aren't everything, you know."
"I..." Caitlin stuttered out. "I got a 97%."
Eyes widening, Barry leaned over to pick up her phone to see the test result for himself.
"Holy shit! Grades are EVERYTHING! Caitlin, you did it!" Barry cheered loudly. He reached out to hold her waist and brought her into a passionate hug. When he released her from the hug, he continued to keep his hands resting lightly on her hip as he grinned at her with pride.
Caitlin let out a breathless laugh and then once she came to her senses, she laughed out-loud again. "I can't believe it!" She jumped in his arms, and wrapped her own around his neck. Barry, tightening his grip on her, spun her around in a circle, whooping and cheering the whole time.
"I'm so amazing!" Barry exclaimed, setting her feet back down on the ground, "I managed to get a D average—"
"C average," Caitlin butted-in, though her previous class average said otherwise.
"—student to a NINETY-SEVEN percent."
"Guess this altruistic agreement is working out after all!"
"We should celebrate," Barry decided, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the door. "Rule 57? Ice cream date as our first official solo fake date?"
It always amazed Caitlin that Barry remembered her long list of rules. But she tugged her hand back and Barry paused in his movement. "Isn't Iris in class right now? She wouldn't even know about this."
"We could go as friends?" Barry suggested. "No outside agenda. Just two friends celebrating one friend's great accomplishment of being the best life coach slash tutor slash therapist."
Caitlin looked at him wearily, not truly understanding or believing his true intentions.
Sighing, Barry said, "I've been thinking a lot about what you said a few weeks back. About staying true to myself and putting Iris on this pedestal. I've realized that maybe my whole life shouldn't revolve around Iris. I have so much more in my life. Track, my future career, Joe, my friends, and... and you."
"Me?"
"Yeah, you. I actually like you, Cait. As more than just a fake girlfriend, and yes, I realize how weird that sounds, but I want us to be friends, because I genuinely enjoy hanging out with you. So please, let me take you out for ice cream to celebrate my great accomplishment—"
"You mean mine," Caitlin interrupted, a small smile growing on her face.
"—and we can hang out as real friends. No faking, no pretending, and no Iris. Just good ol' ice cream on our friend date."
"I do like the sound of that," Caitlin considered and then nodded firmly, "Alright, let's do it."