Wednesday might as well be called torture-Luan-day.
Her cheek pressed against her palm. Everything hurts. Her back. Her neck. Her eyes. Forehead. Temples. The world was slow, or maybe it was just her processing time. Even as her lunchbox lay atop her lap, the promising thought of banana cream pies did nothing. Normally, it was enough of a distraction, but dang. After what happened today, the pie just tasted salty.
And to think she was starving in biology. When the test paper came in, everything she read up the night before vanished. Gone with the wind. Right after the test, she glared at the bold C- written on it. The same thing happened with her Home Economics elective. More wrong than right answers. Somehow, the letters she encircled were jumbled up. Number one was letter A, why did she choose C? Number ten was letter D, how'd she end up circling B instead?
Blame the caffeine-riddled stomach.
But oh, well, cut it some slack. She sat at the very back of the library' s array of tables, hiding behind a propped-up book while she ate. It's the reason why she hadn't collapsed yet. Accompanying her was an idle Mr. Coconuts. No talking in the lib, yeah, but if he could, he'd tell her to move on and stick to what's about to come.
Well, yeah, true. There was still one more thing to cross off her list. And unlike the other things she came across today, this one had to be perfect.
Luan rushed down the crowded hallway that mid-afternoon. She glanced at the wall clock above the array of lockers. 2 PM… and somehow seeing it surged power through her system to push forward.
She managed to withstand the rest of the five hours prior without passing out. Though if there was anything school had taught her today, there were two lessons: one being, to pack coffee with you, and two, she really needed to hang a 'don't talk to me' sign on her body.
Most of them were witnesses to yesterday's tragedy, and they weren't afraid to show their pity. They stepped up to shove their nose in her face this time. Are you okay? Why are you late? Did you talk to Miss Dublin about what happened-
She'd bite back her groan each time, each of her responses growing steadily more dragged out. Isn't one response enough?
Luan grumbled, slipping through a group of guys going her way. Suddenly it's like, when the class clown loses their charm, that's the only time they start appreciating what they lost.
Her mouth twitched into a small smile. On the bright side, this is the one class she has where Benny is her classmate. That is, if he came to school in the first place.
But he did. Miraculously.
She didn't hang with him during lunch, nor did the rest of the Thespians with her; the library practically worked as her home these days with the endless stream of work in her way. They bombarded her phone with calls, messages, and any means of finding her, but Luan didn't bother. Finding no strength to respond.
Room 205, 206… 207
Her shoulder bumped against somebody standing by their locker a bit too roughly. Luan turned on her heels. "Sorry—"
"Luan! Hi!"
A pair of arms wrapped around her as she stood there frozen, chuckling awkwardly, heart dropping to her stomach. Oh no. "Hey Shannon, it's been a while."
Shannon pulled back and gave her a warm smile.
Luan internally screamed.
The Theatre Club had made a lot of progress upon warming up to each other, to the point their club meetings had extended to hanging out at the mall and having fun in the nearby arcade on occasion. But as Luan noticed, the group chat had been rolling with tumbleweeds these days. When she told them that they'd be one man short for a while as she caught up with her studies, they took it to heart and acted like the admin keeping the group alive died.
"How have you been? We missed you!" She shook her shoulders vigorously. "Check this: We're planning to Pizza Hat later! Wanna come with?"
And yes, in real life, maybe she had been avoiding them to a T. She could lie to herself all she wanted, that they were all distractions and temptations to deviate her from her real goal. But the truth settled deep into the back of her mind: she just couldn't keep up with their energy, or anybody's energy at all.
Shannon's rambling slipped through her ears, and she scratched her nape, slipping in her own words. "Really wish I could, but—"
"Aw, come on, Luan! Don't be like that!" She whined. "I know you're busy, but it's not you to reject good pizza like that."
"Oh, it is her, right now." Mr. Coconuts chimed in. "Who else is it supposed to be—"
"Mr. C! Shut it!" She turned to Shannon. "I get it, but I have a mountain of projects to do, and they won't finish themselves." Luan sheepishly chuckled. If she really had the time to relax, she'd spend it all on sleeping, anyway.
Shannon dropped her shoulders exasperatedly. "Come on, loosen up a little! What happened to the Queen of Pun? Get it?" She nudged Luan. "We could go out after practice; the club misses you!"
After practice? Would she even be awake by then!? "Oh, please, I don't wanna loose my chance at getting straight A's! Geddit?"
Shannon stared at her with a deadpan look. That was pretty giggled awkwardly, slowly backing away as she realized time was running out. "But seriously, send me pictures while you're at it. I'll be there in spirit!"
She rushed down the hall until finally, room 208.
Her smile fell as she pushed the door open. Worry about them later. Luan thought. Can't celebrate triumph when we haven't even gone to the match yet.
The room was a cacophony of chattering. She dropped her backpack on the front seat and hastily pulled her laptop out. The cursor rotated slowly as she struggled to open the PowerPoint that she'd been mercilessly clicking on. Relax. Relax. She thought.
How could she, though? This was it. Her ultimate chance to not blow up a whole night's worth of research and homework.
"Hey, Luan!" She looked across the room.
Her heart skipped a beat to find his boyish smile and enthusiastic wave. "Hi, Benny!" Luan left her laptop and went by his seat. They shared a high-five and giggled together.
