Exams aced!

Lina: "S-SAY! ROMEO! W-WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT S-SARA?" her voice trembling with nervousness and excitement.

Romeo keeps looking at her after getting that sudden unexpected question, and replies, "Sara? Where did this come from?"

"JUST ANSWER THE DAMN QUESTION!", Exclaims Lina, her face turning red with frustration.

After sensing her agitation, Romeo takes some time for himself to think about the answer and then says calmly, as usual, "Well I've been passing more time with her lately. She's a warm, shy girl. She acts a little clumsy while she's around me though. We're getting to know each other even more like..."

"That's not what I meant!!!", Interrupts Lina.

-Romeo: "Really? What do you mean then?"

Lina, her voice barely above a whisper, "I thought, maybe, both of you are, you know!"

Romeo, understanding her implication, "Dating?", Says the boy, who got it right away.

"You just got straight to the point", Adds Lina after turning to that lovely red tomato! The boy shakes his head gently, "No, we're not.", He answers, "I don't even think that she's considering that dating stuff with me."

" Yeah she does", Says Lina, thinking to herself, "you're just too stupid to get it! Like seriously that's so obvy, how are you acing our school if you can't get her signals?"

Even though Romeo made it clear, the girl looks still bugged by a certain idea. It's on the tip of her tongue, yet she's still hesitant about spelling it out. Lina, her voice becoming more insistent, decides to finally peace her mind "Then... Then what the hell happened between you two?"

"Something happened between me and her?", Adds the boy.

"Quit acting dumb!!!!", Her voice rising in frustration, "Something did happen between both of you! Remember those two dudes that we found in the library, they said that she pulled such a fine guy and I'm pretty sure that they meant you!!!!! Doesn't that make you a...."

Lina, her voice now barely a whisper, " Doesn't that make you a... A couple?"

"Ooh.", He finally understands what she meant, "so that's what was bothering you. It's okay, I'll tell you."

He proceeds to tell Lina about the little story that happened between him and Sara and the main reason why Sara developed feelings for him in the first place. As he speaks, Lina's expression softened and her body relaxed, as if a weight has been lifted off her shoulders.

After hearing it, Lina, somehow, stops stressing out a little bit. She asks, "I see. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

-Romeo: "I was going to tell you right away, but Sara didn't want me to do so. That's all."

"Love!", Says Lina, her voice filled with longing.

"Did you say something?", Asks Romeo.

As she takes that golden hair of hers and starts holding it with both of her hands, Lina starts experiencing a fluttery in her stomach, like she's eaten by an overwhelming sense of nervousness. She tries to play it cool as much as possible, but man it's written all over her face, it was a wrong move to spell such a big word in front of him, "L-LOVE!", Says the girl a second time, clumsiness still tagging along her lines, "What is love to you?"

"Love?", Says Romeo while scratching his head, "I think this one is a bit hard for me. Let's see...."

"Of course it is!", Says Lina, thinking to herself, "He can't express his emotions after all. He can't even give the difference between them!"

He raises his finger as if he figured out the answer, making her switch her interest to him, then says: "Love, it's when you're willing to suffer for the sake of someone. Is it when you find someone worth suffering for? I guess that sounded dumb right?"

Lina, her voice filled with understanding, "Suffering for someone? Just like you're...."

"It's time to sleep, right?" Interrupting her own line, Lina's voice becomes more cheerful, "Tomorrow is the first day of the exams after all, hahaha!"

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?", Asks the boy. She avoids answering him, then starts pushing Romeo to the door, "Come on", She adds, "Look how sleepy you look! Go get some rest, you know how to get to the guests' room, right? Good night!"

Closing the door behind her and turning off the light, she jumps right onto her bed and puts both her hands on her cheeks. She starts making muffled screams while moving her legs as fast as she can.

Lina, her thoughts racing, "I literally spelled love in front of him! What was I even thinking about? Oh my God, I can't take it anymore. I'm starting to have that weird heat in my chest again. Does that actually mean that I...I...No, no, no, Lina, there's no room for such a thing to happen? Yeah, of course! Dismiss that idea from your head because it'll never happen!"

