The highschool hallways were bustling with students, many of them were seniors fretting over the upcoming exams. Some sat in the hallway against their lockers, reading notes and textbooks in a haste, others rushing off to their classes, some were going for lunch, and at least two crying in a corner somewhere.
Exam season was brutal. And that was no different for (Y/N) the (a/t), another senior that had to worry about the upcoming exams. She was currently rushing through the hallways, hugging books to her chest.
She pushed her way past other students, stepping outside into the real world. The sun burnt down on her as she hurried along the pathway, the sky was clear of any clouds. (Y/N) wiped her forehead as she came up to another building, pushing on one of the two glass doors. It was the library, books lined the walls and a few shelves at the back, the front had long tables that were full of students; one wall had computers that were all in use.
Every senior had to be here, had to be preparing for the exams, had to be under such stress that the (a/t) noticed multiple cups of dark liquid next to at least half of the students. She bit her lip, searching the area for a place to sit. The tables were full, there was no room for her. She made her way towards the bookshelves, seeing the back wall had students sitting against it, their laptops plugged into the walls. There was no room there.
The girl huffed, making her way to the far-left corner of the building. Surely not every space was taken, surely, she could find somewhere to sit, even if it was next to a complete stranger, so she could study in peace.
The left corner was nearly empty, the only Mobian that sat there was a purple chameleon who looked to be deep in a novel. His eyes darted back and fourth across the page, unaware of the stress filled building that surrounded him. The (a/t) takes a breath, before walking over to him and hugging her books tighter to her chest,
"Um... Excuse me...?" The chameleon seemed to freeze at her voice, he lifted his head to her,
"Yes?" He asked, surprised someone was talking with him.
"Could I... Sit here?" (Y/N) asked, "Everywhere else is full."
The chameleon nodded, shifting over slightly, "Of course."
"Thank you, you're very kind." The (a/t) smiled and took her seat next to him. He nodded and get back to reading, however this time he was clearly reading slower. She shrugged and placed her books down, grabbing the one on top. Time to dive into study.
10 minutes passed and the (a/t) was still staring at the title of the first page. Her brain at stopped working, she couldn't take any of the information in, she didn't know what to do. Her eyes just stared at this thick textbook while her mind whirred on the fact that the exams were in a few weeks.
The purple chameleon noticed his companies' blank stare, he glanced over at her and placed his novel down, clearing his throat. The girl jumped and glanced at him, tilting her head at him,
"Sorry, was I disrupting you?" She asked, and she shook his head.
"Are you alright?" He leant on his hand, "So seem a little out of this world."
She sighed, giving a weak shrug, "I don't know... How are you so calm right now? Exams are soon."
The chameleon then turned to his novel, picking it up. He weighed it slightly, as if wondering if he should speak. (Y/N) leant closer to him, as if he was going to whisper whatever he was about to say. His entire demeaner was so relaxed, it was as if he wasn't stressed at all.
"I've done all the study I can, I feel prepared so I don't need to worry." He said. The girl nodded slowly, envious of the one person in this entire school that seemed on top of it all. He then turned to her and read her textbook,
"Would you like some help? I have some study tips and tricks I can offer to help you if you're having trouble focusing."
The girl startled at the question, stuttering slightly that she wasn't sure. But deep down she knew she wouldn't be able to do much anyway, so she slowly shut up and gave him a nod. The chameleon smiled and held his hand out,
"I'm Espio, you are?"
"(Y/N)." She said, smiling and shaking his hand, "Thank you so much again."
"It's no problem really." He said, and the two got into the study.
Weeks passed, and it became normal for the (a/t) to continuously go to the library in search for her new friend. Espio was really good at helping her study, he seemed to know exactly what would help her and what wouldn't. They were learning a bit about each other as well; during their little breaks from the study, they'd talk about themselves, tell stories.
Espio didn't have a family, he lived with his detective crew the Chaotix. He was only studying right now because Vector, his boss, insisted that a good educated mind was necessary when being a detective. (Y/N) thought it was sweet that he had such a good relationship with his boss, and his younger teammate, who was a literal child.
(Y/N) told Espio of her dreams to be a journalist; so she can be in the action, but not in the action. She explained that she wouldn't be able to cope being an actual hero, so reporting on the destruction while also experience the thrill off the danger was something she would be happy to settle with.