"It's so great to see you again!"
"You too!" Benny chirped. "Anything I miss-ed?"
"M'lady!" Mr. Coconuts gasped as Benny pulled out Ms. Appleblossom. "Ya still remember me?"
The echoes of the crowded room dispersed as her focus turned to him. She told him about what happened without him, how boring it was to not have her ride-or-die at school.
Having to see the smile never leave his face, and how he remained fully immersed in every word she said made her mentally wish Mr. Fernandez would forget he had a schedule today. Being with Benny had been the most engaging thing she had gone through this week.
With a few laughs shared, their topic quickly shifted to today's report; how she 'd discuss the ins and outs of African Music, and that he and the group didn't need to fret when she was armed and ready to drop the bombs to a spectacular performance. One that could've been, the day before if she wasn't so cocky about knowing what to do.
No! Luan bit the urge to yelp as Mr. Fernandez coolly walked into the room.
"Whoops, gotta go!" Luan hastily returned to her assigned seat. "Talk to ya later!"
"Good luck!" He said. "I'll be cheering for you!"
She smiled and confidently returned to her seat at the front. Luan pulled her laptop out and turned it on. Her hands grew colder. Nothing has to fail.
"If one thing flops, then say goodbye to your grade—" Luan rolled her eyes and gave Mr. C a soft punch on the shoulder, before returning to her laptop to set the PowerPoint on full screen. So encouraging.
Fernandez leaned on the table and wore his thick glasses. "I forgot to point this out the other day, but this isn't just your standardized oral report. I also wanted this to be an assessment to see if all of you truly did your part in your groups."
Luan swiped through her presentation. "Therefore, I'll be calling random names in each group to report."
Her fingers froze on the mousepad of her laptop.
Oh, right. Right. She exhaled. They know what to do.
Mr. Fernandez was known to be a die-hard flake. Luan swallowed, looking around to receive the wide-eyed glances of terror on the other student's faces. But wow, he's sticking to what he says for once. Noice.
"Wonder who's gonna be unlucky enough," Whitney chirped from beside her, sliding her eyes down. "Nice puppet, by the way."
Luan shrugged. "Eh, they know what to do.".
"Really?" She asked, amused. "You went all in to prep up, huh?"
She felt a tingle rush up her cheeks. "Yeaahh… I just don't want yesterday to repeat itself."
Luan pulled her hand out of the puppet and set him on the ground, backpack keeping him company.
Then right as she did that, the reports officially began.
A name was called. A girl came to the front of the class. She was nervous, fidgety. The point of her report? Luan wondered. Swallowing and stuttering every two seconds is an audience turn-off.
The second one, a boy, read his presentation word for word. What're you, Jamie? Text to speech bot? Luan wanted to giggle at it, and she did... under the palm of her hand, under her seat, pretending to pick something up. The third one was a mixed bag. Things were going well, until he got asked a question about the report; he fell back, but eventually got ahold of himself, so, salute to him.
Two of the groups went down in agony, while the third managed to pass the teacher's standards— not by much.
As for the fate of her group? It'd be dancing on the edge of a knife, balanced by the chosen one's hands. Luan crossed her ankles and entwined her fingers. She knew her group mates did their jobs, even if they couldn't speak as well as she did. Luan breathed in slowly, soothing the jitters in her nerves. They'll be fine.
Everyone had their eyes near the door, right where Mr. Fernandez stood, scanning a sheet of paper with his group and their members. "Benny Stein."
Huh, Benny? Luan's eyebrows shot up. He knew her best. If there was anyone in their group who'd cover up as a sidekick, it was him. Easy peasy.
It was quiet.
Where's the cover-up?
"Where is that guy?" Mr. Fernandez grumbled under his breath.
Luan shifted in the front seat, shooting a glance at her boyfriend at the back of the class. What the? They're stars of theater plays; he can do this. He sat by the window seat, head tucked. Wait, what? What the heck was going on with him?
Their eyes met. Her cold hand clenched, fingers coating itself with the sweat of her shaky palm. "Come on! Go up here already!" She mouthed desperately.
Benny shot her a bewildered stare. "What am I supposed to do?"
Luan dragged a hand down her face, mouthing back. Just read the presentation!
"He's not up for it, apparently, sir." The blonde kid sitting beside Benny said.
Luan gulped, turning around to see the middle-aged man wearing a thin lip. Long, heaving breaths slipped out her nose. Her knee bounced up and down in frantic motion, her fingers fiddled with one another. Maybe he'll just call somebody else to report—
"Oh… so, you're just gonna pass?" Mr. Fernandez grabbed his pen and took out the paper with their group's members written on it.
Unbelievable. She shot a hand up. "S-sir, wait!"
"Yes, Loud?" Mr. Fernandez hummed, raising his eyes off the paper slightly.
"I can do it, in his place!" She stammered out, gulping. He's so by-the-book though! This has to work! "Benny has a... uh- raspy throat! He sorta overworked his vocal cords, maintaining his singing voice and all that."
He stared at her with a deadpan look. Her classmates looked at her with mixed faces.
Luan knew that look from anywhere, and it wasn't good.
Mr. Fernandez paused, then turned to Benny; who's complexion turned pale. "And? I can always call the faculty room to hand over their portable lapel microphones."
Oh.
Shoot.