My Whole Youth

Chapter 2: “Study Partners”

Before she could even lift her head, still searching for items in her bag, she quickly asked, “Excuse me… are you okay? Do you need any help?”

Looking up, she heard a deep voice from the boy standing in front of her: “Damien Carter. I don’t need help.” Saying that, he casually stepped over the empty chair next to her, tossed his bag onto the desk, and stretched out to nap without a second thought.

Before she could even process what had just happened, he had already turned his face away and was sleeping soundly.

She couldn’t help but grit her teeth and mutter, “What’s with him? Acting all detached as if he doesn’t care about anyone. If I’d been considerate and let him take my place on the duty roster, I’d have been long done with this spot by now, yet here I am staring at that annoying face of his.”

With that, she turned and hurried to the staff room to help the teacher collect gym uniforms.

Three months had passed since the semester began. Beyond tutoring each other, the study partners also had to take turns on class duties.

The duty schedule was divided by groups and by pairs. Each group was on duty for one week, with two pairs alternating morning and afternoon shifts under the arrangement of the group leader.

The class vice-captain in charge of academics kept the attendance book and a weekly report on the class’s activities to submit to the homeroom teacher. The vice-captain also had the authority to deduct conduct points from students who violated school or class regulations.

Academic matters aside, Clara’s first real headache with her study partner was the class duty itself.

According to the rules, the vice-captain overseeing class chores was responsible for checking each group’s progress, reporting any mistakes to the academic vice-captain, who would record them and deduct points from the group members.

Things would have been simple if she weren’t the academic vice-captain—but luck was cruel. Every time she asked Damien to take his turn cleaning the classroom, he’d come up with an excuse to skip, leaving her alone with the mess.

Clara and Damien were assigned the morning shift, while Amy Parker’s group handled the afternoon. Yet he would claim he hadn’t had breakfast or intentionally arrive late, leaving all the work to her.

At first, Clara thought maybe she’d be happier cleaning alone without that troublemaker beside her. Damien seemed to think the same—sweeping the floor or wiping the blackboard was trivial, so letting her do it alone wasn’t a problem.

Until one day…

“Beloved Miss Evans, could the top scholar lend Amy a hand today?”

It was supposed to be Clara’s morning duty, but she heard Amy’s whiny voice nearby, followed by a blur of movement as Amy ran up behind her, wrapping her arms around Clara in a playful hug.

“What is it this time? Let me guess, you need me to do something, right? Looking at you, I already know it’s trouble. You normally stroll in just before class starts, yet today you’re early?”

“You exaggerate. I also like sleeping in, but not as ridiculously late as you claim.”

“Anyway, why are you so early today?”

“Well, a new BL volume is releasing this afternoon—the one I mentioned before. Since I’m on afternoon duty, if I come to class this noon, I won’t make it in time to grab it.”

“You know I’ve been waiting forever for it. So I wanted to ask if you could cover my afternoon shift… my dear… Clara~”

“Alright, I’ll cover it, but don’t think I’ll make it easy for you.”

“I know you care the most about me, so today I came early for the morning shift on purpose… and I even got you some steamed buns.” Amy waved a bag of buns teasingly.

“And what about your morning duty partner?” Clara asked, glancing around.

Just then, a male voice came from the doorway: “Good morning, Vice-Captain Evans.”

“How can I do this alone? If we’re study partners, wherever I am, Alex Bennett will be there too,” Amy said, running over to sling an arm around the boy standing in the doorway.

“Where Amy goes, Alex will be right there too,” Alex replied cheerfully as he saw Amy bounding over to him, her excitement palpable.

He reached out and gently ruffled her hair, his tone mockingly scolding. “Take it easy. No need to rush. What if you bump into the door?”

Amy pouted at his words. “Oh, whatever. I’m not a kid who’s going to knock myself out on a door.”

Alex smiled, not arguing further, and lightly tapped her head before turning to Clara. “Don’t worry, Vice-Captain Evans. I’ll take care of Amy… I mean, I’ll make sure class duty is done properly.”

Slightly surprised at Alex’s gentle tone and the way he pampered Amy, Clara regained her composure, grabbed the steamed buns from the desk, and headed toward the door. “Alright, I’ll leave this to you two. I’m going to get some breakfast first.”

As usual, Damien arrived late to class, muttered a brief apology to Clara, and then casually dropped his head onto the desk to nap. Over time, she had grown accustomed to this routine and didn’t even bother telling him that today’s duty schedule had been slightly changed—after all, whether she informed him or not, she’d still be doing all the work herself.

True to her promise to Amy, Clara arrived early at class that afternoon. Since no one else was there yet, she took the opportunity to head down to the canteen for some water to take her painkillers. She hadn’t realized her period was due, and now the cramps left her pale and tense, lips pressing together as she tried to bear the pain.

What she didn’t know was that Damien often came to school early at lunchtime to play football with some of the more unruly students from other classes, or to wander around campus. And today, he arrived at just the wrong moment—right when Clara was tidying up the shelves in the corner of the classroom.

As usual, thinking the room was empty, he kicked a plastic football toward the class… which struck the shelf Clara was cleaning. Books and the first aid box tumbled down, hitting her squarely on the head with a loud thud.

Startled, she let out a cry, “Ah!” and staggered back, clutching her head to avoid the falling books.

Damien froze at the door, but as he heard the crash and Clara’s scream, panic overtook him. Unfortunately, the first aid box hit her temple, leaving a long scratch across her left forehead. The wound wasn’t deep, but enough to make her dizzy; she collapsed against the shelf, clutching her head.

Seeing her like that, Damien half-kneeling, half-squatting, gently brushed her hair aside to inspect the injury. The blood trickled continuously down her pale face, made worse by her period, and she looked utterly pitiful.

A pang of guilt shot through him. He tried to apologize, but before he could speak, Clara fainted in his arms.

“I’m sorry! Truly, this is my fault, but I didn’t mean it. Please don’t be angry,” he pleaded.

Seeing her limp, Damien’s heart lurched. Slowly, he realized she had passed out completely. Panic surged as he scooped her up and dashed toward the nurse’s office.

Clutching her tightly, he burst through the door. “Miss, please help! She’s bleeding a lot and has fainted!”

The nurse, alarmed, asked, “Who’s injured? Which class are you from? Why are you here so early?”

Breathless, Damien explained swiftly, “We’re students from 7A1. We were assigned to class duty early, and the first aid box fell on her head. She fainted from the impact.”

“Place her on the bed so I can check,” the nurse instructed. “The wound isn’t too long but appears deeper than I expected. Our facilities aren’t sufficient for stitches, so I’ll call her parents and an ambulance to take her to the hospital. You don’t need to worry—just return to class and report to the homeroom teacher that she’ll be excused for the day.”

“Is it serious?” Damien asked anxiously.

“Not overly serious. She’ll only need a few stitches. But if she has a rare blood type or a clotting disorder, too much blood loss could be dangerous, so she must go to the hospital immediately.”

Hearing this, his heart tightened. Guilt and worry twisted his face into an expression Clara had never seen before. Since she fainted, his usual confident smirk had been replaced by genuine panic. This was the first time he’d ever experienced fear like this.

“You don’t need to follow her. I’ll be here with her. The ambulance is on the way. Stay and help with class duty while she’s gone,” the nurse assured.

Damien remained rooted at the door, watching the ambulance drive away, his worry etched deep across his face, unmoving and tense.