Espio nodded, agreeing with her reasoning. He asked if she'd interview the heroes, and she admitted that she hoped she could one day.
"Well, I hope I'm there one day so you can interview me." The chameleon said, scratching at the large yellow horn on his nose.
The girl smiled at him, her tail wagging behind her, "I hope so too."
The weeks passed, and finally it was exam time. The two may have been in the same grade, but they had exams at different times. Thankfully for (Y/N), she only had one actual exam to attend, and she got through it with flying colours.
Which means she either did really well... Or very very wrong.
After her exam, the girl left the class with her head held high. She was sure she had done well. All the questions made sense, and she feels her answers were strong enough to get her a high distinction. The (a/t) felt good about herself, she was so grateful to have Espio help her.
(Y/N) knew she had to thank him once again, but when she got to the library, she found he wasn't there. The (a/t) sat there for the rest of the day, since it was exam block, but he never showed up. She started to grow worried, they had shared their exam timetables with each other so they could talk about their exams afterwards, so why wasn't he here?
The girl let out a sigh, hugging her knees. The rest of the day passed slowly as she watched strangers walking in and out of the library.
The next day, she went back to the library, having no other classes or exams to do. She didn't even need to be in the school grounds, but knowing Espio's biggest exam was today, she wanted to be there in case he showed up afterwards.
The exam would have ended 15 minutes ago, and she rushed into the library to see him sitting in the corner and reading. The (a/t) smiled and her tail wagged as she rushed over, kneeling in front of him,
"Sooo, how'd you do?" She asked, and he looked up, giving her a warm smile,
"Hey (Y/N)." He said, putting the book down, "I think I did alright. What about you? Sorry I couldn't be here yesterday, I went home sick and stressing about this morning's exam... Turns out I wasn't as prepared as I thought."
"Oh no, but you're sure you did alright?" The girl tilted her head.
"Yes, going over everything with you the past weeks prepared me for the study I needed to do a night in advance." Espio chuckled lightly, rubbing his head, "It was foolish of me to be so egotistical, but I managed to save myself thanks to you and your worries of studying."
(Y/N) chuckled slightly, sitting next to him, "I totally saved the day then huh?"
"I guess you did. But we'll have wait and see our results before we jump to that conclusion." Espio chuckled as well, "But how did you go? You were so stressed about it."
The girl tapped her chin, "I think I did great, the questions made sense, my answers made sense, everything made sense. Thank you..."
"You don't have to say that to me every time we study together you know." Espio said, "It's nothing, I'm simply helping my friend."
The girl nodded, "That's true, are you excited for the results?"
"Definitely not."
The next week, the results came out. Everyone got them back in their respective classes, some were folded over, others had a bright red A+ along the top. (Y/N) was crazy nervous when the teacher handed the paper to her, but the warm smile told the girl she at least passed.
And wouldn't you know, a A- is better than nothing. The (a/t) was so happy, her tail wagged quickly behind her. After class, she rushed to the library to tell Espio the good news. The chameleon was sitting in his respective corner, but he wasn't reading his book, he seemed to be waiting. For her? A smile spread over her muzzle as she bounced over,
"A- baby!" She said, which received a 'shhh' from the librarian. The girl apologised and sat down, bouncing on the spot, "I did great, what about you?"
"B+, which I'm happy with considering I shoved a bunch of study into one night." Espio said, "Next time, I won't leave it until so late."
"I'm glad."
The chameleon then looked at her, "We're going to be friends after we graduate, right?"
The girl blinked, before nodding quickly, "Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Of course," Espio smiled, "Besides, I know the heroes personally, so I can put in a good word for your interviews when you get famous."
The girl giggled, giving her new found friend a hug, "Really, thank you Espio."
"It's no problem, (Y/N)." He said, hugging her back.
I hope this one was good! There wasn't really a specific scenario given to this one (aside from highschool) so I decided to make it about exams, something I hadn't done yet.
I hope it was enjoyable! Sorry if I got Espio's character wrong, for some reason it felt off while writing but I couldn't change it to make it better (and I'm still happy with it overall). And I hope the ending doesn't seem too cut off, I did sorta rush it because when I wrote this, I was rushing to get out the door hahaha (again I still hope it's good).
Anyway that's all,
Haven Out!!!