Lina, her voice filled with self-deprecation, "He doesn't have feelings for her, ha! Why did I become kind of happy after hearing it? I'm really miserable!"

The next day, Romeo takes care of the breakfast. Lina is impressed by the omelet he made, and she compliments him on the delicious meal. Maybe that's the only recipe he knows, but Romeo brought it to perfection. After breakfast, they get ready and leave the house. Lina's heart starts racing a little, and Romeo notices that she started to sigh more than usual. He glances over at her, showing concern by doing so, but Lina appears to be lost in her thoughts.

He hands Lina a bottle of water, "Here, drink some water", Says the boy, "You're stressed about the exam, aren't you? Don't worry, you practiced well enough for it, you'll be okay."

Lina, surprised by his kind gesture, takes the bottle, "Y-Yeah! Thank you!", She replies.

Both of them were able to hear quite intense footsteps. So they turn around, to find Adam hustling toward them, wearing that smirky look since he has been observing both of them from a distance, "That wasn't my imagination after all!", Exclaims the boy.

"Woah!", Says Lina, startled by his sudden outburst, "At least try catching your breath back before talking to us."

Romeo, turning towards Adam, tries greeting him with a "Good mor...."

"Did both of you actually get out of Lina's house?", Interrupts Adam.

"Yeah", Answers Romeo, casually as usual, "I slept over."

"YOU SLEPT OVER!!!!!!", Says Adam, his voice raised in excitement. After that, he turns to Lina and starts addressing her with a look overflowing with amazement," Man! I remember telling you to take care of him. But that was really fast!"

"Fast? What are you talking about!", Asks Lina, her voice filled with confusion.

-Adam: "You slept together! So that means...."

"NO!", Shouts the girl right away, starting to hit Adam as he keeps laughing, "NO NO NO! NO WAY IN HELL!!!! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN THINKING ABOUT!!!!

"You're loud. Both of you.", Says Romeo, calming the scene with his voice.

As Adam speaks, Lina's expression becomes increasingly horrified and she shakes her head vigorously, denying the implication, while Romeo looks on, trying to figure out the reason behind their behavior, "You guys are really weird."

And just like that, a week full of exams starts. For sure, most of the students are stressed out a little. There are our friends, sitting at their desks, pencils in hand, and waiting for the teacher, Mr. Brown, to give them the signal to begin.

Mr. Brown, his voice firm, announces, "The test begins... Now!"

Maria, her heart racing, thinks to herself, "Okay starting with math. What I hate the most! Okay, I'm supposed to make integration by parts, right? Romeo told me to always derive the 'ln' and to primitive the 'e' to have as less calculation as possible. Why am I doing it so easily?" As she works through the problem, her expression becomes more relaxed and focused. She can't hide how grateful she feels for Romeo's help.

Lina, her eyes scanning the page, starts making that mind of hers show its true capabilities, "This one is fusion, right? Chocolate pieces won't be sticking together without putting some Nutella in between, right? That Nutella is our needed energy! Let's calculate it then! Thanks, Romeo!", Then she scribbles down the solution with a smile on her face.

"By dividing my program into smaller modules and functions, controlling their roles in the main program will become way easier than leaving them in the same block.", That's what was in Alex's head, his eyes focused on the computer screen, "Romi, you're just UNREAL!!", He types furiously, his fingers flying over the keyboard with precision.

The same goes for Sara, Scribbling down the solution with a look of satisfaction, "To find the rest of this number after dividing it by 1000, I need to... Wait a minute! 1000=8 x125 and 125^8=1. I can work on every part alone and then multiply them. Romeo this method is quite amazing!!"

Then there's our boy, Romeo, his test finished, leans back in his chair, and thinks to himself, "I already finished the thing and I need to stay at least an hour and 30 minutes in here. 15 minutes to revise then.", Before taking his paper and starting to do the needed task, he raises his head, watching his friends work, "All the best of luck, pals!"

