Rising Shards

4th Period: Mathematics 9A A1D1 POPPI

I expected a mountain to climb for the math final. Poppi wasn’t a terrible teacher, she could be really rude but I didn’t think she was intentionally awful (Kalei disagreed). I expected pages upon pages of difficult math equations, with no calculator in sight to pull me through the stormy numerical waters. As I pictured all of us on a boat with a sail with numbers on it outside the classroom, fidgeting around on my heels, Oka and Lillia stood beside me, both with arms crossed.

“It’s your turn,” Oka said.

“I don’t think so,” Lillia said, turning her nose up a bit. “There isn’t some external influence causing these embarrassing moments. Most of them have been from your carelessness and clumsiness.”

My image of Lillia had mostly softened from the girl I met at the start of the school year, going from a stern and intense student who cared about school above all else to a stern and intense student who also was very kind, but Lillia bringing up how we were really responsible for our string of embarrassments made me think of the Lillia I was scared to talk to.

“Nuh uh,” Oka said.

“A sound argument,” Lillia said. “Shall I break down your humiliations so you understand the root of them more clearly?”

“I’d rather you didn’t…” I said.

“Final one: Zeta dropped the fabricated void monster, making a mess of her uniform. Clumsiness. Awkwardness. Take your pick.”

“It was probably a mix of both…” I said.

“It was probably a mix of Lillia being a jerk!” Oka said. “I’d like if you didn’t talk about my Zeta that way.”

“I’ll do my best provided you don’t insult my academics,” Lillia said. “Final two: Soleri chastising you in front of everyone.”

“That one is so not from me being awkward!” Oka said. “Well, I was awkward about it but Soleri was being a huge jerk.”

“I’ll give you that one.” Lillia said. “Final three: Kalei’s slideshow fiasco. Could have easily been avoided if you proofed your work.”

“I still say that one’s more on Kalei than us.” Oka said.

“Lastly, I’m in the AP section of the classroom, which has significantly more difficult lessons, and I’m fully prepared. You could even say that I’m quadruple prepared. My only embarrassment could come from errors in my calculations. Which won’t be happening.”

Oka crossed her arms more tightly. “It’s definitely your turn.”

Like usual, Poppi had us in a specific seating arrangement for class, so I couldn’t sit by any close friends. The class was set up with a checkerboard arrangement of desks. 

“I’d prefer if no one left their seats, if possible,” Poppi announced after doing what sounded like choir vocal warmups for some reason. “If it’s an emergency, you may of course rise to your feet. But avoiding it as much as possible would be ideal.” I was ready to take back what I thought about Poppi not being purposefully awful because the way she phrased it made me terrified to move from my desk. She also went around to everyone and made us put our phones into a bin. I took one last look at my Raina Starlight background for good luck before handing over mine.

Getting into an argument right before starting a final didn’t seem to affect Lillia in the slightest. Me preemptively stressing had the opposite effect. I spent the first five minutes of class worrying about my shaky hands. What if this was an emergency? But if it’s not and I got up I would be in trouble. Maybe she’d fail me. Maybe my entire semester of work would go up in smoke from me having a meltdown before I even scribbled in one bubble on the answer sheet? I huffed, trying to get myself in gear. Shaky hands would not defeat me here. A few deep breaths seemed to calm me down. Unfortunately, they were joined by a familiar warmth in my nose. 

Not now… Was all I could think as I dabbed the back of my hand to my nostril, then seeing a dot of blood on it. Sure enough, it was one of my trademark geyser nosebleeds, hitting me at the worst possible time. I didn’t have any tissues on hand, so I settled for trying to subtly pinch my nose. I figured Poppi would not consider a nosebleed an emergency, thinking back to a few weeks earlier when she used them as an example of students doing whatever they could to step out of the classroom during a difficult exam, sneaking out into the halls to pass leaked answer sheets or something. I didn’t want to do that, I just wanted to wait this out and clean up. 

I tried to think about anything but my nosebleed as I got the first page of the exam done. It lurched between helping me completely focus and being a huge distraction, but when I was focused I felt like I was actually doing pretty well on the questions. My nosebleed wasn't getting any better, though. This felt like it was going to be a calamity soon. Should I just resign myself to getting embarrassed this regularly for these tests?

Just as I was lamenting the imminent laughter coming my way, a computer sounding voice came from one of the phones in the bin.

“Attention. Midday alarm, ‘study with Ko,’ is set.” It was obvious who set that one. Even more so when the alarm's song played, one that I learned from Oka right after class was titled “Hot Jock Girlfriend” from a musical about a volleyball tournament.

“She spiked my heart, call it a start, la la la, she's got sass, and an amazing—”

“Whoever is the owner of that phone, could you step forward and shut it off?” Poppi said.  “It’s a lovely song from a terrific show, but now isn’t the time. And make sure to flip your exam over before you do.”

Lillia made the walk of shame to the front of class, the laughter I anticipated coming my way ending up at her as she furiously shut her phone off before returning to her desk, her posture perfect as always but it carried the energy of someone burying their face in their sleeves with their head down.

Oka wasn't laughing (none of the close friend group added to Lillia’s defeat) but she did look super smug. It was adorable.

In the chaos of the moment, I darted over to Poppi and asked if I could be excused for the nose thing. She shooed me away more politely than I expected, but she still told me that if I needed more than five minutes to deal with the nosebleed that I'd have to go to the nurse's for a slip stating as much, as that wasn't just Poppi's preference, but also part of the school’s test taking policy. How many people used a nosebleed to cheat on a test at this school?

I stared at my tail after the test concluded, frowning at a dark blotch on the fur.

“How the frick did I get blood on my tail…?” I muttered. “At least I didn't wreck two uniforms this week.”

“You probably had it wrapped around your waist, I've seen you do that without thinking.” Oka said.

Kalei stared at her lunch with a vacant, faraway look.

“You good there, Kalei?” I asked.

She nodded very slowly. “I knew that one would be rough, but oof…”

“Well, we're about halfway done now, I think.” Oka said. “Oh, oh! I should say we're halfway done, by my math. Eh? Eh?”

“Pretty good!” I said. “Kalei probably would have slightly chuckled if she wasn't in a post finals daze.”

Lillia sat down by us with a huff, angrily getting a napkin out and spreading it on her lap like a blanket. “Don’t say anything.”

“I wouldn’t,” Oka said. “I’m just relishing my victory.”

“That counts as saying something.”

“Sure, sure,” Oka said, patting Lillia on her back. “You’re definitely one of the crew.”

Despite not wanting us to talk about it, we still tried to offer comfort.

“Apologies for my prior intensity,” Lillia said when she had cooled off for a bit. “I don't think this affected my actual test work, but I will be licking the social wounds for quite some time.”

“We're right there with ya,” Oka said.

“Thanks.” Lillia said.

“And good song pick too, Volleyball Sunset has been on my see live wishlist for a bit now!” Oka said. “Also, Ko is gonna lose her mind when she finds out about this.”

“I'm well aware,” Lillia said. “Ahem. Thanks again for putting up with my intensity about classes. I've had acquaintances want nothing to do with me after finals. So. I appreciate having you as friends.”

“What are besties for if not to catch you when you fall?” Oka said. “Or in this case put up with you liking school a bunch and an alarm going off during a test.”

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