I passed.
WITH A FREAKING 99!!
I stare blankly at Mr. Barnes as he tells me this.
And then I scream.
Loudly.
And then I leap forward and give him a hug.
"Oh...thank you thank you thank you THANK YOU!" I scream in his ear, before running out the door yelling like a lunatic with my test in hand.
I run all the way home, my feet refraining from tripping me over, fortunately. I slam open the door to the house.
"Ben!!" I scream, giving the butler a strangling hug. "I passed the final!"
Before he can congratulate me, I run off down the hallway, nearly crying with relief.
You see, this grade moves my entire year grade to an A minus, meaning I'm NOT GOING TO SUMMER SCHOOL!
I run screaming into Abner's study, throwing my test on his desk.
I hug him fiercely, knocking his tea on his lap.
"Dad, I PASSED!" I yell as soon as I let go of him. "WITH A NINETY NINE PERCENT!"
"Good job Marion, I'm proud of you." He beams, going back to his newspaper.
His words warm me over and I grin even bigger than before, and then run outside into the hall way.
I skip into the dining room and then stop, finding Jones at the table eating an apple. He looks up on me, his expression unsure and cautious.
"How'd ya do?" He asks uncertainly, looking me up and down.
"HOLY SHIT I GOT A NINETY NINE PERCENT!" I scream once more, running forward to give him a hug.
He stands up to receive it, the smile apparent on his face. I throw my arms around his neck, completely not caring how rash I look.
Instead of awkwardly returning the hug like I thought he would, he spins me around, holding my waist to him as my legs fly out like propellers.
"Ha! I knew you could do it!" He yells enthusiastically, giving me another firm hug.
I keep my arms around him and he does the same to me for a few more seconds. I like it, the feeling of his strong arms around my tiny waist. It's nice, you know, being able to hug someone who used to be your enemy.
I let go and stare at my feet for a moment, before bounding off to my room.
Life is good.