I took another glance at the clock. I only had ten more minutes… The classroom walls seemed to shrink around me as I turned my head back to face the exam once again, the questions staring back at me. I looked over at Evan, who was buried in a book. Of course the straight A students whom I admired more than anyone was already finished. Despite his good looks and silly personality, Evan was the smartest one in the class. I then turned my head to Chris and Tiffany, my two best friends who happened to start dating last month. Both still had pencils in hands, circling answers. I wasn't surprised when both stood up at the same time to turn in their finished work. I looked back down at my exam, feeling sweat appear on my head. I wasn't good at Chemistry. Starting to panic with time ticking, I ran my fingers through my hair. I grabbed up my pencil and circled random letters. Standing up, my knees popped, the sound echoed through the room. I slowly walked to the front desk where Mr. Henderson took up my paper. I lightly smiled in relief that it was over. I was finally done with finals and summer starts in two hours. I walked back to my desk and sat back down, right when the bell rang. I heard a loud sigh coming from the back of the room. To my disbelief, Brett stood up with an unfinished exam and turned it in. I caught his eye before he went back to sit down. He just pursed his lips together and shook his head. Brett was so clever. Chemistry was even his best subject! I was completely surprised when I realized he hadn't even gotten to the back of the page. I grabbed my backpack and headed for the door. Chris and Tiffany were standing outside waiting for me.

"How'd it go?" Chris asked. I looked at him with a 'do I really need to answer that?' look on my face. Brett then walked out behind Evan, who was still lost in his book. I stared at him as he walked down the hallway. Evan has been my neighbor for about nine months now, ever since he moved to Atlanta from somewhere in Michigan. I've had a crash on him ever since. He gives me rides to school and then rides home. I've talked to him before; we're just not good friends.

"I totally freaked out you guys," Brett said. "My nerves, they screwed me over."

"It's okay Brett. I failed it, too," I reassured him. That wasn't saying much, considering Brett was the second smartest person in class right behind Evan, and I'm right behind Chris and Tiffany, who were always on the same level at everything. He looked back at me with an almost in tears look on his face.

"Ashley, you don't get it. I've tried so hard this year. I studied so hard and even tutored Evan." I looked up quickly.

"You tutored Evan?"

"He may be the smartest one in our class, but there are a few things he's clueless on about chemistry." Wow. I would have never guessed that Evan were to be one who would need tutoring. I always saw him as the tutor.

"Tiffany and I will see you two at lunch," Chris said grabbing her hand. They walked off together and I looked back over at Brett.

"Brett it honestly couldn't have been that bad," I said empathetically.

"I'm done talking about it. I'm just happy the year is over. I want to have a good summer and amp up for senior year." I smiled.

"Hey you guys!" I heard a voice shout behind me. Brett opened his arms for a hug from the girl.

"Reagan!" She jumped into his arms and laughed. Brett and Reagan have only been going out for a couple weeks. I had to convince her to ask him out because he was probably going to be too shy to do it. You could really tell they liked each other from the beginning of the school year, and I had talked to Brett trying to tell him she liked him back, but he would never believe me. I finally just told Reagan to make the first move, and I could tell, watching the two lovebirds, that she would never regret that decision. They finally let go of their embrace.

"How was your day?" the bubbly girl asked with a bright smile across her face.

"Chemistry blew. Other than that, I've been good!" Brett said genuinely smiling back at her.

"How about you, Ash?"

"Um… It was good, I guess." I didn't want to tell her that Chemistry was a total fail. Trigonometry could've gone better, but that wasn't the worst part. AP World is what really got me. I could remember walking into that class, which I have with Chris, and him saying, "Pressure's on now." I didn't want Reagan to know how I was probably going to repeat the eleventh grade while everyone else was going to graduate. I tried to lay low, but as clever as Reagan is, she caught me.

"Didn't go well, did it?" I shook my head and shrugged my shoulders. I wasn't going to let that get me down, though, so I changed the subject.

"Well enough of that! How about we go get some lunch then head home?" They both nodded their heads in agreement and we all headed down to the cafeteria. I always brought my lunch, and so did Tiffany so I went and sat next to her. "How's it going?"

"Oh it's going," the tall brunette said with a sly smile. We both laughed and got out our lunchboxes. Soon the whole gang showed up, which included Evan. I never really talked to him at lunch, but he was on the football team with Chris and Brett. That was the main reason he sat with us every day. I would always wonder to myself if he thought about me as much as I thought about him, but then sometimes I wondered if that was just an insane thought. Maybe I wasn't good enough for him. Maybe that's why he hardly talks to me. The most he's ever said to me in one sentence was "That movie is to my right, theatre number twelve." I went to the movie theatre he worked at a lot, and only just so I could see him. Reagan would always find a way to figure out what times and days he was working. Although he drives me to school literally every day, he never really says much. I guess that's what I found so attractive in him. He was just so mysterious and every time I would catch his eye, it made my heart flutter and my stomach fly into my throat. I didn't know what it was about Evan Cooper that I liked so much, but I just knew that there had to be some way that I needed to find out.