Wintercrest Academy

Fridays are for competitions

           By Thursday, Adan and Astrid try their best to establish a balance between leaving Kaia alone to study and being all over her in encouragement. They drop too much dark chocolate by her doorstep, send he midday and evening texts and they eventually do a group video call. They even join her to pray, despite Astrid’s established non religiousness and Adan being Christian just for documentation purposes.

           Friday comes too quickly, and with it, panic overload, sore ears from too much nervous touching, countless phone calls to and from Miss Zuri encouraging and praying for her. Dad and Keanu had actually woken her up with DIY cardboard décor that had many cheesy motivational quotes.

           “This dolphin is ready to dominate the ocean!” Dad had squealed and his two children gawked at him like he was a weirdo before they all burst out laughing. They helped her pack a few things since the organizers of the competition had prepared a hotel for all the participants and their mentors to stay. Keanu even offered to give a shoulder massage to relieve stress. It was so relieving, she wondered who taught him to pick up stress with his hands and wash it away under the kitchen sink.

           The Metleys building is . . . beyond geek cool. It’s modest, yes, but every lame yet awesome science quote she’s ever read is pasted to every wall. ‘Think like a proton and stay positive. If at first you don’t succeed, try two more times so that your failure is statistically significant. A piece of ice saying ‘I was water before it got cool.’’ Kaia finds herself giggling away the tension before the examinations start. She hasn’t found Mr Ariel and Bren yet, so she sightsees for a bit, feeling wobbly inside when she hears the students from other school throw questions and answer back and forth. Stay calm, Kaia.

           She soon finds Mr Ariel, all proud and bright, and Bren, the exact opposite. His jaw is clenched tight to supposedly maintain his ‘coolness,’ but his eyes are so . . .afraid. She’s felt bad for him all through the week because he’s gone around with red, sleep deprived eyes and his nose buried in a different textbook every time. Well, she had done that too, but Bren’s was different. Don’t be deceived, he still looks ridiculously attractive even under such strenuous conditions, but she can tell. She secretly wonders if he ate the nuts, drank the tea and used the eye masks.

           “I threw out your nuts,” he says, probably seeing through her expression.

           “This is not the time to be snarky, your highness. How are you?”

           He looks a little blown by her question, the way a line forms between his brows and he squints. “Nervous,” he heaves and she can tell it takes him a lot to be honest. For reasons she could never understand.

           “Me too,” she provides solidarity, a reminder that he’s not alone.

           “Me three.” Mr Ariel adds and she chuckles. A ghost of a smile crosses Bren’s face too. “Let’s take a walk and talk. I need you two to be very calm. We have an hour, so let’s go hang out in our suite, shall we?”

           “Sure,” Kaia says and Bren nods along. She may be hallucinating, but Bren looks like he’s about to fall so she steadies him. The feel is electric, and so are his eyes before he yanks his arm away. Typical.