2010
East High, Owen Sound, Ontario

"What do you mean I won't graduate?" I glared at my coding teacher, Mr. Chumley. I had never raised my voice at a teacher before but I basically just snarled at one.

"I'm sorry Miss Hannigan, but if you don't hand in the final assignment I can't give you a grade which means you can't earn a credit for the course."

I crossed my arms in defiance. I knew he was right, but for some reason I thought I could somehow get away without doing it. I only took the stupid course so I could get out of having to take an additional math credit. I hated math. It was my most despised subject. But coding was becoming very close to taking that title.

Scowling at the teacher who held my future in his hands wasn't going to help. So I switched tactics. Softening my posture I took on a more vulnerable victim look.

"But Mr. Chumley, there's only a week of school left before finals. Couldn't you make an exception just this one time? Are you really going to hold me back from graduating over one assignment?" This would be where I would cause my eyes to well up with tears. Unfortunately, I was never that good of an actress.

Mr. Chumley looked at me with his lips pressed together, like he had just swallowed something bad. "Alicia," he said with a defeated sigh, "I definitely do not want to hold you back from graduating but I've already given you so much grace over the semester. I'd be hurting you more than helping if I let you leave high school thinking you can just breeze your way through life."

It took almost all of my willpower not to roll my eyes at the whole "if you cheat, you only cheat yourself" pep talk. But what was I to do? If I didn't graduate with the rest of my class, I would go from being the most popular to the most ridiculed. And that definitely was not an option.

"If I get the project to you fully completed by the last day of the school, will you give me the credit?"

Mr. Chumley's eyebrows shot up, as if surprised that I would even suggest such a thing. I surprised myself by my outburst, but I was getting desperate. Mr. Chumley's eyes crinkled at the sides as if analyzing something. Just when I thought all hope was lost, he slowly nodded.

"Okay, if you can get me the assignment by Friday, and the work is satisfactory, I'll give you the credit."

My whole body deflated at having gotten a second chance. Although I was relieved that I hadn't failed my senior year of high school yet, my heart was having palpitations at the thought of completing an assignment that was supposed to take weeks to do. I had five days.

"Thanks Mr. Chumley," I said, when inwardly I wasn't thankful at all. Gathering up my things, I left the computer lab. I was glad it was lunchtime, I didn't think I could have handled being stuck at a desk at that moment.

As I walked towards the cafeteria, people waved and tried to say hello, but I was oblivious to them all. Normally I loved the attention, but on that day I saw it as a hindrance. How was I going to explain to my friends that I had to cram on an assignment all week? It was our last week of school for...forever. It was supposed to be spent outside chilling at the beach and playing volleyball.

When, like me, you graced the top of the social hierarchy of the class, you had responsibilities. Obligations. Though when I thought about it, it may have been those exact things that got me into this mess. I definitely held my social commitments at a much higher priority than my school ones. But what was a girl to do? If I wanted to maintain my social status, sacrifices had to be made.

Before heading into the cafetorium to join my friends, I ducked into the girls bathroom to make sure my hair and makeup weren't too mussed from my confrontation with Mr. Chumley. I cleaned up a few spots where my eyeliner seemed to blotch. Maybe I had been closer to tears than I thought.

While I studied my reflection, making sure my beach blonde hair was arranged just right, I tried to think of how I was going to finish my coding assignment. The fact that I glanced over it once and decided it was a way above my understanding definitely did not help matters. And as far as I knew, there were no computer geniuses in my circle of acquaintances. To be good at technology meant you were geeky or a nerd, and that was social suicide.

So my options were that I needed to find some computer geek that could help me finish my project on time or I could say bye-bye to graduation. Or, heaven forbid, prom. Prom was the social highlight of my entire school career and I planned on being there to take home the crown as its queen.

Not able to delay any longer, I left the washroom to finally go join my friends. I was still unsure of what I was going to say to them. Do I tell them the truth or lie through my teeth and try to save some face? As I walked through the doors into the cafetorium, I weighed the pros and cons in my head, when a figure bumped into me, snapping me out of my thoughts.

I immediately glanced down at my outfit, making sure that nothing had been crumpled. Once I saw that no damage had been done, I looked up sharply to find out who would be so rude as to touch me.

