Sticks and Stones

Thirteen: Stumbling Blocks and Slapshots

Sigh. I told myself I'd post weekly. But I wanna post more, so here I am. I'm posting Chapter 13 and 14 so make sure to read both!

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Tatum stared at the grade on her screen.

Her hands were tingling and it felt like she couldn't move her head. Like she couldn't pull her eyes away. Like she didn't deserve the ability to turn away from the numbers glaring at her on the screen.

74%.

Tatum hadn't gotten below an A- since high school. Even then, it would destroy her. She had maintained a nearly unachievable GPA while in college. She worked herself to the bone for this. To make something of herself. Everything was riding on how she performed during these four years of her life. Most people tried not to think of it that way. But how could she not? This would determine where she went to med-school— if she even got in. It would determine where she had her residency. Where she would work. She couldn't falter.

Tears stung her eyes. It felt like shards of glass were lodged into her throat when she tried to swallow. She kept blinking like the grade would change. Like she could will it to change if she wanted it bad enough.

This couldn't be right.

There had to be some sort of mix up.

She refreshed the page, holding her breath expectantly.

It didn't change.

Maybe it was out of eighty points.

She checked— it was out of a hundred.

Tatum got a C on her biology mid-term.

In all honesty, she completely forgot about it after she took it. It hadn't even occurred to Tatum to stress about it after she had handed it in. She never really stressed about grades at this point. She wanted to do well, but Tatum had grown accustomed to getting perfect grades by this point. She only thought to check when she was checking on another assignment.

She had to do something. She had to fix this. This would drag her grade point average down which would bring her GPA down with it. Her thumb tapped the screen, clicking into the grade to try and see where she went wrong. Her eyes scanned through the mistakes she made, recognizing them instantly. She scolded herself for the carelessness in the mistakes she made.

Tatum had an admittedly bad habit of putting a majority of her self-worth in her academics. She tried to shake it at one point, but she just couldn't get past it. A sick part of her needed it. It kept her in check. Made sure that she didn't let up. She would push herself until she couldn't anymore.

And so, this was not okay.

She couldn't let this happen again.

"Hey, Hartley," a voice called out. She snapped her slack jaw shut, trying to blink away any evidence that she was upset.

"Hey," she croaked out, turning to see who walked in. Brady dropped his bag by the door, staring at her unsurely.

"You good?"

"Uh, yeah," Tatum said unconvincingly. "Just... some bad news."

"Not your Mom is it?" Brady asked her hesitantly, moving closer to her.

"Well, now I feel kinda ridiculous," she admitted feebly, flashing her phone at him. "Just a bad grade."

His eyes squinted at the screen, leaning forward to see what she was showing him. He scoffed, saying, "They're still gonna let you into medical school, all right?"