chapter 20: reno doesn't study
~reno~
Weisz groans as he lies down on my bed, pushing his social studies textbook away from him. "I can't do this anymore. I can't study. I feel like my brain is going to combust any moment. I'm at the point where I might just accept that I'm going to fail."
I stop strumming my guitar and turn my head so I can look at Weisz. "You know, if you fail, you're probably going to have to take summer school. Or repeat social studies in grade twelve."
Weisz sighs, covering his face. "And if I have to repeat it in grade twelve, I'll have to take it first semester so I can take the grade twelve social studies course second semester and there's a chance I might fail that class, meaning I won't graduate on time."
I stare at Weisz, wondering how I can calm him down. I don't exactly think that he's going to fail since he isn't a bad student or anything. It's just studying for tests and finals that stresses him out because he starts to think of the worst case scenario.
I don't blame him. I mean, I'm lucky enough not to stress over tests, but I know a lot of students do, so he's not the only one. Even straight A students might be stressing about possibly failing though they rarely, if ever, get low grades on a test.
"You'll be fine," I say.
Weisz moves his hands away from his face so he can look at me. "Thanks," he says in a sarcastic tone. "I can't believe I didn't just think that I would be fine. That's such a smart thing to say."
"Well, have you ever failed a test before?" I ask.
Weisz hesitates, and I kind of expected him to say no, but he turns on his side and sighs heavily. "Yeah, I have. The first time I had cancer, it was just so hard for me to keep track of my studies, so I ended up failing a few tests. I was doing well enough at the beginning of the semester to still end up passing, but just by a bit."
I set my guitar down and sit beside Weisz on my bed. "I'm sorry."
Weisz shakes my head. "It's okay. I guess I'm worried my health is going to cause me to fail my tests again."
"I don't think it will," I assure. "You were already finished with chemo and back at physical school by the time the second semester started, so it was only leaving early for doctor's appointments that could possibly interfere with your studies."
"Yeah, I guess. But I'm..." He's silent for a few moments as if he's deciding whether or not he should tell me what's also on his mind. To try to comfort his pretty mind more, I run my fingers through his hair. "I also really don't want to take classes in the summer because I've been thinking about surfing a lot. And by that, I mean... I've been thinking about possibly joining a team for the surf meets and competitions."
"Really?"
Weisz nods. "I got an email about tryouts since I've been on the subscription list ever since I first started competing and... It got me thinking. Even though I wasn't sure if I wanted to get back into competing, I really miss it. And it's like you told me when you were trying to convince me to get back into surfing. There's no point thinking about the what ifs. If I want to compete, I should compete."
I smile at Weisz. "Well, I think you should do it. I would absolutely love to watch you surf in a competition and get all wet."
Weisz lightly punches my leg. "Stop that."
"Stop what? I didn't say nothing."
Weisz smiles slightly since he never really gets mad when I tease him. He then frowns. "I won't be able to join any teams if I fail my classes and have to take summer school. We practice a lot for competitions."
"How are you doing right now in social studies?"
"I have a C+, I think."
"That's not bad."
"It might not seem bad, but it might be enough for me to completely fail if I fail my final exam. And I almost failed the last test in the class, so there's a huge chance I can fail the final."
I don't have social studies at all this semester, so I can't help him study at all. Even if I did, I probably wouldn't be the best at helping him since I would want to make out with him instead of studying together.
I grab my cell phone and send a quick text to our friend group chat. I get a reply soon enough. "Jane says she has social studies this semester and can help you study for the final. She also said to forget about studying today if it's stressing you out since she knows how much studying alone isn't easy for you."
Weisz sits up and grabs his textbook, closing it before pushing it off his bed. "I mean, if Jane says that, then I obviously have to listen."
I laugh. "What shifted your mood so suddenly? You went from worrying about failing to not studying right now."
"Jane is one of the best people someone can study with," Weisz says. "Not only does she understand all the material, but she'll find a way to help whoever she's studying with understand it as well. If she's willing to let me study with her, that might end up boosting my confidence in passing."
I smile. "Well, then I guess it's a good thing I decided to ask our friends to see if someone can study social studies with you. You're welcome."
Weisz chuckles. "Thanks, Reno." He leans forward to kiss me, but I get off the bed and sit back down on the floor. "What's up with that? You're the one who's normally trying to kiss me all the time."
"I need to study," I say, grabbing my guitar.
"You... need to study. So you grab your guitar?"
"It's for my music class. It would be an utter embarrassment if I end up failing music."
"Yeah, I highly doubt you're going to fail music. You're too hot."
"I think you're supposed to say that I'm good at music."
"That too."
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ooh is weisz going to surf competitively??????
reno is also me using any excuse as "studying". i'll be snuggling with my dog and say that i'm studying the relation between dogs and serotonin boosts for my psychology class while i also don't have a psychology class.