Chapter Twenty Five

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The next few days passed in blissful ignorance. A colourful dream under the haze of what I could only describe as 'love'. And although the idea itself was still surreal, maybe I was getting better at being used to his. 

The moments that I was with Ace, it was easy to forget about everything else. To just stay in the moment. But at the back of my mind, a nagging worry kept plaguing me. Just a splotch of ink on a clear parchment, a single patch of cloud in an otherwise bright sky. 

He didn't say anything about his condition at all. He continued to teach me to drive, without mentioning how the disease was progressing, and I was too scared to ask.  

I was on the constant lookout for his reaction to everything. How he would react to sudden bright lights, how he would read, how he would drive. So far, everything seemed to be normal, but I wasn't sure till how long it will last. And the worst of all, everything was taking a toll on him, he was just way too stubborn to admit it. 

On the other hand, things with Ace had never been better. I wasn't sure if I was simply too drunk on the feeling, or was he actually somehow more patient, sweeter and affectionate than he had ever been. 

However  the dream could only last so long. And way too soon, it was time for our grades to be released. 

On Tuesday, our teachers showed us our answer sheets and I was relieved that my performance was much better than I expected. I had managed to get an A+ in biology, English and chemistry, the subjects I had been confident in. I had got an A in physics because I couldn't do the calculations in time and had left the answers in the form of log. In maths however, I was disappointed that I had only managed a B+. It was much worse than my last year's A, but I was the only one responsible for that.

I looked over at Ace who seemed to be gazing off into the distance and rose to my feet, making my way over to his seat. "Ace, how was it?"

He bit his lip but didn't respond, averting my gaze, his cheeks pink. My heart hammered in anticipation and I reached for the stack of answer sheets kept on his table. I quickly went through his scores, my heart sinking lower and  lower with each subject. 

C in bio, C in chemistry, B in English and two F's, both in physics and maths. 

"Ace...what the fuck?" 

He sighed, still averting my eyes sheepishly. 

"Ace, you've failed in two subjects. How-?" Frustrated, I slowly went through his answer sheet, once again trying to find out anyway that he could get an increment. Just like the maths test before though, it seemed  like he hadn't tried at all. "Why didn't you write the formula at least if you couldn't solve it?" I asked, clicking my tongue. "Ace-"

He shrugged. "Who cares anyway? I'll just give the retest."

I gaped at him. "So? How the fuck is that an excuse? And what if you fail that as well? You'll be held back."

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