31 Days

8 - Tough

Warning(s): none

Oliver took a deep breath and fought the urge to slam his head against his trigonometry textbook. He'd been studying all morning in hopes of passing his massive trig final that afternoon. It was his last test before school let out for the summer and his freshman year of college would be over.

But he had to pass this test first.

And it was, without a question, going to be the most tough exam of his life to date.

He took a quick sip of water and forced himself to concentrate on the numbers that swam across the page in front of him, mixing with the tons of other formulas he had memorized.

Focus, Oliver, focus!

And it semi-worked. He managed to retain a little more information before his phone lit up with an alarm that told him he had five minutes until the start of the exam.

He swore and closed the book. The crammed studying would have to do. It was time to see if he'd truly retained any of the content he'd just reviewed. He stuffed his book into his bag and stood from his spot in the grass. He walked relatively slow into the building just one hundred yards away. He didn't want to take the exam, but he couldn't finish freshman year if he didn't.

Just three more hours and I'm done, he thought to himself.

He opened the door and a voice called out behind him. "Hey! Don't close that door on me, buddy!"

Oliver turned and found his best friend Charlie, whom he'd known since the third grade. He grinned.

"I'm sorry, this building has a no blue-haired men allowed rule."

Charlie rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his dark blue hair. "You're just mad I can pull it off better than you ever could."

Oliver laughed. The two entered the building together, which was somberly quiet.

"How do ya feel?" Charlie asked.

"Honestly? Like I'm gonna throw up. I don't know if I remember any of the stuff I studied."

"I feel you, man. I stayed up till 4am trying to memorize all the formulas. This ones gonna be a real doozy."

Oliver nodded. They fell silent as they neared the lecture hall where the exam was being held. Oliver took a deep breath.

"Hey," Charlie said softly. "You're gonna do great. I know you are. And if you fail we can run off together to be hermits somewhere."

Oliver couldn't help but chuckle. "Sounds like a plan."

"First to the prize?"

Both boys grinned at their childhood motto.

"First to the end."

They hooked pinkies like they'd done so many times since they'd met, and Charlie began push the door open, but Oliver stopped him.

"Wait."

"What?"

"Can we still run off and be hermits together even if we pass?"

Charlie rolled his eyes and laughed. "Let's take this final first, then we'll determine our future."

Oliver grinned and they both walked inside.

A/N: A little wholesome bromance for you all this double-update Thursday. I know it's a little short, but this felt more right than continuing on with the story. Also please excuse any mistakes in my college knowledge, I'm a senior in high school and I've never experienced a college math class XD

Sorry for the delay, but I'm back on track now and I hope to stay that way (: