Saturday was the best day ever since the start of the exams. Everyone was either resting in the hostels or finally taking time to unwind in the sports fields or wherever. Zoe had come in earlier to tell Charlie that she was going to the pool behind the gym where the cheerleaders sometimes practiced their routine. Charlie had declined the invitation not just because she was faithful to Heather but because she wanted to sleep away the stress of the week. I had planned to sleep the day away too when Helen elegantly walked into the room in her pink robe. Her hair was washed and tied on her head and she had pink slippers to match with the robe. “Oh, did I disturb you?” she asked. I was rubbing my sleepy eyes even as I shook my head to tell her no. “I’m so sorry. I thought you would be awake and reading.” “Nah I don’t think I can read anything anymore. At least not until Sunday.” “Me too.” She closed the door and leaned against my bed. “Anyways, Jess, since you’re
“Charlie and I lived on the same block as kids…” “Thank you so much for watching Heather for me, Mrs. Fudge.” Charlie and Heather lived beside each other since they were born and it was natural that they become best friends since they attended preschool together. At the age of seven, Heather’s father left when he found out that Heather’s mom, Rachel, had cheated on him with an ex. Heather’s father was unaware of the fact that Rachel was a chronic cheater but Heather was aware since she knew her mother dropped her off just to visit her boyfriends and since she was spending more time at the Fudge’s home than in her own home Charlie became like a sister to her and the Fudge’s became like second parents for her. The divorce was a messy one, Heather’s dad wanted to keep her, and her mom wanted to keep her but eventually, it was Heather’s mom who won custody of her. Since the divorce between her mom and dad, things at home got worse for Heather. Her mom was inviting her boyfriends over ev
“The first time I met Maximilian Edwin was when I turned 13 I think…” Before then Rachel was beginning to stay out late again and Heather spent more time at Charlie’s than ever before. “Going out again tonight?” Mrs. Fudge would ask. Rachel would laugh and reply. “Yes, I am working late hours again tonight.” But Heather knew she was lying. She knew that because she saw her mom pack an overnight bag containing fishnets, handcuffs, a black whip, and some packets. On one of the packets the words “Cummy edible panties” were written across the black package. And since she had heard her mom tell someone over the phone to meet her at someplace in an hour she knew she was not going to work but was seeing another man. But she didn’t say anything to Rachel, she simply allowed her to drop her off at the Fudge’s, at least she got to study and play with Charlie. The Fudges were very kind to her. Mrs. Fudge baked the best cakes and Heather loved cakes as much as she loved her mom, it was uncondi
“As you already know I was impressed with the view of Mr. Maximilian’s house. I finally understood how he could afford to take care of my mom and me…” The house was huge, at that time the gazebo was still under construction. Rachel’s car drove up the long drive to the front of the house where a maid welcomed both Heather and her mother. The interior was the house was quite impressive for a small-town girl like Heather. Immediately they arrived the maid ushered Rachel into the study where Maximilian was waiting for her. Heather was taken to a separate room where a TV was turned on and a show was running. She wasn’t as interested in the show as she was in the ornaments that adorned the room. There were ceramic figurines of ballerinas, shepherds, and sheep on a shelf, polished bronze, and gold sculptures, and some beautiful paintings were arranged on the wall. The maid who brought her to the room appeared with a tray of juice and chocolate chip cookies that smelled delicious. As soon as
“I already knew about Christian even before I met him because Tyler couldn’t shut up about his amazing friend.” Heather laughed. “He claimed Christian was intelligent, he was smart, he was cool. I think he looked up to Christian.” That’s not surprising because Christian seems more reasonable and responsible than Tyler. I guess they kind of balance each other, one is reasonable the other is wild and carefree. The perfect fit. “Do you know that the first time I met Christian, which was at the very beginning of our last junior year, he was studying,” she laughed again. “He’s too serious sometimes.” I tried to imagine a younger Christian bent over his book reading. It’s quite like him. Everything about him is contradictory; the intelligent bad boy who really doesn’t do any bad stuff. What secrets does he keep? Why does he have a wall built around himself? “Do you know how Tyler and Christian became friends?” I asked, mildly curious. “Not much, only that they knew each other years befo
Over the next week and the week after I had no chance to take Heather’s advice because of my exams. I studied hard with Charlie and let me tell you Charlie is a blessing when she explains difficult topics. Everyone should be blessed with a friend like Charlie Fudge who supports, loves, and looks out for her friends. I had expected her to prod me on what Heather and I talked about but she didn’t ask any questions, we simply moved on from it and went back to being friends and roommates but I know she hopes Heather and I come to an understanding soon. My new friendship with Tyler was also blossoming at a rather rapid pace. When he is not against you Tyler was quite the charmer. He is funny and his carefree lifestyle was just what I needed to deal with the pressure of exams and the knowledge that I would have to confront Christian one day. While he never left Christian’s side he did show his friendliness by shouting my name across the dining hall and playfully slapping my shoulder when we
“Time up,” Ms. Elena announced. “Leave your papers and apparatus on the table and move out. This is your final exam in senior year 2, what an amazing year it has been to teach you all.” Her words were heavy with sarcasm. Students stood up and left the lab one after the other. As soon as they left a cheerful noise erupted as the students of senior class 2 celebrated the completion of exams but Christian and I sat in silence. “Ward, Underwood collect the papers on each slab and bring them to me. When you’re done with that clean up the lab.” Without waiting a second Christian stood up and started picking the exam papers on one side and I did the same on the other side. In a few minutes, we finished with that and submitted the papers to Ms. Elena’s office. “Good,” she said eyeing Christian and me with curiosity. “Now you can clean up the lab until you both work off that tension between you.” Great, she noticed. “Yes ma’am.” We went out and began to rinse the conical flasks, test tube
“I can’t believe we need a graduation assembly before the party.” Charlie and I were at the hostel laundry pressing our uniforms with hot irons, the pleats on my skirt were razor-sharp as requested by Miss Diana. She came to the hostel two nights after the conclusion of exams to announce the date for the graduation, not that we didn’t know already but her services as matron to the girls required her to give us the information we already knew about. The graduation ceremony for Edwin and Co. is done in two phases. First, the announcement of the achievements of the graduating students, the announcement of the new perfects, the head boy and girl speech, the principal’s speech and Mr. Edwin’s speech, followed by the presentation of certificates to the graduates. For this, all parents were invited but the after-party was strictly for the students. “We never had a graduation assembly at Lake George. I can barely even remember what graduation was like back then but I do remember the booze, t