M   A   T   T

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"Fifteen minutes left," Ms Scott announced to the class.

Panic went through my whole body as soon as Ms Scott said that there were only fifteen minutes left. Fifteen minutes was not enough time for me to finish the paper, let alone solve this algebraic expression.

Damn it, Matthew. Why didn't you study the night before?

But then again, what was the point for solving this question when I knew I would fail. Math had never been a strong suit of mine. Anyway, I turned the page and was overwhelmed by the amount of riddle-like questions. Why couldn't the setter just put 'factorise this equation' or something like that and not some story that had details put all over the place.

I rubbed my temples. How was I supposed to finish this?

Quickly skipping through questions and finishing the easy ones I knew how to solve. I turned the pages back and forth and realised I had left quite a lot of questions blank. Oh my God.

I checked the time. Two minutes left.

There was only one thing left to do. And that was to give up.

When time was up, Ms Scott started collecting back the papers. Around me, I saw stressed faces and I was one of them. I felt what they felt. When the teacher told us we could leave, I saw Yvan quickly walking out of the room in a hurry.

What's the rush? I asked myself.

Picking up my bag from the front of the classroom, I walked out of the classroom and was suddenly met with the blonde. . . again. She was always running into me and it was kind of bugging me.

"What do you want?" I asked, annoyed.

"Why the frown?" she tilted her head. "Paper was too hard?"

I scoffed. "Nicole, what do you want?" I asked again with a firmer tone.

"Oh you know. . ." she said and smiled seductively as tugged at my collar and pulled me closer to her face.

When my face was so close to hers, there was no reason for my eyes dropped to her lips and quickly back to her eyes. That annoyed feeling I had just a moment ago was overruled by something else.

"A certain someone," Nicole whispered in my ear. She pushed me back playfully and turned to walked away. She stopped in her tracks to face me and gave a wink before walking any further.

I couldn't help the hand that waved to her. Then, my phone buzzed in my pocket. Reaching for it and turning on the phone, it was a message from Skye.

S: u got some explaining to do with ur gf

M: what

S: she saw everything. look to ur right

S: goodluck buddy

So I did as told. And boy was I in deep trouble. Skye was right. Joanne was standing with crossed arms, so were Jade and Jean, outside of the last classroom of the block. If this was a cartoon, fumes would come out of her ears.

M: pls tell me she didnt see everything

S: oh she saw  e v e r y t h i  n g

I turned to Skye and he gave two thumbs up and a sympathetic smile. When I turned back to where Joanne and her two friends were standing, they were gone. I quickly run to the spot and saw them walking away.

"Jo!" I called as I ran after her.

And she didn't bother to stop, nor did the other two. I understood why. But seriously though, I didn't understand girls all that well. One of which was why were they so quick to jump to conclusions.

"Joanne, wait!" I called again.

This time, she did stop, but Jade and Jean continued walking to a classroom where their next paper was held. She turned around and hissed a "what?"

"There is nothing going on between me and Nicole, okay?" I said in between breaths.

"Yeah, well, I find that very hard to believe considering you two were inches away from kissing each other!" she huffed. "And don't even try to tell me you didn't even think about it!"

A sharp blade stabbed right through me, the sensation of guilt running through my body. There was truth to what she said. And I looked down to the floor, thinking of a suitable reply.

Then, I recalled the other day when her friends told me about Nicole and what I said to Joanne.

"Remember what I told you the other day?" I asked and she simply rolled her eyes. "I said that 'I would never leave you for some dumb girl', right? And I'm going to keep that promise, okay?"

Joanne thought about it for a moment. It was if she was uncertain that I could even keep such a promise. Honestly, I felt the same as her. I didn't know if I could even keep it.

"Okay," she muttered lowly. "If I see you with that bitch again--"

"You won't," I shook my head and pulled her into a hug, but she didn't return the hug. It was as if I was hugging a plank of wood.

"I'm late for my next paper," she said and quickly moved away from my hold.

Scratching the back of my head, I said, "Good luck." But it came out more of a question. Joanne didn't acknowledge it as she continued her steps to the classroom. I sighed. If Nicole bumped into me again, I was just going to ignore her. . . if that was even possible.

So the two Js weren't lying. She really was trying to break Joanne and I. And it was my job to try and prevent it from happening. Keyword: try.

Since my next paper wouldn't be here for the next hour, I didn't see why I should rush through my notes-- like I even brought them. I was trying to wrap my head around what just happened. Between Nicole and I. Joanne and I.

It'll all be fine, right?

For the time being, I'd forget about it. I made my way to the canteen. Standing right outside, I saw Yvan with two other seniors.