Cowgirls Don't Cry

Ch 2

(AUTHORS NOTE: I edited the previous chapter 1 I posted. No major changes just minor editing)

Chapter 2

            I slept like a rock, but sadly my alarm went off far too soon and once again I’m up and on with my day. I get about an hour of studying in before I have to run across campus to my final. Of course my class is in the furthest building so I arrive for my test sweat soaked and panting. My best friend Shelly smiles at me from the front of the class as I take my seat in the back.

“We’re almost done!” she mouths, shaking her shoulders in excitement.

I smile at her and shake my head, pulling my notes out to study for the last few seconds. I get through half a chapter when the professor waltzes in and starts slamming tests down on people desks. I glance at Shelly one more before a test lands on my desk. Here we go!

~~

            I’m a little more than half way done with the test when my phone in my bag starts vibrating. People turn to look at me and I try to ignore it. I can’t turn it off, this professor hates phones, if he sees you even have one in your pocket during a test he fails you. A minute later its starts going again.

*Buzz! Buzz!*

Ok, you can do this.

Question 55: If market failures exist, which of the following is true?

A.Government intervention in economic activities will not improve on market outcomes.

B. Markets fail to produce any goods and services, so communism is necessary.

C. The marginal benefits of production are greater than marginal costs, regardless of price.

D. The equilibrium price and quantity determined by markets are not socially optimal.

E. More public goods are produced than private goods

*Buzz! Buzz!*

Ok, so I know it’s not D.

*Buzz! Buzz!*

People are looking at me and I can’t focus. I don’t want to reach for my phone, I can’t fail this test.

*Buzz!! Buzz!*

 The professor gets up and starts walking towards me. I look down at my test, avoiding eye contact. I know what’s coming. He’s gonna fail me. I start hypervenelating.

*Buzz! Buzz!*

Shut Up!!

“Lynn?” I look up at the professor, tears burning the back of my eyes. He picks up my still vibrating back and gestures for me to fallow him into the hall. I look at shelly, her eyes filled with sympathy.

“Professor Heart I know I should have turned my phone off,” I say as soon as I’m in the hall. “No one ever calls me. It was in my bag I swear I wasn’t cheating_”

“Lynn!” I stop talking and look at my feet, waiting for the inevitable. “Grab your phone.”

I look up at him confused. He holds my bag out to me. I take it from him and pull my phone out from the bottom of the bag.

*7 missed calls* all from the same number as last night. Suddenly I recognize the area code from back home. Shit.

“I know you weren’t cheating.” Professor Heart says, “no one calls someone that much unless something is wrong. I’m allowing you to call the number back on speaker phone, then if you are able to continue you can hand your phone to me and finish your test.”

“Thank you,” I quickly call the number back and hit speaker.

*Ring! Ring! Click*

“Lynn?” Kips voice comes on the line, my heart sinks.

“Kip, I’m in the middle of a huge test what’s wrong?”

“Lynn, you need to come home” he speaks slowly, choosing his words carefully.

“Kip, tell me what’s wrong?” I look up at professor Heart who has a concerned crease to his brow.

“It’s… It’s your dad,” my heart falls, and I almost drop my phone, “He aint doing too well. He passed out last night, and then this mornin’ I had to take him to Mayville Hospital.”

“Is he going to be ok?” my voice is shaking as I talk.

“I… I don’t know” I hear him sigh. I can picture him now, standing in the hospital lobby, running his fingers through his sandy blond hair under that filthy Braves cap, a sad look to his face, “he told me not to tell you, he’s a proud man, and you know that. But he’s stubborn. Swears he don’t need no help, but he does. He’s got cancer Lynn… stage 3 prostate. It’s bad.”

I don’t feel myself backing up until my back hits the wall. I feel my whole body shaking, I bite my lip to hold in a sob, but it doesn’t help. My phone slips from my fingers, hitting the floor with a smack. Professor Heart walks over, picking up my phone. He takes it off speaker and puts it to his ear, talking softly to Kip. I feel myself sinking lower and lower till my butt hits the floor. I can’t move. All I want to do is be a child in my bed, wake up and have this all be a nightmare. This can’t be real. No, it’s not real. My dad’s too strong. He’s a cowboy dammit, cowboys dot get cancer. This has to be a mistake.

“Lynn?” I look up at professor Heart. He hands me my phone, “the young man on the phone told me that your father is in stable condition but he believes you should go home. Are you capable of finishing the test?”

I look at the floor again, barely able to remember what class I was even in.

“I will come up with a solution and email you what I decide. I understand that this was out of your control, I will not fail you.”

“Thank you professor,” I stand up, shaking all over. I didn’t even know where to begin. I had to pack up my apartment, buy a plane ticket, how was I going to do all this?