Lina, Alex, Maria, Sara and Anna! The five of them appear to be enjoying the way they keep bursting through those questions with confidence higher than usual. And all of them are sharing the same thoughts, "You got our thanks, Romeo!"

The week passed quickly, and all of that hard work did help our friends to overcome what they were lacking. Now, they were facing an even harder moment, the results day.

"I don't want to come to school tomorrow!", Says Lina, her voice filled with anxiety while she's leaning on her desk.

"What? Why?", Asks Alex, looking surprised.

"Results, you dummy!", Replies the girl, her voice filled with fear as she slowly sighs.

Alex, his expression changing to one of realization, says, "Totally forgot about that!"

"Didn't you work off those exams last week?", Says Romeo, his tone calm and reassuring.

"I did my best as well", Lina's voice is filled with uncertainty, "but results just scare the crap out of me!"

After realizing that Romeo got a chocolate bar, she stretches her hand a little and starts pointing at it, "Can I have some chocolate though?"

"Off limits." Answers right away after hitting her hand lightly.

Lina, her voice filled with disappointment, says, "Why?"

-Romeo: "Because I said so?"

"Romi might even give you one of his limbs. But, he'll never ever share his chocolate!", Says Alex, his voice filled with amusement.

Lina, her voice filled with curiosity, asks, "Is there some kind of a specific reason for this kind of act?"

Making the scene sound serious, Romeo doesn't hesitate to answer her and says, "I just admire chocolate so much. It's one of the things that I appreciate its existence the most, you know. So, if one day I give chocolate to someone, you have to know that that person means a lot to me if it's not the world itself. It's because I want that someone to feel special I guess."

"So... You didn't find that person.", Says Alex, his tone teasing.

-Romeo: "It's not like I'm looking for that person if you ask me."

As he finished his words, her eyes felt a little bright, as if she found a reason behind this life of hers, "That chocolate...", Starts Lina thinking, her chest pounding with those butterflies as well, "Why do I want to get it from him this badly?"

"Anyways, I'm going for my solo session now", Says Romeo after standing up, "Have fun."

Maria, her tone concerned, says, "Romeo, wait a minute I'm heading to the cafeteria as well!", Then she turns to Alex before addressing her next line to him, "Do you want me to bring you something?"

"A cola honey!", He answers.

-Maria: "Sure thing!"

Since they are alone for now, Lina decides to have some fun by trying to tease Alex, "Alex, you didn't fight with Maria for 4 days straight", She says, "Congrats!"

"You're making fun of me, ha?", He says, switching to the defensive mode, "I was told Sara started going to the library at times like this as well you know!"

And who would've thought that hearing her name would make Lina this alerted, "Sara, in the library, now?", She can't even connect the words correctly, "But isn't she supposed to have lunch with Nadine and the others?"

"Is that so?", Adds the boy, taking the lead in teasing this time. The girl stands up, showing off that confused smile while trying to hide her concern with a little giggle, "Oho, today is my shift... My library shift right? Ahaha!", She says while slowly getting closer to the door, "I don't want to miss my shift, yeah! take care!"

"Yup, you just proved our guessing right little thing!", it felt like the way Lina acted was the answer to his question!

The awaited day has finally arrived, the results day. Class B students are all freaking out a little, except for Romeo without a doubt! Mr. Brown walks into the classroom, holding a large sheet of paper. The students are on the edge of their seats, anticipation written all over their faces.

Mr. Brown, his voice filled with pride, says, "Well, class! You'll be knowing your rankings in the school for now. Your results rival the elite class to a decent level", Then he starts sticking the sheet to the board, "Congratulations! You did show interesting results in those tests. I'm proud of you!"

Lina, her voice filled with excitement, exclaims, "I came in the twentieth? I'm in the top 20? I've got myself the 16th... I'm ranked 16th in the whole school! This is AMAZING!" She jumps out of her seat, her arms raised in triumph.

Mr. Brown, his voice filled with praise, says while clapping, "On top of that, your results in the physics test were unexpected. You did overcome those courses it appears! Congratulations Lina, you worked hard for those grades after all!"

