The Badboy, the Catfish & Me

Nine

I walked up the school steps as Baba hit the gas behind me and peeled out of the driveway. My glazed eyes replayed what I'd been doing all weekend: running through CrusadEon Online as Tireya, a now-level thirty Exemplar Valiant.

On my way to homeroom, I blinked out of my thoughts to see Salah clad in an aqua blue hijab, long-sleeved blouse, and skinny jeans a few paces ahead of me. I put a skip to my step.

"Salah!" I greeted. The girl turned around and waved, stopping momentarily for me to catch up. "You're early today."

"Of course, I'm early today," Salah said, raising an eyebrow at the comment.

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused, as we entered homeroom.

Ameena waved us over from her desk, an open notebook in hand. Salah and I went straight for her, weaving through other students to reach her.

"I need help with this," Ameena said, her eyes searching Salah's and then landing on mine with desperation. "Today's quiz is going over this."

"Oh my God," I fumbled back and hit my desk. "I forgot about the quiz," I whispered, tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

"What?" Salah said, for once, speechless.

Ameena looked over her desk, eyes wide. "No way. I never thought I'd be the one to remind you."

A cold rush came over me, and my chest tightened. I fell into a heap onto the floor, holding my head in her hands.

"Inaya!" Ameena and Salah bolted from their seats to sit beside me.

But I barely heard them. How could I have forgotten the precalculus quiz today? Yes, I'd been doing all the homework, but I'd barely studied all week!

Valentino walked over, and his eyes landed on my stricken form. His eyebrows furrowed in concern, and he knelt with Salah and Ameena, too.

"Hey? What's up?"

I was never going to be valedictorian if I messed up.

"She forgot today's the day of the precalculus quiz," Salah said, moving away so Valentino could get closer.

"That's today!?" Valentino's voice couldn't contain his shock, and he narrowed his eyes a bit before he chuckled. "Oh, damn, I forgot, too."

I looked over at him and laughed, momentarily forgetting how bad things could be if I did poorly on the quiz. Of course, he forgot. He was with me—er, with Tireya—the whole weekend.

"I don't feel so bad knowing I'm not alone," I joked.

Valentino broke into a grin and stood with me. Salah and Ameena only shook their heads, then went to their proper seating positions for attendance.

But it didn't take long for me to return to my state of worry. I had precalculus before my lunch period, while Valentino had it after—not that I planned on helping him with the answers. The scheduling meant I wouldn't have a spare lunch period to study; I'd have to sneak in glances at my precalculus notebook during English and Earth Science.

As I followed Salah and Ameena out of homeroom, I felt her eyes prick. My future as valedictorian would fall flat if I scored less than a 96.

I walked out of my precalculus class and headed straight for my locker. My biryani lunch would serve as my only comfort until the dread of the quiz left me. I knew the formulas, but some of my answers just didn't look right.

In the cafeteria, I caught sight of Annok somewhere in the crowd of students. I was hesitant to walk up to her—she was with friends I'd never had classes with—but I struck up a conversation.