I couldn't quite remember his name, but I knew we had been in school together for basically our whole lives. He was tall and lanky, with glasses that looked too big for his face. He had honey blonde hair that may have been an attractive color if it wasn't lying limp on his head like a mop.

Whoever he was, I was just about to give him a scathing remark for daring to even touch me, when suddenly my brain had a flash of insight as to who this was. Colin! That was his name! And I'm pretty sure he had just won some big scholarship for a program in computers. The school had made a big deal about it at the year-end assembly. Of course, all me and my friends did was snicker and cough derisive remarks behind our hands as he was called up on stage. But I couldn't think about that now, because Colin was my ticket to graduating.

"Apologies," Colin mumbled looking down and went to take a step around me. I stepped back so I blocked his path causing him to stop abruptly, forcing him to look up at me. I put on my most dazzling smile, causing him to stare back agape.

"Hi Colin," I said as sweetly as I could. He continued to stare at me without saying anything, as if he was in shock. He was probably a little surprised that I knew his name or the fact that I was talking to him but I needed him to snap out of it if I was going to ask for his help.

"Congratulations on winning the scholarship, that must have been really hard to get." I almost slapped my forehead. Must have been really hard? Obviously, but what else do you say to a computer nerd?

"Umm, thanks," he said, almost as if he didn't believe me.

This was the problem with being Queen Bee. I wasn't always the nicest person, it kind of came with the territory, and so when I did try to be nice to people, it came across as fake. Colin seemed very leery of me, and I didn't think I was going to be able to sweet talk him into helping me. That left only one option; the truth.

I dropped the charade and looked at him seriously. "The truth is Colin, I desperately need your help with something, do you mind if we go and talk somewhere?"

Now he really looked taken aback. At first I thought he was going to say no, but then seemed to change his mind as he gave a quick nod and said "Sure".

Relief flooded through me and I quickly turned around to exit back out into the hallway. I didn't care if my friends saw me leaving with Colin, I had an opportunity that I wasn't going to waste.

I head outside hoping Colin is still following me. I continue into the school courtyard where a bench with a little more privacy could be found. I definitely did not want anyone overhearing this conversation.

Sitting down on a stone settee, I see Colin not far behind. I motion for him to join me on the bench.

Sitting down, Colin rubs his hands on his legs. "So...what can I do for you Alicia?"

I decided to skip all the niceties and get straight to the point. "I have a coding assignment that I need to complete by this Friday or I won't get to graduate."

Colin's eyebrows knitted together like he didn't understand something. "So what do you want me to do? Complete it for you?"

I'd be lying if I said the thought hadn't crossed my mind. With my dad being a partner at an accounting firm, I could have probably scrunched up enough money to make it worthwhile for Colin to just complete the project for me. But trying not to do the assignment was what caused this problem in the first place. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if it was discovered that I had paid someone else to do it.

I shook my head. "No, I will do the work but I need someone to help me through it. I don't know enough about coding to complete an assignment of this size in just five days."

He lifted an eyebrow quizzically at me. "Didn't you just complete a whole semester on how to write code?"

I huffed in annoyance. Was he really going to make me spell it out for him? "Obviously I wasn't too attentive in the class, hence why I never did the assignment." I took a deep breath, not wanting to push away possibly the only person who might be able to help. "I need to graduate Colin, I don't know what I would do if I have to come back for another semester."

I held my breath, hoping he heard the sincerity in my voice. It seemed like ages that we just sat there staring at each other. I watched as an internal battle waged inside Colin. I got the impression that he didn't want to help me, but for some reason didn't want to say no outright.

Finally, he slowly nodded. It seemed the war had ceased. "Okay, I'll help you."

I squealed in delight, unable to hold in my excitement. "Thank you, thank you!" I gushed. I reached into my Michael Kors purse and pulled out a cell phone. "Give me your number and I'll text you my address. We'll start first thing tonight." Dazed by my exuberance, Colin silently punched in his contact information. Handing me back my phone, I beamed at him. "You won't regret this."

I skipped down the path out of the courtyard not realizing how wrong my words would be.