The previous week, Alex tried searching for Rachel in the school but couldn't find her. He realized they never exchanged numbers or any social media account.

He decided to wait in front of the gym after school. He doubted she was going to practice since the tests started last week. His reading paid off as he has seen some of the results of the test.

He had no idea how she was coping with the tests, practice, and the community services she volunteered for.

Right now, he was waiting for the results of his biology test, Biology was not a big deal to him, it was one of the easiest subjects he knew, maybe because he was curious about living things or because it was easy to understand. Either way, it was his favorite subject when he was reading it alone. The theory class was boring, the teacher always tried to crack jokes which was infuriating to him.

He sat on his seat nervously, he knew he shouldn't be, he had studied hard for the test. He glanced back at Rachel, she looked really tired but waved at him with the most enthusiastic smile she could muster. The teacher called the students name as he shared the test papers, Alex took a deep breath and looked at his test sheet.

He saw a red marker with a capital D on the sheet. He placed the sheet on his table again, took another deep breath and checked his grade again. He continued this sequence until he decided to check his notes thinking he probably made a mistake. He checked his notes, reviewing the mistakes. The teacher probably made a mistake he thought.

Standing from his seat, he approached the teacher who was sitting at the back of his desk looking at the students' reaction to the test results.

"Good morning sir, I think you made a mistake in some of the questions. I checked my notes and the answers are similar." He said in a very low voice.

"Alexandre. Right?" The teacher asked looking at his paper to which he nodded.

"I'm not like other teachers, I don't judge based on written tests only. Your grade depends on your participation in in-class activities and interaction with other students during practical classes. Then I'll judge your written test." He said placing his hands under his chin and his elbows on the table with a smile.

"So I failed because I don't interact in your classes?" He said with a straight face masking his bubbling anger.

" I understand you want to be a neurosurgeon, even if you're not sure yet. You're going to be a doctor Alexandre, you need to learn how to talk to people, you need to know how to approach people. It's like a training process." He slid the paper back to him.

"You're really good, judging from your answers. I'll use Rachel as an example." He gestured at Rachel, she was resting her head on the table tiredly as she was talking to a girl and a boy.

"She's just as good as you are but she interacts in class and is easy to approach. She's the kind of doctor patients would want to approach because they feel like they can share their problems with her comfortably. Do you see where I'm going with this?" The teacher continued raising his brows.

"Oh that's bullshit!" He said suddenly.

"Alexandre, you need to calm down." The teacher said calmly as if he was used to students outburst.

"No! I don't think a doctor should be judged based on interactions with patients, I want to be a Neurosurgeon not a pediatrician!" He was losing it slowly, he was attracting the class's attention. He couldn't control his anger, he tried not to react to most things but right now, nothing was fine.

"It doesn't matter what kind of doctor you want to be Alexandre, you still need to learn how to talk to your patients. Maybe you'll surprise yourself in the next test. Take your seat." He said in a still calm tone, standing up probably to address the class which infuriated Alex more.

"No! You're going to change my grade, I studied hard for this test. I had sleepless nights for this test, I spent my spare time in the library reading this fucking subject! I deserve at least a B. So you're going to sit back down and regrade my test!" He said in a finalizing tone.

The teacher chuckled and told him to take a seat or leave the class and get detention after school. Rachel stared at Alex, she had no idea he could even get angry. She stood up to try to calm him. She knew they've not talked in days but they were not avoiding each other either.

" Alex, you need to stop this." She whispered standing next to him holding his wrist tightly.

"I need to stop?! I got a D on a test I studied my butt for..." He said snatching his wrist, "because I was not interacting with other students." He said air quoting the words.

"Maybe you'll do better in the next test or you can talk to him calmly during the lunch break." Rachel said hoping that would calm him.

"What was your grade Rachel?" He asked calmly after taking a deep breath.

"It doesn't matter. Just stay calm." She said smiling nervously.

He glared at her and marched towards her table to take a look at her paper. Rachel snatched the paper before he could check anything but he got a hold of the other side of them. Both of them stared at the paper they were holding, Rachel carefully used her hand to cover her grade.

"Let go of my test sheet, Alex." She said with a glare.

"Then tell me your grade. You know mine, then why don't you tell me yours?" He said returning her glare.

"It is none of your business! Let go." She said trying to get the sheet out of his grip.

"No!" He said pulling the sheet closer to himself.

"It's going to tear Alex." She said trying hard not to scream at him. The whole class was watching them, no one said anything.

" Ok that's enough guys." The teacher interfered.

"Stay out of it," Alex said glancing at the teacher then pulling the sheet closer to himself.

