Golden Rule with a Twist

Glory to Calculus

"Where are you going?"

Suzy asked her friend, Catalina, seeing the girl stood up in her seat carrying her bag.

Mr. Johnson, their oh-so-boring social studies teacher was absent. He said he has an emergency and won't make it to class. It's not like him being present in the class or not will make any difference, they can just self-study since they are already used to it, that's what they always do in his subject. 

"I'll just go to the library."

Catalina mumbled in a lazy tone then exited the room. 

As Catalina walked down the hallway, she spared a glance at Blair's room but failed to catch a glimpse of her.

Catalina sighed as she descended the stairs. 1 week quickly passed and she had never been this sad, unmotivated, and dispirited about going to school. For the past years that she's been in the same class as Blair, she's always been excited and motivated to go to school. Even wishing to have classes during weekends but now that for the first time they are in a different class, now that she rarely sees Blair, she no longer feels any reason to go to school. Though she can't just stop going to school for that childish reason.

When Catalina arrived at the library, it was deserted for two obvious reasons. First, it was still early in the morning and students have classes. Second, let's be honest, most students are not fond of the library. Most students are only going there if exams are coming up. Students are only studying when there are exams, or announced quizzes. So if there are surprise quizzes, students only rely on their non-existent prior knowledge.

Catalina opened up her textbook in Calculus, get a piece of paper and her pencil. Better study than make a drama again.

Catalina is so immersed in studying. She hasn't raised her head yet since she looked down on her textbook, trying to solve a particular problem but she can't somewhat get it. She's now feeling a little bit dizzy due to all the delta ∆ and x that she's been seeing. She keeps groaning, crossing out the wrong solution, and cursing her Calculus teacher in a low voice. Catalina is so pissed and frustrated by the fact that she can't solve it. She keeps mumbling curses, cursing her teacher for making them suffer. Their Calculus teacher is being a b***h, asking them to get the derivative of a function but the twist is, they should use a 3 step rule and write the solution. Catalina already got the derivate of the function through derivative rules, but when she's using the 3 step rule, she can't arrive at the same answer. (Sorry guys for suddenly inserting Math here. You know that's my specialization. I seriously love that subject but at the same time I hate it.)

Catalina sighed and closed her eyes, giving up, and decided to just save the studying for later when she heard someone suddenly speaks beside her, startling Catalina and making her heart panicky.

"Do you want some help?"

Catalina immediately snapped her head to her left side and stood up in her seat, recognizing the voice and the owner of the perfume. There, the one standing beside her is Blair, looking at her directly in the eyes. Catalina didn't get to speak the moment she saw Blair. She was shocked and couldn't utter a word. She was speechless and never expected Blair to suddenly popped out beside her and to make it more beautiful, she talked to Catalina. Catalina didn't speak nor did anything for good 5 seconds and just kept looking at Blair, slowly melting in the process.

"Catalina?"

Catalina wants to cry, it was the first time she ever heard Blair mumbled her name and it was sure sounds so good in the ear. She can die happy now. 

When Blair tapped her on her arm to get her attention, Catalina almost passed out. She didn't feel Blair's hand directly due to her uniform but the pressure is there. Catalina, the creepy one finally get back on her senses, blinking her eyes and stumbling on her words.

"B-Blair. I- I- W-What's ah- up?"

Blair offered Catalina a sweet smile and Catalina almost squeals, if only she didn't remember that Blair is standing before her. Catalina just bit the inside of her cheeks in order to stop herself from fangirling Blair.

Blair looked at Catalina's papers scattered on the table then shifted back her attention to Catalina.

"Do you want some help in your work?"

"E-Eh? B-But why would you do that?"

Catalina immediately regretted her question. She wanted to curse herself, slap her face, kick her ass, pull her hair or pinch herself for being plain stupid. Of all the things that she will say, she ended up saying those words. That was a good opportunity for them to grow closer, for them to finally have their first decent conversation and yet she had to ruin it. If Blair takes back her words, she will definitely cry once she gets home.

Blair scratched her nape, looking shyly at Catalina. This is the very first time Catalina ever saw Blair looked like this, Blair is always cool in her eyes. It's not like she doesn't look cool right now, she just looks more cute than cool. 

"It's just that I don't have anything to do and I have heard you sigh and groan a few times and I wonder if I can be any help."

Catalina secretly pinched herself, just want to confirm if she's really not dreaming and when she felt the pain instead of wincing, a smile made its way on Catalina's lips.

