bonus 2

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Ryder Phoenix generally doesn't get angry.

Of course, there are a few exceptions, like the time where the jackass quarterback publicly called Finn a gay slur in front of a crowd (when Molly, Gina, and Ryder simultaneously started to take out their hoop earrings), or like the time when Peter told her about all the things Flash Thompson would call him and Ned and all she wanted to do was march to his house and rip his throat out, or like the time Molly's brother was being bullied by some kids in his grade to the point where he hid his bruises and cuts, which made Ryder fume.

Those times were physical, where Ryder's definition of revenge involved physical injuries to another person because of her anger, because the people she cares about are hurt. However there are times where the anger is internalized, where it's not right to act out in violence and where her voice trembles from frustration, a type of anger that she can't really do anything about. The type of anger that leaves her frustrated, because the situation is beyond her control, and the feeling of hopelessness leaves her panicky. The type of anger that turns into a cry, a messy cry where her eyes swell and her voice staggers and hiccups between each word -- like right now when Ryder's professor piles three million assignments during finals week.

Don't get her wrong, she loves college. Her roommate is amazing and super fun, the people on her dorm floor are funny and welcoming, (most of) her classes have been pretty easy and straightforward, and her grades are exceptional. Of course, she misses her hometown friends and facetimes them whenever she can, but her new friends are pretty great, having Mario Kart tournaments and partying together in frats until dawn. The weather is warm and she feels so unsettled wearing a t-shirt in November, since she had been used to cold, cold, cold winters in New York. But overall, Ryder loves North Carolina.

Although there's always a downside, and right now it's Ryder's literature professor.

She's required to take this course as a freshman, and while it seemed fine in the beginning, it only spiraled from there.

This week is the last week before everyone goes back for Thanksgiving break, so naturally professors have been assigning finals for this week. And knowing Ryder, she keeps herself up at ungodly hours at night to study and memorize the material, struggling to keep her eyes open and practically living in the campus's 24 hour library. Calls with Peter have just been Ryder talking a million miles an hour, about how she has this due at that time, but how she doesn't have time to do work for this literature class on top of everything else.

He's been very patient with her, as he's finished with classes already, seeing as his break started yesterday.

So far, she's taken two finals, and those have been alright, but her hardest final is on Friday morning, and that's not even the class she's worried about.

Ryder estimates that's she's gotten maybe...two...three hours of sleep? The numbers may be off, but the bags under her eyes prove that it's somewhere within that range. Endless nights spent hunched over her tiny dorm desk with her lamp on until dawn, or camping out in the library until the sun shines, her eyes fighting to stay awake, battling herself to retain the information, to do well, to finish her damn literature assignments. It feels like a damn cycle everyday, and she's been seeing her friends less and less.

"He literally assigned a thesis, outline, and paper due Thursday night!" Ryder cries over the phone, on the brink of tears as she quickly rushes back to her dorm room, immediately dialing the phone as soon as she got out of her literature class.

"But isn't your environmental studies exam Friday morning?" asks Peter over the phone, genuinely concerned with her academic schedule.

Ryder blinks back tears and bites her lip to refrain from sobbing, her legs walking at the speed of light. "Yes, and I don't know what to do, because how am I gonna find time to study if...if this assignment is taking up all my time? Peter, I can't fail this exam for some stupid class I don't even want to take! Shit, this...this messes up my entire schedule for studying for each class, because now I have to accommodate time for literature when I need to be focusing on two other exams this week! Now I need to rearrange my entire planner for this fuckin-"

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