"Don't tell him what to do," Rachel replied pulling the sheet closer to herself.

"Alex let go of the sheet." She said with a cracked voice. She was way too tired for arguments or silly fights.

"You let go!" He said dragging the sheet to himself.

"It's mine!" She said dragging the sheet forcefully causing it to tear to two pieces.

Rachel let go of her piece and stared at the sheet on the floor trying to hold a sob. She was supposed to take that paper home to show her dad.

She also studied hard for the test. Her father was a surgeon. She remembered the day she told him she was also going to follow his footsteps. They celebrated by going to a fancy restaurant, cheered on his life as a single dad and hers as a single daughter laughing. She remembered how hard she convinced him that she could study hard in school and still be an activist and a cheerleader. He said it was going to be stressful.

'Medicine and Surgery is not a easy course kiddo, you'll have to sacrifice a lot but since you are just starting, I'll try and make it easy before college but it's going to be hard now.' He had said ruffing her hair.

Ever since then, he woke her up at 3 am to read and she read until it was time to get ready for school. She always complained that it was too hard, sometimes, she'll try to make small conversations with her dad to pass time but he'll ignore her and continue the research he was making on his tablet.

The hard work paid off and she had nothing to show for it, yes she passed the other test but this was the important one. She continued staring at the paper on the floor, with the lingering tear on her eye threatening to fall.

Alex didn't care, he couldn't read her thoughts he snatched her piece from the floor and place them together. She got an A. The A was big and shiny to Alex and stared at Rachel, who was still staring at the floor. He then glared at the teacher, then yelled at the both them, he was cursing and sweating profusely but he didn't care. He called her a bad and fake friend.

Rachel tuned him out, she remembered the night she and her father went to the fancy restaurant, they also cheered to her dead mum, she was also a doctor. That night she found out her parents met during a stressful night shift and instantly hit off. It was not love at first sight or anything, rather they competed to be the best surgeon in the hospital.

She remembered the night her mum died, she heard the gunshot, she was about 6 or 7. The masked armed robbers took every valuable thing they had and that included her mother's life. She didn't see anything, her parents locked her in the closet and told not to scream when they heard the doors clicking. Her father blamed himself for not saving his wife's life. Rachel was thankful he cared about her and didn't drink his sorrows out. He had hugged her tightly that night, she wanted to be a brave girl for her dad and hardly cried.

The tears lingering on her eyes started pouring, Alex was still yelling. She didn't notice her shaky hand. The teacher noticed her right-hand shaking and approached her putting his hand on her shoulder. Telling her to calm down, ignoring Alex rants.

She looked at the teacher, her face was red, she couldn't breathe it was like someone stopped the airflow. She looked at her classmates, they looked worried.

She could only hear the teachers words.

"Breathe Rachel."

"In..." He said doing the same thing as if showing her how to do it.

"Out..." She did exactly what he was doing.

"Good again, Chloe get the nurse."

"Now let's try that again... In... Out..." She continued the motion.

Alex stared at her, he was calm now. He looked at her it was all his fault, he wished he had listened to her. He couldn't look at her red face, so he walked out of the slamming the door with the torn piece of paper.

"He might be quiet but he's disrespectful." The teacher muttered under his breath.

The least he could do was hand her test sheet back to her in a piece.

He took a transparent tape from his locker and taped the pieces together, then looked at his work. He took the taped sheet to the school's cybercafe to laminate it, so it won't be obvious it was taped.

~•~

"And then he left! He even slammed the door." Rachel continued ranting to Piper and Alice.

"Noo..." Nathan said not looking away from his phone as he sat near her bed earning a glare from Alice, Piper, and Rachel.

"Are you even listening to me?" Rachel asked with a raised brow.

"Honestly, no." He replied, looking away from his screen for a second.

"Excuse me?" Piper asked smacking his head.

"I'm on Alex side even though I've not met him." He said shrugging.

"You know I honestly want to say some things to you but since you said you were not listening, I'll let it slide," Alice said offering him a thin lip smile.

"Put yourself in Alex shoes, failing a test because you were not interacting in class? Some people are naturally quiet, you can't force them to do certain things. Good and fine, I agree it was for his own good but he should have told you guys from the beginning of the class, Alex would have made his decision then." He said facing Rachel.

"You studied hard for this test didn't you?" He asked her.

"Yes..." She replied pouting with a glare.

"Imagine failing it because you over interacted in class or you talked too much. How would you feel?" He asked.

"I need to sleep." She said with a straight face and laid on her bed.

"Let's go," Piper said dragging Nathan and Alice out.

"Alice and I will see you later," Piper called out later.