Blair misunderstood Catalina's smile, she thought Catalina is finding her weird so she immediately regretted her stupidity. 

"S-Sorry if you find me weird. It's just that-"

"No no- It's okay. I'm actually very happy that you'll help me."

Catalina said the last sentence with overflowing happiness and excitement. Realizing that she was pretty obvious at that, she gulped down a lump on her throat and forced her mind to think of a good excuse for her obvious happiness.

"I'm very happy b-because I-I really need your help.  I-I'm having a hard time so ah- I'm really desperate for help."

Catalina crossed-fingers said, begging for God to help her convince Blair that that was the primary reason. Well, Catalina really is grateful for someone to help her but she's more than grateful to the fact that that particular someone is Blair.

"I'm happy if I could be any help, but seriously I never expected a smart student as you would have a hard time in Calculus."

Catalina blushed at the compliment, luckily Blair had already sat down at the chair beside her and now inspecting her work. Catalina is of course used to hearing compliments already, whether it's her beauty or other characteristics. She no longer feels any different or at least be overwhelmed at whatever compliment she heard, but Blair is completely a different story.

Catalina took a seat beside her and when their elbows touched, she bit her lip hard to suppress her smile.

"Eh? I'm not as smart as you so of course, I will have trouble with Calculus."

Aside from being the coolest girl of the school, captain of the women's basketball team, Blair is the top 1 student. She's seriously a complete package. So Catalina being obsessed with Blair is not a new thing, everyone, almost everyone is doing the same thing. The top 2 student is her best friend Rein, the top 3 is Blair's boyfriend. Then a random nerd student, then Catalina, the 5th placer. Catalina is actually mad at that ranking, she was mad at the fact that Jared the shithead guy win over her again. So she's trying her hardest to win over him, at least in studying.

"I'm not that smart. I just studied a lot. After all, I need to do that to keep playing."

Blair said in a slightly sad tone. Catalina noticed that hint of sadness on Blair and she definitely wanted to wipe that trace.

"What do you mean you need to do that to keep playing?"

Catalina kept her eyes on Blair who just picked Catalina's pencil and started getting its derivative using a 3-step rule.

"Oh, it's just a rule that my parents set on me. In order for them not to stick their noses on my game, I also need to make sure that I'm doing what they need for me to do."

"That's .. tiring."

Catalina said in a sad tone. Blair looked back at her and can't help but giggle at Catalina's cuteness.

"You're pretty cute, eh?"

Catalina blushed at that. Not only to the fact that she made Blair giggle but also had Blair find her cute. Not only Catalina's face but also her ears turned red, she's now a living tomato. She now can't speak because she was afraid that she will say something dumb. Her heart, guess what, it's of course beating fast and loudly.

Blair realized what she just said so in a not-so-awkward way shifted her attention back to the paper. Catalina did the same and tried her very best to hide her blushing face away from her, but how will she do that anyway if they're so close to each other and looking at each other's faces is a must?

Blair cleared her throat, getting the attention of the blushing madly Catalina. Though she's really embarrassed to look at Blair, Catalina still did, doesn't want Blair to think of her as weird and suspect her of something.

"I'm done solving this one. Want me to pinpoint where you had gone wrong?"

Blair spared Catalina a glance for a brief moment then back her attention on the paper again when Catalina nod.

The two spent almost 30 minutes in a casual conversation. Blair teaching Catalina some things about the lesson and Catalina asking a few questions. It was indeed awkward for Catalina. She was trying to contain her emotions, trying her best not to squeal every time their eyes will meet, every time their elbows will graze at each other, or every time Blair will call her in her full name. Catalina is scared that if this situation, her being alone with Blair, lasted for a few more minutes, she will soon have a problem with her heart. It's beating way too fast than needed and it's not healthy.

At exactly 10 minutes before the first period ended, even though Catalina still wants to be with Blair, she knew she can't. She has Literature next on her schedule and she doesn't want to be late or marked as absent. So she decided to just call it a day and just let fate move its way.

"I-I need to go now for my next class. Thanks for teaching me, Blair."

Catalina said, stuffing her things in her bag. Catalina stood up, getting ready to leave the library but to her surprise, Blair also stood up.

"I have class in the second period too. How about we walk together?"

And Catalina only managed to smile. It was a simple reply but her happiness can be seen in her eyes, it was twinkling like Sirius, the brightest star, and it's mirroring Blair's eyes.

Can this day get any better?