Alex, his voice filled with disappointment, says, "I'm #23. My grades actually took down, I'm going to be buried alive!" Then he hangs his head in defeat.

Then there is Adam, his voice filled with disbelief, "I don't believe it I'm actually #9!!!!!!!!!" He starts jumping in excitement.

As for Maria, it appears that she's the first one to notice quite the sight, "Man...", She says, her voice filled with awe, "Man look at Romi's score!"

"You really are out of our league Romeo!", Says Adam, trying to control his goosebumps.

"What do you mean", Our boy didn't even budge from his seat even though such a thing deserves that action, "I worked really hard this year, you shouldn't be surprised."

At first, she didn't see Romeo's score, "You're acting like he got a perfect...", As her eyes widen after seeing that 100/100 written next to Romeo's name, Lina keeps opening wide her mouth in disbelief, "PERFECT SCORE! THAT'S ACTUALLY A PERFECT SCORE!!!!!!"

-Mr. Brown: "And this way, Romeo is the 4th student in our school's history to get a 100! Congratulations! You deserve it, young man!"

"Thank, you, sir!", Says Romeo, trying to breathe clearly while his friends are hugging his soul out of him, "Umm, Alex... I think you're killing me."

Before leaving them to get the moment that they deserve, Mr. Brown turns to his students for the last time and then says, "By the way, the top 30 of the school are going to have a paid school trip starting next Monday. wish you a happy holiday everyone!"

As the group of friends gathered in the classroom, Alex can't help but feel a sense of unease. He had just heard the news that the top 30 students would be joining a school trip during winter break and he couldn't shake off the feeling of disappointment. Lina, standing next to him, confirms the news with a simple "yup!"

Alex then proceeds to inquire about the rankings of his friends, "Romi and Prez made it to the top 10... Nana ranked 21 and Lily 16", As he turns to Maria, he notices her eyes welling up with tears of joy. "I'm actually #30 😭," she exclaims, answering the question that's bugging her boy's head.

Alex becomes overjoyed for his girlfriend and congratulates her wholeheartedly with a warm hug. He then turns to Alphonse, a beloved friend of his, and asks about his ranking. Alphonse's expression is somber as he replies "I came in rank 31.", He says while raising his thumb up. Alex couldn't believe it. This meant that Alphonse wouldn't be joining them on the trip and the thought of it made his heart sink. He hugs his friend tightly, tears streaming down his face, "This is farewell then!"

Alphonse, hugging him back, "Yeah, it is. Friend"

As they pulled away from the hug, Alex couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. He jokingly asks, "Who will be annoying me if you don't tag along, Al?" Alphonse, in return, apologizes and explains in a joking way as well, "It's out of my hands, buddy". Maria, who has been watching the exchange, rolls her eyes and says "You're acting like one of you is about to die!"

Adam, who has been standing on the sidelines, chimed in with a smirk on his face "What do you think, perfect boy? Aren't you happy that we'll be having a school trip on our winter break?" Says after putting his arm around Romeo's shoulders.

Romeo, who has been quiet until now, replies "Happy? I guess you can say that." Adam, surprised by Romeo's lack of enthusiasm, asks right away "Huh? You're not even sure?"

Alex, trying to shake off the mood of the conversation, turns to Maria and asks "Maria, since school is over, do you want to go on a date for now?"

Maria, with a hint of happiness and a smile on her face, asks "You'll give me a ride?"

"Romi will take care of the bike if you don't want me to give you a ride!", Says Alex, eager to please his girl. However, Maria appears to be having other plans. "Actually I have a place in mind and it's a little far from here", She says, "We'll be going on the bike!", The boy, becoming thrilled by the prospect of a date with Maria AND the bike, exclaims "That's what I wanted to hear!"

As they were about to leave, Maria playfully slaps Alex on the face and scolds him, "Quit making that face!" The group says their goodbyes, with Lina waving them off "See ya!" as Alex and Maria rode off into the distance on the bike, leaving the rest of the group behind to ponder their own fate for the upcoming trip.