Even before Mrs. Thomas announced that she was going to walk down each aisle and return the graded test papers to her students, Sue cringed with dreaded anticipation. She turned to Brad who was sitting behind her, reading his textbook. Annoyed, she gently pushed the book downward, forcing him to look at her.
"What?"
"Brad, how can you be so calm?"
"What do you mean? I'm always calm."
"I mean about my grade on this test! God, Brad I'm so nervous!"
Brad, being Brad, wasn't at all fazed by the news and instead smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Sue. You've got this!"
She sighed, grateful to have Brad as her best friend. He was always so encouraging, no matter what the situation. But this time, the situation was helpless. "Thanks Brad, but-."
His hand reached for hers. "Sue, you're a good student. Just remember that, okay?"
"Okay." She replied woodenly, letting out a deep, frustrated sigh. And then she smiled. "You're right, Brad. I am a good student! I-."
She turned around to find the piece of paper lying face down on her desk, which made her heart beat faster. She shut her eyes, afraid to look at her grade. And when she finally did look, she wished that she hadn't. A feeling of sickness came over her.
"Oh God…"
"How bad is it?"
Embarrassed to show her test even to her best friend she shook her head. "I-I can't."
"Come on, Sue. How bad can it be?"
When she frowned he grinned brightly. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours!"
She couldn't even bring herself to laugh at his attempt at humor. "Brad-."
"Come on."
"No, it's embarrassing!"
"Please?"
"Oh, all right. I have to show someone eventually. You might as well be the first." Her hand trembled as she reached for the piece of paper and thrust it in his direction.
As she expected, he took one look at it and grimaced.
"Ouch."
"God, Brad. I've never made that bad of a grade on a test, ever!"
"Don't worry about it. It's just one test."
"I know, but what about the next one? And the one after that? I can't do this, Brad! I don't know what I was thinking, trying to convince Miss Sims that I was smart enough to be in Advanced Algebra. I have no idea what I'm doing and I feel like a complete dunce."
"You're not a dunce, Sue. You're smart."
"Not smart enough. My parents are going to kill me!"
"Sue, relax, all right? Your parents are pretty cool. They'll understand."
"They won't understand this. Don't you get it, Brad? Do you have any idea how many meetings they had to go to with the guidance counselor to get me into this class? And Axl is the one who always gets bad grades, not me! I'm not saying I'm perfect, but get much better grades than Axl does. Until now, anyway."
"I promise everything will be fine."
"Are you sure?"
He drew an X on his shirt with his hand. "Cross my heart."
"Well I hope you're right."
"I am right, all right? Sue, you have nothing to worry about. I know that your parents will understand."
But even though Sue trusted Brad completely, she wasn't so sure that things would ever be fine.