"Thanks," Rachel replied as she dozed off with heavy thoughts on her mind.

~•~

"Hey honey." Rachel's dad walked into the school clinic, kissing the side of her head.

"I had an asthma attack dad." She said sitting on the bed hugging her dad with tears in her eyes.

Her father on the other hand chuckled on her shoulder. She pulled out of the hug with a sad look.

"It was not an Asthma attack darling." He said cleaning her teary eyes.

"It was! I couldn't breathe, I thought I was going to die." She said pouting.

"You had a panic attack. Remember when I told you about anxiety?" He asked smiling to which she nodded.

"Panic attack is like a symptom of anxiety and it's totally normal for teenagers, ok?" He said cleaning her misinformation.

"Does that mean I'm going to be depressed?"

"No, I told you to stop researching diseases. It's not healthy."

"Ok." She said smiling.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Oh just this and that ." She said waving her hand.

"This and that caused a panic attack. Rachel..." He called her name in a warning tone.

"You know Alex right? I told you about him. He got a D on his test-" she started telling him about her eventful morning.

"Oh poor boy." Her father said shaking his head at the end of her story, earning a disapproving look from Rachel.

"I agree with your friend, Nathan right? If the teacher wanted to grade like that he should have said something about it since the beginning of the class. Sure Alex went about it in a totally rude way but that's the thing about anger, you can't hold back the words you spit out. Who knows if he's beating himself for it right now." Her father said shaking his head.

~•~

He stood in front of the school's clinic door, he raised his hand to knock then put it near his sides back. He took a deep breath, raised his right hand to knock again.

He wanted to turn back, maybe she was sleeping. He didn't want to interrupt, he contemplated on sliding the paper under the door, maybe just maybe, she'll see it before leaving.

'pam pam.' he heard on the door, he looked at the person that knocked. He saw the two boys from the library running and screaming "you're welcome."

"Come in." He heard the nurse call out from the other side of the room.

He took a deep nervous breath and walked hoping she was not in. He was not ready to talk to her, he had no idea what to tell her.

"I'm here to see Rachel." He finally said as the nurse refused to say or do anything other than glare at him. She rolled her eyes and pointed at a corner of the big room.

He saw a man dressed casually from the back, he assumed it was her dad because of the little amount of grey hair on his head. At least things won't be as awkward as he imagined.

He approached them slowly, a little part of him telling him to turn back with each step he took.

"Good afternoon Sir." He said greeting her dad first, he saw her smile die immediately he greeted her dad.

"Good afternoon." Her dad replied with a smile.

"I wanted to give you this and I'm sorry about this morning." He said handing her the laminated sheet.

She collected the paper muttering a ' thank you.' He nodded and left the room as fast as could. It was a bad decision, he thought, no, he knew.

~•~

He sat in the library, his thoughts were beating him up. He knew he messed up, he didn't regret what he told the teacher. He did feel like he caused Rachel's asthma attack, he had no idea how to fix it. The first friend he made in high school hated him. His day could not get any worse.

"I don't think I've seen so much drama in my life before." Alex looked up and saw the guy with every shade of purple in his hair shaking his head.

"Well, your life is a bit boring Max." The cotton candy haired guy replied making his friend glare at him.

"I'm just saying..." He said shrugging.

"I just feel bad for the girl." The guy named Max said.

"And teacher?" The cotton candy haired guy added.

"Nah... The teacher should have said something. Who knows if that's something he made up last night, training my ass."

"I don't think so, he's one of the friendliest teachers we have."

"Ray, nobody cares about that. Point is he still should have told us. The boy is a piece of shit for walking out of the class during the girl's asthma attack."

"She has been through so much, first she has to deal with those nasty cheerleaders, now she has to deal with the idiot."

"Idiot is like a compliment, try something you imagine the history teacher with," Max said encouraging his friend to think of better insults.

"I don't mean to interfere but if you want to talk about me, can you do it out of my sight?" Alex finally said glaring at them.

"What makes you think we didn't know you're here," Max asked with a raised brow, making Alex reply with a glare.

In my country, high school or secondary school is a total of six years (junior year and Senior year) but I've stated three years ago, ever since I started the book. So instead of six years, they'll be using 5years in high school. I hope this is adding up?

Right now, the characters are still about 14 or 15 years old.
So they're still young and a little bit immature.

How do you guys react when you fail a test you studied hard for?

Who was at fault? Alex or the teacher?

What do you think of this chapter? Do you like it or hate it😥. Or is it just average?

Don't forget to vote and comment ❤️.

Song of the week: Jekyll and Hyde by Devinity Perkins.